Grade 8: Artists Tackle New Creative Challenges

Eighth graders were at work in art class this week to create new and interesting projects.

 

One group of artists put their talent to work on psaligraphy, the art of cutting paper silhouettes, led by Andrea Crane. First, they studied the works of Karen Bit Vejle, Bovey Lee and Beatrice Coron. Andrea attended a Coron workshop and was inspired to bring the art style to her classroom.

 

“I love the idea of making art with paper, not just on paper,” Andrea explains. “Using only Exacto knives, students are applying the concepts of positive and negative space to make some really amazing art.”

Students drew their scenes in pencil on black paper before using the cutting tool to remove the background sections. After cutting, they placed white paper underneath, exposing the silhouettes. 

 

When the style was first introduced, students were skeptical. “I thought it would be frustrating to focus on all the small details of the cutting,” admits Evelyn McSpirit. “But it’s actually really fun.” Her piece, a multi-layered mountain scene, evokes a peaceful feeling of solitude.

 

Alec Romo-Nichols used his love of jazz music as inspiration for the piece he created, a trio of musicians. “I kept a lot of the negative space on the paper because it makes the piece feel calm and cool, like jazz.”

 

Over in the clay room, students in Andrean Andrus’ class were rolling, twisting, and flattening gray sculpting clay into busts. The figures have human torsos and the heads of animals or fantasy creatures.

 

“I’ve never done this project before,” says Andrean. “It’s really pretty challenging, from a structural standpoint, to build these sculptures because the base is hollow.” Artists built the shoulders of their figures first before adding heads and facial details.

 

“It’s fun to add the parts that humanize the piece,” says Julia Shelanski. “It’s like adding character and personality to it.” Students use a variety of sculpting tools like a needle, scoring tool, serrated blade and rolling pin to create unique and interesting busts.