Van Gogh's Sunflower Ceramic Relief
Submitted by: Jan Hillmer, Visual Arts Specialist Berkeley Preparatory School
UNIT: Impressionists and post impressionists -Ceramics
Grade Level: Elementary (Jan did this with third grade)
Procedures:
Distribute clay. Have students create slabs approx ½" (1.3 cm) thick. Add and subtract clay to create sunflowers. Add Hanging device (hole can be made with straw - or insert a high fire wire loop on the back). Allow to dry. Fire. Glaze as desired.
Objectives:
Students will create sunflower drawings and relief elements on clay using a variety of tools to obtain textures. Students will observe Van Gogh’s sunflower paintings carefully - compare to work by Georgia O'Keeffe and Monet.
Materials:
Moist Clay, Clay Modeling Tools, Canvas Rolls
Instructional Resources:
Pictures of Van Gogh's Sunflower paintings (PowerPoint - This was not submitted with the lesson. You will have to create your own.) - Georgia O'Keeffe's sunflowers and Monet's flower painting. Actual flowers (or silk flowers) for study.
Vocabulary:
Impressionists, Post Impressionists, clay, score and Slip
Prints
Instruction/Motivation:
Show Van Gogh’s flowers. [If you need a print, see links above] Compare and contrast Sunflowers with Monet flowers and O’Keeffe's sun flowers. Discuss how Van Gogh used texture in his paintings.
Science integration - discuss parts of flowers (use real flowers if possible).
Demo clay slabs, scoring and slipping, additive and subtractive clay methods.
Closure:
Compare and contrast slabs with paintings. Does the student demonstrate a variety of textures in their work?
Evaluation:
Did students create textured works of sunflowers? Did students use both additive and subtractive methods of clay work? Did students exhibit craftsmanship in working with clay and glazing?
