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, slip dishes, Glazes (or Underglazes), Kiln

See more examples

 

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, fire, glaze. Texture, additive and subtractive methods of working with clay, relief.

 

Prints

• Vincent Van Gogh Sunflowers Print
• Vincent Van Gogh- Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers Print
• Georgia O'Keeffe, A Sunflower from Maggie, print
• Sunflower, New Mexico, by Georgia O'Keeffe
• Claude Monet, Sunflowers, Print
• Claude Monet, Sunflowers Flower Vase Print

Instruction/Motivation:

1. 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.

2. Science integration - discuss parts of flowers (use real flowers if possible).

3. 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?