Kandinsky inspired art projects

Here in Nashville, it is Artober- a monthlong celebration of all things arty around town.  It's a lot of fun.  In our schools, we chose Wassily Kandinsky as a focus artist (he has an AMAZING retrospective exhibit at The Frist Center for the Visual Arts right now).  Here are some of my 3rd and 4th grade responses to his work. 

3rd Grade- we used Kandinsky's concentric circles as inspiration to create these amazing circle weavings.   I have the students plug the hole in the middle with a button for a couple of reasons.  It's cute.  Also, the center of the weaving is often filled with the most mistakes, since it's the beginning, and by the time we get to the edges, the kiddos are much better weavers.  It's a nice way to finish it.  I hot glued the weavings to mat board, and had the kids decorate the edges with colored sharpies.  It allowed for some element of choice in a pretty regimented project.

 

 



4th Grade- Little more complicated.  We looked at a variety of Kandinsky's landscapes from the more realistic to the mostly abstract, discussing how lines and colors can represent a feeling or an object.  I played Vivaldi's 4 seasons, and students sketched lines to each seasonal song.  From there, students created a circle, and divided it into 4 sections, and each section was to represent a season.  I had them use cray-pas to color, and we attempted some blending with baby oil.  This was hard.  Some had a difficult time with the idea of blending.  They wanted to just keep mixing the colors.  Others just colored as usual and put oil on top.  It proved to be a difficult concept that I'm going to have to keep working on.  But, in the end, there were some really great attempts.  Abstract was also a hard concept to teach to the students, I acknowledged that our brains naturally want to "file" everything we see into a definite category; we want to know what something is. And, we just kept trying and adapting.

CD Weaving- the warping

Start by looping the string through the center hole, and tying a snug knot.

Slide the knot to the center hole.

While holding the knot/CD with one hand, start passing the end of the string through the center hole, and pulling tight each time.

An odd number is necessary.  When students had their CD strung, I tied the two ends together in the center, and they clipped the tails. 

Tie the weft, or the weaving string to a center string, consider it "over", and start weaving. 

Voila!

I have had a couple of requests to show/give more detail in how to get the CD warped and ready for weaving.  Understand, I did not think of this idea, I found it on pinterest, so there may be other ways- this is the way I figured out, and it works... mostly.  As in anything, there are always a couple of kiddos who need me to rescue them.  But, the success rate is higher than with the paper plates- and the weavings stay centered, which does not always happen with plates.  The one problem this group had was counting their warp strings and stopping at odd- I think they were losing track of where they started.  My "fix" for the ones I didn't catch was to take 2 strings and tie them together, and have the students consider them one string. Using the CDs is a manageable size, easy to store, and sturdy for the "determined" weavers. Also, lots of embellishing potential.  I used feathers and sequins, but there are a wealth of things you could use to finish off the edges.
Here is another tutorial

Circle Weaving

I did not force color pattern, but encouraged it.

Am lobbying to have this student held permanently in 3rd grade- I don't want to ever let her go.

He left the bottom un-feathered on purpose- said it looked like an Indian Headdress.

Last year I discovered the idea of using old CDs as looms for circle weaving.  Pure Genius.  No more bendy plates that rip 1/2 way through when the kids pull too tight, or bunch up like tacos.  And, it's such a manageable size.  Enough to show me they have the skill without spending an entire 9 weeks.  I allow my 3rd graders to trim the edges with feathers.  I found that you just slide the tips between the CD and the Weaving, and put a drop of glue on top.  And, to cover up those unsightly glue blobs, we used sequins.  Who doesn't like a little "pop" when they weave?  Certainly not my kiddos.  Cannot wait to get these all in the display case.  I encouraged my kids to try tying their own knots, although this is a continuing struggle.  I also allowed tapestry needles, as long as they could thread their own needles.  The needles really speed things up and help those like me with short fat fingers.  Paperclips would do the same thing, but mine are pretty good about returning them, and not leaving them out where the Kinderbabies will encounter them.

Circle Weaving- a new twist

If you have ever tried circle weaving, you know that the paper plates can get wearing.  If you don't buy the good sturdy ones, the kids will have tacos for looms.  If the notches are not even, the circle will be off- center, and it seems to take some kids forever to weave a good portion of the plate.  For awhile, I thought I had solved a lot by using cocktail plates.  And then, I came across the idea to use CD's on Pinterest.  Basically, I had the students tie their yarn through the hole in the middle of the CD, and slide the knot to the center.  From there, we wound the string through the hole, around the edge, and back in again.  It doesn't really matter how many times, as long as you have an odd number (2 so far have been busted on that).  Then, you tie the string back to the tail in the middle.  Surprisingly quick and easy.  And, the middle stays centered, not to mention it being an attainable amount of weaving for any student.  I still let my kiddos break out the feathers to embellish the edges, cause who doesn't like a few feathers?  Gotta say, I think I'm a fan of weaving on CD's. (Make friends with your techies- they will donate lots of CD's to the cause)