Linocuts and Tortillas

On the last post I showed you a peek into what the 7/8 Academy students were creating for this years Veteran's Day Assembly and Reception and now I want to show what the 6th graders have been working on. We looked at Americana styled quilts and talked about how quilting is not only a hobby but also an art. We used some of the patterns, designs, and colors to create our own "quilt square" via linoleum cuts. The students sketched their ideas, and upon selection they then drew and cut their design out of the linoleum. Luckily the only injury from this project was my own as I was demonstrating how to carefully cut the linoleum (do as I say kids, not as I do!) I'll just let everyone believe I did it on purpose to make a point :)

Seeing how we are well adjusted into the year we thought it was time to have the students get to know the teachers from the Grand Prairie High Fine Arts Academy so Ms. Cavazos, Academy Art 1 teacher, came to give a mini workshop on tortilla painting made famous by artist Joe Bravo. Ms. Cavazos was one of the first (if not the first) art teachers to teach the same technique as the artist himself. She reached out to him years ago and he was gracious to share his tips and experience. He is even sending us high quality images of his work so we can use them for our presentation at this years TAEA conference in San Antonio. 

We invited the academy mariachi students to join us and used the opportunity to introduce Dia de Los Muertos. Many of the 6th graders have learned about it in social studies this year and it's a great way to teach them about the significance of the popular imagery we see a lot in our culture and art, especially recently. The students were free to make their paintings of anything they chose but examples of calaveras (skulls), cactus, and portraits were shown . It was great to take a break from the current projects and work with a completely different group of students. Surprisingly enough, a few of these mariachi students held their own quite well with a paintbrush. Mr. Diaz should be careful, they could make great additions to our art room. We'll see if they can do as well on the soccer field when we play them! :)

A big thank you to Ms. Cavazos, Grand Prairie High Fine Arts Academy, Mr. Diaz and the Mariachi program for your help and company! To learn more about tortilla painting and Joe Bravo, please visit his website here.

Mrs. Rodriguez

P.S. The clay pieces have been through the first round of firing, we will glaze sometime this week and should have finished projects around this time next week!