by William Grabowski, SchoolArts Magazine November 2016
Celebrating cultures is a concept that helps
broaden our understanding of our world. Especially given these complicated
times, the arts, and particularly the visual arts, are vehicles that most
wonderfully address this need of cultural understanding, in ways that raise our
spirits.
Recently, our fifth graders mentally journeyed back
in time to the Asian continent to research and then create artwork sparked from
an art form originally begun more than a thousand years ago, Chinese porcelain
plates.
Emily Yeh |
Chinese Porcelain Plates
Students conducted research and learned that the
first porcelain plates were produced in China during the Tang Dynasty (608-906).
The key ingredient was kaolin, soft
clay that was then mixed with porcelain stone and fired at a high temperature.
Cobalt, a precious commodity at the time, was added to make the blue color of
details. The art form thrived and by the 14th century China was
exporting to the near and Middle East. The 17th century saw these plates
in demand in Europe, where others there began to create their own versions.
I asked my students to create user-friendly, updated
versions of porcelain plates, drawing on Styrofoam plates with permanent
markers. We discussed addressing similar themes found on the Chinese plates;
they chose flora, fauna, and landscape to be their focus. We found the best Styrofoam
plates to use were those that were the most smooth, with the least amount of
indentations. Styrofoam plates were found to be superior to paper plates, as
they resembled dinnerware more closely, and were brighter in tone.
My students began by creating recurring patterns
around the edges of their plates with permanent blue markers. Next, I asked
them to choose an organic theme or a theme that highlighted geometric and
organic shapes, and to begin designing the interior of the plate. I provided
traceable circular shapes that they could use to insure uniformity, if they
chose to create a more decorative geometric design.
My fifth graders very much enjoyed this challenge.
I prompted them to work with care to insure their patterns were consistent and their
subject matter was appropriate. Particular care was also needed as well to
avoid smearing the permanent markers on their work, or themselves. Their
wonderful results were displayed at our district art show to generous reviews.
We are at our most successful as art educators when
we stretch the minds of our students to help them understand their place as
artistic global citizens. Linking with other cultures and techniques makes us
all better learners, broadens our knowledge, and brings us all a bit closer
together.
William Grabowski is an art teacher at Center
Street Elementary School, in Williston Park, New York.
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