Week 8 and Monday 10/26

(10/22) I went in Thursday to try out the model magic over the wire armature. A few of the students were watching me learned a little from what I was doing. The model magic works well. I looked at it today and found that it is flexible to a point, but rips when bent too far. I left gaps in the material around the joints; this was a good idea that Gary had. I flexed them and it didn't rip the model magic. The students who were there were excited for next weeks lesson, which was today.

Today I went in prepared to do the sculpture lesson. Gary ended up getting some DAS air dry clay. The DAS had interesting tactile qualities because the texture was stiff, but it smoothed relatively well, but a lot better than the model magic, which could not be fully smoothed or blended when adding material. I think the DAS has some paper within the mixture because of the small fibers when torn apart.

The students came in and Gary introduced me and a little history about the Mexican celebration "Day of the Dead". I started by asking the students if they have done any figurative sculpture before. There were 3 hands raised out of the 17 students. The prepared wire pieces were handed out to the students. I showed them step by step where to bend the wire for the head and then twist down to the legs and stop. The next step was to wrap a piece of wire around the twisted torso area for the arms. the only problems we had was the lack of enough pliers and since the figures were smaller than my demo, the wire was harder for the students to bend. Aluminum would have been more ideal, but it is too expensive for a teacher's budget. Smaller steel wire may have worked out ok as well.

The school schedule was rearranged this morning for an assembly, so we didn't get them for the entire time. Tomorrow We will add the DAS clay to the armatures and staple them to wooden bases.

Overall the experience went well and the students were excited to be working with new material, but especially 3D material.