Altered Digital Compositions with Textiles

I usually like to do a quick project with my graphic design kids to have them explore filters and effects within photoshop. Last year I was excited to discover artist Prince Eric Nichols (https://www.princeericnichols.com/) and his work made from digital textiles. The textiles usually relate to the subject he is representing and I started to think about how students could do both the technical process of overlaying textiles with layer masks and work with the idea of choosing textiles that could represent their own cultures and interests.

Here is the handout I posted for students: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JIFjV8slFuVaFlCjle9PxdJTEgluWX45sH3RAna48Cs/view

This took 2 class periods for my students but it could definitely be done in one if your students have more experience. Next time I will more strongly encourage students to bring textiles or photos of textiles from home instead of using what was in the art room, though I'm thankful we found quite a few options in the classroom that would work.

Creative Reuse: Art from Scrap Textiles

It all started with a KAEA conference workshop. A workshop description mentioned recycling textiles into art. I thought "I like recycling. I have lots of fabric scraps at school." So I signed up.

I didn't even notice that the presenter was the wonderful Liz Kowalchuk when I chose the workshop. The presentation was inspiring and we all enjoyed making pendants out of old clothing. I couldn't wait to get started with my 8th grade students.

I started with a discussion to introduce the assignment. A slides presentation kept me organized.

Challenge 1: Create a pendant

In the workshop, Liz provided us with templates. I found a bunch of small wooden shapes that had been donated to my classroom and scraps of mat board. They were all different sizes so I showed students how to make their own template on thin paper by tracing around their base and leaving enough of a border that it could wrap around onto the back. The students cut scraps of fabric from our collection- some quilting scraps and some cut from worn out clothing, glued them in place on their templates, and trimmed the corners before wrapping. When the wrapping was done, the pieces could either be turned into pendants to wear as a necklace, attached to a ring to use as a keychain, or turned into a broach by pulling one end of the fabric through a large safety pin when wrapping.

Challenge 2: Create an original work of art out of textile scraps

I am more confident working in 2D so I pushed myself to make a sculpture for my example. I formed the bird out of denim and wire, used netting from a produce bag and other scraps to form a nest, and perched it in the crook of a piece of hedge left from prom decorations last year.

I was also excited to have the excuse to pull out some of my cool fibers/textiles/mixed media books and magazines for inspiration!

I was able to purchase an inexpensive sewing machine with a grant a couple of years ago and I wish I had room for more than one because it was popular! Probably 3/4s of the students utilized the sewing machine in some way during construction.

The students didn't have many limits for what to make. Many made pillows, bandanas, or more jewelry. A couple went much bigger, working at home to add to their resources but still focusing on repurposing items.

This student found some old wire at her house and brought in burlap from her mom's wedding decorations to make a giant dream catcher which got a ton of attention hanging in the hallway.

This student was so excited that she finished her sculpture at home over the weekend right after it was introduced. Her mom and grandma gave her some help with papier mache. She used an old doll for the torso, a tomato cage for the rest of the body, an old coat for the fur, curtains for the skirt, and scrap fabric from her quilter grandma's stash.

A few students worked together in a group on a Batman costume that they stitched by hand and an armature to model it. Other students helped teach their classmates how to use the sewing machine or helped them problem solve.

Challenge 3: Plan the display

I explained to the students that they were going to be in charge of preparing their work for the display case including artist statements and a sign to explain the display so people could learn about our topic. I ended up home with a sick kid on the day they set up the display so it was really all them!

I couldn't have been more proud of the students' work on this project. They all learned new skills even though the skills were not the same across the board and they all communicated their ideas.

5th Grade Clotheslines

Last year my 5th grade students voted for this project as their favorite of the year!  I decided it was definitely a keeper.  This was a 2-class period project.

Short description: 5th grade students made mixed media pictures of clothes on a clothesline. First, the students learned how to paint a monochromatic (one color) sky and glued on a yarn clothesline about 1/3 of the way down from the top. In the next class, the students learned that clothing designers have careers in art. Then the students cut miniature pieces of clothing from real fabric and glued them to the background. Buttons and yarn were available for embellishment.

On the first day, we talked about careers in Art and how clothing designers think about line, shape, color, and the other elements of art when designing clothes.  We also talked about how your clothes can show your personality, style, interests, and even your career.  I pointed out that our principal usually wears a nice shirt and tie and I usually wear a paint-covered apron.  Police officers, doctors, athletes, servicemen and women and lots of other people where clothes that work for their jobs.  After the discussion, I explained the project: make a clothesline with clothes on it that show your personality and maybe what you want to be when you grow up.  

I showed the students how to paint a simple sky using tempera paints and how to glue yarn down for the clothesline.  We used a really dense cardboard/fiberboard kind of material for the background last year.  This year we used some thin cardboard pieces, about 8x10 inches, that somebody donated.  I gave each table blue and white tempera and showed the students how to mix a little bit of white in the sky and dab white paint to make clouds without over blending.  I used to have a mental block on clouds because I tried to make them look "perfect".  Now that I am more relaxed not only do I enjoy painting clouds more, they look better.  I suggested gluing the yarn for the clotheslines about 1/3 of the way down from the top.  (Yeah for fractions!)  If you were super organized, you could have every student glue the yarn the same distance from the top so it would form one giant clothesline in the hallway.  I had precut yarn in several colors that was a few inches longer than the boards were wide.  (We taped the extra on the back in the second class so that it wouldn't fray and didn't have to be cut the exact right size.)

The boys were obsessed with adding socks and boxers!

 In the second class, the students cut miniature clothes from fabric and glued them to their backgrounds.  The students could choose whether to glue the clothes flat or raised off the surface.

At the end of class, they cut thin strips of brown paper to look like clothespins.  The students tend to cut out really tiny clothes so I had to give several reminders about scale and how it affects the composition.

Some teachers and my wonderful mom donated fabric scraps and I had saved old shirts and jeans to use the fabric.  If you really want to impress your students, make a small cut in the fabric and rip it with your hands.  They said I was like the Hulk!  The boys especially liked when I cut and ripped my husbands old jeans.  I also had some ribbon and buttons that the students could add for embellishment.

5th Grade Clotheslines

I came up with this idea when I was flipping through the Artist Trading Cards I traded for and collected a few years ago.  This project was a big hit- voted the favorite project of my 5th grade students.  On my survey, I asked the students to give a reason why the project they chose was their favorite of the school year.  The students who actually answered the full question said they liked the clotheslines because they got to express their personality.  This project was completed in two 40-minute class periods.  Most students could have used extra time so next time I will allow three class periods.

Day 1: I demonstrated the first several steps of the project.  I have a ton of really dense cardboard pieces, sized about 8x10 inches that we used for the base.  I showed students how they could use blue and white tempera paint to make their skies more interesting than a flat blue.  *BEFORE the students paint, remind them to write their name on the back of the board!  The students painted all of the board blue, using horizontal brush strokes and then worked a tiny bit of white paint into the blue starting at the bottom for variation.  After the background was painted, the students cleaned their brushes thoroughly and used the white paint to add clouds.  I told the students that I used to have a really hard time painting clouds because I tried to make them PERFECT.  I finally got over it by not taking it quite so seriously!  I showed the students how to dab and swish the brush (not scrub!) to make clouds.  I also suggested giving the clouds a flatter bottom to make them look a little more realistic than big circles.  After the clouds were painted, the students used white glue to add a piece of yarn to be the clothesline.  I briefly touched on the rule of thirds and suggested the students glue their yarn 1/3 of the way from the top of their sky- to make their compositions more interesting and allow plenty of room for the clothes.  I had precut pieces of yarn a couple inches wider than the boards (yarn can be trimmed or wrapped around and secured on the back) in as many different colors as I had to give the students more choices.

Day 1 progress on the drying rack.  *I saved the boards I created during demonstration so students who missed the first class period could use one and have time to finish their projects.

Day 2:  I had scraps of old shirts and jeans, fabric remnants, ribbon, buttons, and construction paper available for students to use to make their clothes.  When I introduced the project to the students, I used my completed clothesline to show how clothes can express your personality and tell something about you.  On my example (which I should have photographed) I included an art apron like the one I wear at school everyday.  I didn't want to sound shallow when talking about the clothes but I know my students are at the age where they are really getting in to fashion and expressing themselves through their clothes.  We discussed how clothes can show your interests (favorite color, sports fan, etc.) and can show what you like to do (uniform, jersey, career clothes, etc.)  I asked the students to cut a smaller section of the big pieces of fabric to work from so the others would have a chance to use it.  I talked about setting the fabric on their board before cutting to make sure it was big enough for at least three items of clothing.  Some students felt comfortable just cutting the shape of the clothes and some drew it out first, either with chalk or a sharpie.  I suggested cutting the basic shape first and then thinking of details to add with other materials.  Up until the point in class where I felt I needed to tell the students to just finish what they had started, I suggested cutting the clothes and playing with the arrangement before gluing down.  We talked about contrast- you don't want to put a really light colored fabric on top of a white cloud, and trying to get a variety of colors, textures, and patterns.  I was super impressed with the creativity of my students.  I don't have photographs of the most innovative artwork because I don't have Artsonia permission slips for those students.  :(  One student cut little slots in her miniature jeans so she could thread a belt through and made tiny functioning pockets!  If students got their clothes glued on the line in time, I showed them how they could use little pieces of construction paper as clothespins.  I wonder how many of my students have actually seen a real clothesline?  They are becoming a thing of the past but are a fun framework for an art project.

        

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