Art

The grade 1 and 2 students have been enthralled this term whilst learning about American glass artist Dale Chihuly, known for his gigantic, brilliantly coloured glass sculptures. Perfect for kids, his magical, glowing artwork looks like giant ocean creatures or candy-land flowers. He often displays his pieces in wild, outdoor botanical gardens rather than traditional museums.

The students learned about his ‘macchia’ bowls, which in Italian means ‘spots’. These vibrant, organic glass bowls are known for their brilliant colour combination, contrasting speckled spots and curved shape. To make our own ‘macchia’ bowls, the students were given an A4 piece of shrink plastic. They curved the edge with scissors and coloured the rough side of the plastic with permanent markers. Their design contained different colours, contrasting edges and of course spots! When finished a heat gun was applied to the plastic to make it shrink and twist into these beautiful shapes: