Potato Printing In Ms. Kalt’s class

I usually do potato prints along with printmaking every year, but this year, I’m not in my room due to co-vid restrictions. So it generally did not happen. Ms. Kalt suggested we try her class with potato printing and it would have been hard to say no. I enjoy it, and a lot of vocabulary and concepts are bought into play when you study printmaking. Above is the table where part of the action happened.

Above is a student getting started with the carving aspect of potato printing. I usually use spoons with the younger ones. It works fine to get the idea of removing material to get an image suitable for inking up and printing.

Above is a student rolling paint out on a piece of plexiglass, in preparation to apply the paint to the potato.

A row of activity and creation in various stages.

Another shot of the table where the paint was spread out and applied to the potatoes. Oddly calm and quiet looking.

He looks to be pondering his next move. I see potatoes inked up and some printed images, so things are going well.

Another proud creation!

Mandalas

Mandalas are designs that exhibit the concepts of balance and symmetry.  I use mandalas to teach those terms and concepts along with being a good review of orderly design.

Here you can see a couple of students doing small sketches(practice drawings) of mandalas.

If you notice, most of the students have written the word mandala, numbered each of the mandalas and in all of the designs you can see the student demonstrating a good understanding of the concept of mandala and balance.
All of the the above are great examples of quick mandala sketches.