Save that gadget - art projects

The art teacher's motto is, "Don't throw that away!" In our art room, we save all sorts of "precious junk," from stacks of cardboard to tiny boxes, cans and egg cartons for paint. One of our most valuable collections is a box of tiny objects called gadgets, which we use for printing with paint and imprinting into clay.

What are gadgets? Lots of odd things that have a printable shape. For example, the tops of used-up pens and markers make little circles. Empty thread spools have a wonderful design on the ends. Some types of pastas can be used to print great shapes, and plastic pieces from board games sometimes have a printable end, such as Monopoly[R] houses and hotels. Cardboard edges can make terrific lines. Cardboard strips can also be curved, folded in accordion fashion, and coiled for a wide variety of effects.

Rummaging through a toolbox will yield a few more odd-shaped items. Students and parents can be alerted to keep their eyes open for printers. Sometimes something from a broken toy is good. During my many years of teaching, I was always on the lookout, and was even known to pick up an odd piece of junk from the sidewalk in town!

There are many subjects that would be wonderful for gadget printing. Aliens and robots are fun, birds are delightful, and various abstract design ideas, fancy suns and concentric circles, are also great. But two of my favorite gadget lessons use fish: "Gadget Print Fish" and "Imprinted Clay Fish." Sometimes I would do one in fourth grade and one in fifth, and then display them together. Fish are great because the students can vary shape quite a bit, and the intricate gadget prints seem to represent scales.

To start, you need some great fish shapes! On newsprint or manila paper, the students begin to sketch out their ideas. Is your fish happy or sad? Is it playful or aggressive? Is it friend or foe? Remember to consider fins and tails! Prompt the children to use their imaginations, to stretch their ideas, to create their own unique fish shape. When they have their idea, they draw it nice and big on a sheet of 6" x 9" plain white paper if they are doing "Imprinted Clay Fish," and 12" x 18" black paper for the "Gadget Print Fish" (the black paper will create a beautiful contrast with the paint).

GADGET PRINT FISH Students should cut out their black-paper fish, put their names on the back, and then gather around to see how the printing part works. Students will need water containers, brushes and paint palettes with light, premixed tints of paint. A paper towel is handy too.

Demonstrate how to get a good print by stamping the gadget into a bit of paint that has been brushed out on the palette paper (not into a

blob of paint, which would result in a messy print).

Then, slowly and carefully place the print end of the gadget down on the paper. Don't bang it down! Be careful not to drag it! I remind the children not to use a gadget to "draw" on the fish, because this is a print project, and everything must be printed! The students can hardly wait to begin, but know that good craftsmanship is in order.

The first step is to accentuate the face area by printing a curved line to separate it from the rest of the body. The artists can then devise interesting eyes and mouths in the face, leaving the rest plain. Students eagerly hunt for intriguing gadgets to print the body, fins and tail. They can practice printing the shapes on scrap paper to see how they look.

Often two gadgets can be used together in an area to make a more complex pattern. Some areas may be painted with a solid color first, and then printed over with a contrasting color when dry. Silence falls as the artists concentrate on working out their designs.

When done, the fish are put in the rack to dry, while some children find the time to cut out a baby fish and look for the tiniest gadgets with which to embellish it. We all then look forward to our next gadget printing experience!

IMPRINTED CLAY FISH

Children enter the room with a special air of excitement when they see that a clay project is in the offing! When they hear that they will also be using gadgets, they are eager to get right to work. After designing the fish shape and cutting it out, they place the paper pattern on a slab of clay about 3/16 of an inch thick that has been placed on a 9" x 12" vinyl mat.

Students then cut around their pattern and into the clay cleanly, using an opened paperclip as a tool.

They carefully peel away the paper and scraps. Turning over the cutout clay fish, students write their names on the back with the paperclip tool, and then turn it back over for the imprinting. (Edges can be smoothed with a moistened finger.)

Gathering around a work area, the students watch a demonstration of various ways to make impressions in the clay. It is a little different from the paint printing: The trick being to press the gadget into the clay far enough so that it shows nicely, but not too deep. The ends of craft sticks and pointed sticks can be pressed in at an angle, which is something new to try.