Notebook

Notebook, 1993-

MATERIALS & METHODS - A Perspective on Art Education - Activities for Children - Themes & Topics

Drawing & Painting -- Modeling & Sculpting

Fingerpainting -- Mural Making -- Paper-Mâché -- Puppets -- Mask-Making -- Crayon Encaustics -- Crayon Resist Drawing -- Crayon Sgraffito -- Collage -- Mobiles -- Watercolor -- Common Earth Clay -- Salt Ceramic [recipe] -- Clay / plasticene Non-hardening -- Carving in the Round -- Newspaper Modeling -- Paraffin or Wax Sculpture -- Plaster Plaques or Reliefs -- Relief in Plaster -- Relief in Soft Wood -- Concret or Zonolite Sculpting -- Repoussé -- Sandcasting -- Working With the Coping Saw or Jigsaw -- Straw/Toothpick Sculpting -- Painting on Window Glass -- Diorama -- Peep Shows -- Whittling -- Wire Sculpture

[From: [Meaning in Crafts. Mattil,, Edward L. Chairman, Dept. of Art, North Texas State University. Third Edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1971.]

Working With the
Coping Saw or Jigsaw


With increased frequency, hand tools such as the coping saw and power jig saw are becoming part of the elementary classroom equipment. Used thoughtfully, these tools are as capable as the brush or the crayon of creating original and imaginative forms.

Begin with simple contour drawings that have as little intricate detail as possible. The teacher must work with the children to help them understand the limitations of tools and equipment.

A saw will not do what a pencil does (as the pencil cannot duplicate the brush); each tool is used to do what it does most effectively. That the saw cuts is obvious; the detail it can cut is to be discovered. Ideas and solutions come forth when they are called for, expected, and valued. So we begin with simple forms, representing the natural concepts that children have of people, animals, nature, and so on. Use of the saw soon shows what is possible and what is not.

Simple forms cut from plywood have thickness, and they can be arranged in space. As soon as space enters the discussion, we have entered the world of sculpture; and the student builds when he fastens three or four pieces on a flat wood base, standing apart from one another at different depths. In crafts, as in all teaching, we begin with simple activities and move on to the more and more complex ones. [Mattil, Edward L. Meaning in Crafts. 3rd Ed. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1971.]

[Meaning in Crafts. Mattil,, Edward L. Chairman, Dept. of Art, North Texas State University. Third Edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1971.]




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