3rd Grade - Dish Gardens Inspired by Chihuli

The 3^rd grade class has been learning about the work of glass artist Dale Chihuli.  Although we do not have the means to work with glass in our art studio, we did experiment with a few ways to imitate the effect.  First, students learned how to roll an even slab of clay.  They draped their slab over a styrofoam bowl to create a form similar to Chihuli’s “Macchia”.  Since Chihuli’s work can often be found in nature, we turned our glazed “macchia” into dish gardens where real vines live side by side with “glass trees” made from melted plastic cups.  The results were so much fun that we had to share them.

Clay "macchias" in and out of the kiln.

The dishes were beautiful on their own, but we kept working.

We took clippings from two "parent" plants.

After two weeks the clippings grew roots.

While waiting for our plants, we started working on our "trees."

We used sharpies to add pattern to plastic cups.

It took 60 seconds at 360 degrees to melt our plastic creations.

Building our trees.

The end :)

You can find the 3^rd grade dish gardens on exhibit in the following locations:

Miss MacDonald’s class will have their work on display during the Annual Capturing Nature in Westwood Exhibit, Tuesday, October 22^nd 6-8pm @ Westwood High School

Mrs. McDonough’s class has work split between the Superintendent’s office and the Martha Jones office through the month of November. Your children should be able to tell you exactly where their work can be found.

Starting this Tuesday, Mrs. Luskin’s class will exhibit their sculptures in the Martha Jones Library.

Find out more about Chihuli at www.chihuli.com

(originally posted in Oct.)