Sunday, March 6, 2011

Gallery Glass Dragons

The end of this month my 5th graders will be preforming their play.  It has a medieval theme. I am teaming up with our amazing music teacher and helping her with her props.  I decided this year I would also have an art display at the play.  All grade levels will be participating in this art display.  5th graders are making medieval dragons using gallery glass.  It is a HUGE hit! They think the gallery glass is soo cool...plus of course dragons are always a cool thing too!


First I had students draw dragons using pencil and outline them with sharpie marker.  I did have several dragon images for them to reference from.  The drawing part was a big challenge that I think they handled it beautifully!
Using two pieces of scotch tape we attached sheets of extra lamination paper to the top of their dragon drawings. I had teachers and aides collect any extra lamination  they did throughout the year.  5th graders then used liquid leading and traced all outlined lines.
Once the liquid leading dries, students filled the spaces with gallery glass.
I have not figured out a good way to finish these off or hang them.  I feel like they need some kind of frame or cool way to hang them. Any ideas??

5 comments:

  1. I'm not sure I know what "gallery glass" is - can you explain?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Phyl,
    Sure thing! I just discovered it last year (first year teaching). The previous teacher had purchased it and never used it. In my third photo there shows on top of the dragon a little container full of gallery glass bottles. It is liquid ''glass'' in a bottle! Very similar to puffy paint but thinner. I was not sure how to use it last year and I experimented with it using lamination scrap from our laminator. I discovered that if you paint only with the gallery glass and do not use the liquid leading (black ''lead'' line) it peals off. The liquid leading holds the color-like a barrier I guess. The gallery glass just gives a great look a like to stained glass windows. I found it in the Nasco catalog. The liquid leading is difficult to use so I keep this medium for my 5th graders. It is a HUGE hit and my young kids constantly ask me when they get to try it! Let me know if you have any other questions!
    Jen

    ReplyDelete
  3. This sounds great! What if you had them make a circular frame (two circles inside each other with color sandwiched between) and cut on the edge of the outer circle. It would look more finished like a painting then.

    Thanks for posting!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cool project. I'd never heard of gallery glass either and wish the art fairy would leave me some, too.
    So far as hanging...At first I thought you peeled the lamination off the project when it was complete, but now I notice it is still there. Perhaps you could trim the lamination close to the project and use a bit of epoxy to attach a small loop of wire for hanging.
    They sell hooks that have a suction cup on back. These could be placed on windows so you could let the light shine in.
    That's what I would do:)
    Love the results. What a fabulous idea. Thanks for sharing.
    Barb

    ReplyDelete
  5. Next time, try applying it to plexiglass. It's great stuff. Your gallery glass will be stabile, you can frame the plexiglass and it will last forever. That would make a fantastic keepsake for the kids.

    ReplyDelete