Experience, education and appreciation in the arts is important to us as a family. We are long time appreciative customers of ARTistic Pursuits Inc. and absolutely enjoyed the offer to use their Sculpture Technique Model in our home.
“Pyramids, cathedrals, and rockets exist not because of geometry, theories of structures, or thermodynamics, but because they were first a picture– literally a vision–in the minds of those who built them. Society is where it is today because people had the perception; the images and the imagination; the creativity that the Arts provide, to make the world the place we live in today.”
–Eugene Ferguson, Historian
The Model book is intended to follow the Sculpture Technique Construct book and both books are intended to be used by upper elementary through high school students. We had no trouble using or understanding the instructions in this book even though we had not used the previous Construct text.
The text is divided into three units on mass, scale and surface. Each unit ends with an evaluation that the student can do on their own or as a test for those who need such information for portfolios or outside evaluations. The author (Brenda Ellis) also includes her own classroom schedule that covers the course over
thirty-six weeks for an hour and a half once a week. We chose to work through unit three using wool roving and learning felting techniques. Each unit can be worked through in any order and the felting unit fit in nicely with our Medieval history studies.
Obtaining the art supplies locally turned out to be a bit tricky. Fortunately, the company pre-picked everything you would need for each unit through Blick Art Materials. Just go to ARTistic Pursuits Inc. website and click on “art supply packs”. Scroll to the bottom of the page for the instructions on ordering the materials you need. I ordered the recommended items for the unit. I was very happy with the supplies and we had
enough to do all of the projects with three kids. We also have plenty of wool roving remaining for future projects. We did not like the special felting mat and found using a regular kitchen sponge easier. The sponge also did not pull and frizz the wool as much as the felting mat. So save yourself a few buck and just pick up some sponges at the dollar store.
Unit three opened with a discussion on texture and color theory. We also studied and discussed a picture of a lovely sculpture at the beginning of the unit. We then dived into our first project
which was creating felt sheets. The directions in the book were easy to follow with very clear instructions. With this project I discovered that my palms turn red and itch horribly after handling wool. I wore disposable gloves for the rest of the projects. However, none of the kids had any issues. We used the felt sheets to create flowers and feathers.
The next project was to make and decorate stockings with the wool. We chose to make Robin hood style hats instead for our upcoming Medieval feast. We sewed together some very simple
wool hats and then used the various techniques in the next chapter to create rosettes, feathers and flowers for our hats. The text also taught us how to make a felted vase, birds and animals. We did not made a vase but we did use the technique to create a nest for one of the little birds.
We had a lot of fun making our felt creations. We use the flowers and little birds as a centerpiece for our poetry teatime table scapes every week. I couldn’t let the kids have all the fun and spent a bit of time myself making a little pig from Angry Bird’s for my youngest to play with.
ARTistic Pursuits Inc. is one of our favorite curriculums.
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in pursuit of wild things 
May 10, 2016 at 9:42 pm
What fun! Well, except for your poor hands! Great review! 🙂
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May 11, 2016 at 4:52 pm
Looks like lots of fun, I need to come and play. 🙂
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