Wayne Thiebaud Desserts

Meet the artist Wayne Thiebaud!  Even if you don't recognize his name, I bet you have seen his paintings!

Wayne Thiebaud is an American Painter who was turned down by gallery after gallery up and down the Arts District in New York.  He did not gain success until one gallery finally decided to take a chance on his unusually yummy paintings.

Inspired by frosted cakes in a bakery, he decided to paint this delicious subject.  It is hard to tell by this photograph, but the paint is so thickly applied to his paintings it actually looks like real frosting on a cake.

With his non-traditional yet yummy subject matter, Wayne was considered one of the major contributors in the Pop Art movement. His success is a lesson in resiliency. He was turned down over and over, but he never gave up and finally made it big as an artist! In fact, one of the galleries that turned him down spent a small fortune to purchase one of the paintings from his first show!

This year our Wayne Thiebaud inspired artworks were created in sculpture form. Students started with a cardboard base which was covered with plaster casting strips.  Modeling paste was "frosted" onto the cakes which were then decorated with tempera and acrylic paints and model magic clay. Students were really creative with crayon shavings for "chocolate" flakes, soap shavings as "coconut, and straw as candles, just to name a few. 

Below are a few of our finished products.  Please visit the TTE Library to see all of our fantastically yummy creations! 

Kuna Indian Molas

Do you know what a Kuna Mola is? Ask a 5th grader, they know!  

I spent my high school years in the Republic of Panama.  While there I was introduced to the very rich culture of the Kuna people.  Kuna People live in the San Blas Islands of the Republic of Panama and are one of the last known matriarchal societies.  Molas are hand-made textile art created by Kuna women.  They are usually several layers thick.  The designs are created by cutting away parts of each layer to reveal different colored layers below.  The process is known as reverse applique. As part of our cultural study this year, 5th grade students created their own molas after studying this unique art of the Kuna people.  Instead of fabric, fifth graders created paper molas and used x-acto knives to cut though to reveal layers underneath.  

Below you will find photos of a few students creating their molas,  followed by some of their finished molas.