Mrs. Katona's Art Class
Third Grade Artists
American Indian Pottery Painting
In third grade, we looked at the traditional Southwest American Indian designs. We learned about how pottery was made by the native Americans and then tried to draw one ourselves, using their symbols. Next, we talked about landscapes. To enhance our pots we placed two lines in our landscape. It created a foreground, a mid-ground and a background. Students were encouraged to add elements such as adobe houses, cactuses, snakes, and skulls into each level of the landscape. The pots were colored with crayon and students were encouraged to stick with the three colors found in all traditional American Indian pottery; red, white and black. The background was then painted with watercolors. This project teaches art history, drawing and painting. Maria Matinez, a Tewe Indian of New Mexico is most famous for her pottery.