With needle and thread in hand, 21 seventh grade art enrichment students participated in the Newtown Middle School’s (NMS) annual Day of Art on February 14.

NMS art teachers Leigh Anne Coles and Kristen Ladue led the in-house field trip that focused on the fiber art of South African embroidery artist Danielle Clough.

Ms Coles had originally found the living artist’s work on Instagram, [naviga:u]@fiance_knowles[/naviga:u], and was inspired to have the students replicate Ms Clough’s style of putting images on unconventional items (like shoes and tennis rackets).

Dedicating a whole school day to diving into the artist’s technique gave students the opportunity to learn to sew, brainstorm ideas, and implement their creative vision on a black and white hat.

Ms Coles provided a lesson at the beginning of the day and helped students create their project using tools like embroidery floss and threading needles.

Examples of Ms Clough’s artwork from her website, [naviga:u]danielleclough.com[/naviga:u], were displayed on the room’s projector, and students were encouraged to sketch out their ideas and use the school’s laptops as tools.

Students created a wide variety of images, from nature scenes to superhero symbols.

During Day of Art, student Sofia Wassmer said she learned a lot in the class and, despite it being her first time sewing, she created a raven on the side of her hat.

Next to her, Ellie Arcario made a crescent moon with flowers around it and Johnny Kwap made a green cactus.

Nate Lewis making a duck on the front of his hat, while Jaden Ng worked on sewing the DC Comics character Flash’s iconic symbol.

Ashley Velsmid and Puma Marx worked side-by-side, both wanting to raise awareness for endangered species by portraying animals on their hats, along with the way they are becoming in danger of extinction.

Puma focused on depicting a giant panda that she envisioned having an eye patch that shows a burning bamboo forest to represent its loss of habitat and food source.

Ashley, who sketched her design on paper to include a giraffe, elephant, and tiger, among others, said, “We want to wear the hats around school to show we care.”