Methods - Art Ed @ SU

[jholmes191]

Our last methods lesson went great! Steve and i decided to have the students do an abstract painting while listening to classical music.  Steve had them do cutouts of abstract shapes and a watercolor wash for the background. Those came out awesome! For my lesson, i tool a different route and had them do splatter paint while still listening to the music.  They seemed to really enjoy it.  It’s definitely a messy project, but worth it to see the amazing paintings they did.  This photo is my teacher sample that i took with my phone, but i will post more when they are up on the google website.

[michellerosenthal24-blog]

This seemed like it went really well! I would love to hear more about it in class and maybe how to adjust the project to younger students. 

[kakent-blog]

METHODS -

I love this idea. In fact, Anna and I wrote a ‘dummy’ lesson on a similar vein. And I’ve written a lesson about it in the past (but haven’t yet taught it). 

I love the idea of painting what you hear. Music makes us feel and it’s not a stretch to paint what we feel.

Seeing your post Jen inspires me to consider trying it during student teaching. If not then, I certainly want to when I have my own classroom.

[culturenlifestyle]

Artist Documents Tender Notes Over Acrylic Illustrations From Her Travels on a Moleskine Notebook

American artist Missy H. Dunaway documents her travels across the US, Europe, Turkey, and Morocco with extreme romanticism and poetry. Dunaway illustrates on her Moleskine journal a beautiful scenery with acrylic paint from her time in a specific location, then autographs each painting with a sweet excerpt of nostalgia.

She often composes goodbye notes on her journals, as she bids adieu to each city. Each cityscape portrait reveals a tender thought or memory of heartbreak or a desire for wanderlust.

Some of the lovely anecdotes read:

“Standing in Asia. Looking at Europe. Thinking of New York.”

“I moved to Istanbul (alone). I’ve been looking out my window more than usual.”

“I’ve discovered I have the gift to feel at home jus about anywhere.”

“I’ll press you in a book.”

“I was staring at the blinking lights  of an airplane and waiting for sleep when a shooting star passed across my view, clear as day. I haven’t seen a shooting star in a whole decade.”

We highly urge everyone to click on each image to read the stunning passages. You can find these notebooks and more of her original work in her Etsy shop.

View similar posts here!

[artmania-feed]

Holiday gift guide

Jewelry gifts under $50

Gifts for him under $30

Gifts for her under $30

Winter fashion accessories

[michellerosenthal24-blog]

I like seeing this artwork. It makes me think of something that I can dow with my students. The colors bring out the texture that is shown throughout the artwork and the composition is shown in a vibrant way. 

[kakent-blog]

METHODS -

I agree with Michelle - I like the look of these painted/illustrated travel notebook pages. They remind me of a modern version of an illuminated travel manuscript if you will.

We could collaborate with other teachers who may be teaching about other parts of the world. To collaborate, we could study what the places look like and then paint the places we’ve studied to create the travel notebook. Then when finished, students would have a collection of the places they’ve “explored.”

[teachorg]

Education is the key to success in life. Giving someone an education can make a incredible impact on their life. #education

[kakent-blog]

This post from TEACH is similar in a way to Steven G’s recent post about the importance of teaching. I am also excited about becoming an art teacher. But it does bring with it a great deal of responsibility. I don’t want to just do crafts with my students. I want to be a source of support for them, I wan to make a positive impact in their lives. I want to help them become the best version of themselves they can be.

I want to help young people remember to respect all people; to be kind and respectful to themselves AND to others. I believe that respect for others begins with the self. To know that we all matter and we are all valuable is a lesson we can most definitely learn in the art room. As art teachers, we can create positive and supportive learning experiences that help create successful and happy adults.

[moma]

Architecture’s impact in today’s refugee crisis

“There has been relatively little discussion as to how architecture engages with and responds to global refugee emergencies. Through art, architecture and design, we may begin to be able to identify effective ways in which to visualize ourselves as citizens.”

Associate curator Sean Anderson writes on CNN.com about architecture’s impact in today’s refugee crisis, also the subject of our current exhibition, Insecurities: Tracing Displacement and Shelter. Read it here. 

[kakent-blog]

METHODS - Interesting to see this post in tumblr today. Our Mural of Hope project explored how as artists, we can spread hope. We focused especially on efforts made in the Za’atari refugee camp outside of Jordan, and the murals that have been painted by artists and camp residents.

This camp is filled with approximately 80,000 Syrian refugees. This is an important issue that we cannot ignore. It is issues like this that we can explore and bring to light in the art room. As art teachers it is important that we inspire our students to care about and respect others.

[kakent-blog]

METHODS - Week 10 Saturday Workshop

During our last session with our students, we concluded our gesture project. This was a two part project that began with translating movement of a human figure into a gesture drawing. During this last class, we translated the gesture drawing into a three dimensional wire sculpture.

I was worried our students might struggle with manipulating the wire, but they had no problem at all. In fact, one of our more challenging students was one of the most engaged students this week. She took her time with her sculpture and was the last student to finish - she’s usually the first student to finish because she’s lost focus. It goes to show that you never know what can hook a student into learning and art making.

[kakent-blog]

METHODS - BIG SHOW

I just love big show! It requires a great deal of work to get ready, but the day of the show is so rewarding.

I feel so fulfilled seeing our students’ work so nicely and carefully displayed. I would have loved to see my own artwork displayed when I was a young artist, and I can imagine how great it must feel to our students. And especially with our Tully students who are bussed in, it is nice to see our students with their families. And it is nice for the families to come and see what their youngsters are experiencing while they are with us.

I recently ran into a Saturday workshop student at the YMCA. He had nothing but positive things to say about his experiences with Saturday workshop. Art really can make a difference in everyone’s lives and rewarding to be able to be a part of it with SU.

[kakent-blog]

METHODS - BIG SHOW PREP

It is common knowledge that we are always learning new things (and sometimes re-learning old things). Hanging artwork for big show takes focus, hard work, sweat, and a constant checking and rechecking to ensure artwork is level.

Anna and I re-learned this lesson during big show prep. We were drilling our mural panels after having leveled them according to the floor. This was a mistake. We had hung two and a half of the three panels when Danielle walked into the room and informed us our mural wasn’t level. It was level with the floor, but not level with the wall panels. The whole thing looked horrible!

We took it all down, stripped out a few screws and rehung the mural panels by making them level with the wall panels. Lesson re-learned. Check.

[guilbault40]

The Importance of Safety

In looking back at my instruction on how to safely handle a linocut tool, I noticed some photos revealing how my students paid attention during the demonstration. Although there were times Dr. Bey and I had to remind them, being vigilant prevented any injuries from happening.

Demonstration: A lesson on safety is important before having your students use any sharp tools. Before the students engage in any project, always show them the proper way to use them.

Always keep that sharp carving tool away from YOU!

Another student that paid attention during demonstration. 

And, then, after your done carving safely, nice impressions can be made in clay.

[kakent-blog]

I really like the idea of this lesson Steven. I’ve recently discovered that I’m into the concept of making art and then then taking that idea/piece of art and turning into something else. In my mind it is translation.

Anna and I just wrote a lesson that revolves around this idea. Our idea explores the concept of what sound looks like. In our plan, our students would first paint what the sound looks like, then in the next week, they would translate that into a print.

Oh, and another idea we are doing that involves translation is capturing movement with a gesture drawing, then in the next week, turning (or translating) that pencil sketch into a wire sculpture that also captures movement.

[teachorg]

Teaching is art. #teaching #teacher #discovery #imagination #learn #education #teacherlife

[kakent-blog]

I love this post that B. Prisco shared. So true, and even more true for us as budding art teachers. We assist in their discovery as they assist in our discovery. In this way, it is collaborative art.

[kakent-blog]

METHODS Week 8: Inspiration

It’s funny how things work sometimes. This past weekend I attended a good portion of the GRAE conference and while there, got inspiration for my final printmaking project. I had to leave the conference to go to Corning. While in Corning, I found this beautiful piece of wood in a gift shop that is totally what I had envisioned for my printmaking project. Like I said, it’s funny how things work sometimes. Kismet I think?

Additionally, on the drive to Corning and back I saw so many beautiful things out my car window that I had to whip out my phone and try to take a few photos. I completed a print this semester that merged the landscape of my childhood with the landscape of my recent adult years. I saw so many things that I had incorporated into my print, as well as many things I wanted to incorporated into subsequent images.

It’s amazing how much inspiration surrounds us if we keep our eyes open to receiving the inspiration!

[kakent-blog]

METHODS - Week 8: A visit to the Corning Museum of Glass

I spent the second half of last weekend at the Corning Museum of Glass with family. We go every year and blow glass ornaments. This year we went a little earlier than usual and blew glass pumpkins. I just adore this museum. There is so much to see and explore and with each year, they add more and more art to their contemporary art collection 

Here are photos of just two examples of the awesome things to see. It would be so great to take your students to this museum as an art teacher. You could collaborate with the science and history/social studies teachers in your school too and create an interdisciplinary experience for your students mixing the science and history of glass making with the art of glass making.

If you have never been to the museum, make plans and go! It’s worth the short drive!

[kakent-blog]

METHODS 2: GRAE Workshop, Fall 2016

I fully enjoyed my time spent at the GRAE conference this past weekend. I enjoyed it for a number of reasons, two of which are the networking and comradery that occurred, but also for the chance to be exposed to what doctoral students are researching in our field. Being a part of such a space inspired me to begin initial stages of my own art creation.  

Sadly, I had to leave early afternoon on Saturday, but I was still able to observe the first two panels of presenters. All of the presentations were informative and eye opening, but by far, the most inspirational presentation for me was the first by J. Celeste Kee.

I felt her work was so timely, important, and directly related to her audience. We often talk of trying to create projects that our students are interested in working on and she successfully accomplished that with her suitcase project. I am always drawn to exploring concepts that aim toward creating deeper meaning, or aim toward a deeper understanding of self and this project is one that most certainly explores that type of meaning. Love it!

[kakent-blog]

METHODS - Saturday Workshop, Week 7: Gesture Drawings

We essentially taught two different pieces this week to each of our groups. We wrapped up painting the murals, and reviewed how we can inspire hope, etc. Then we spent the last half hour introducing our next project. Our plan is for our students to complete a series of gesture drawings that they can then turn into a wire sculpture.

Our students had a lot of fun expressing themselves in a series of action poses. I even got into the fun of it during our second session, as you can see above with my bad attempt! To introduce this next lesson, we discussed what anticipated movement is and how we know that someone is about to move based on what we see. This was kind of a bit of VTS thinking as we reviewed examples of a baseball player standing still and leaning on his bat vs. a player that is about to swing his bat.

We asked our students to select 1 to 3 of their gesture drawings they are interested in turning into a wire sculpture. I am excited to see how this project progresses.

[kakent-blog]

METHODS - Saturday Workshop, Week 7: Murals

Shown above are the two collaborative murals that our students painted. The goal was to paint a mural for hope with the essential question of: “How do artists inspire hope?” Each group determined their own overarching theme. Group 1 chose an open gate in a fence to symbolize hope for the future (with four panels). Group 2 chose to create a waterfall to inspire hope for renewal (with three panels).

The goal of this project was that the overarching theme would be present across all panels when they are placed together, while the remaining portions of each panel was up to the small groups to plan/create. This approach is similar to the murals that have been painted in the Za’atari Syrian refugee camp outside of Jordan.

Our students worked diligently on both sets of murals however, I think the waterfall mural reads more successfully. The imagery of the overarching theme is easier to view and it is more coherent as an overall theme. I think this is due to the fact that since our second group is so much smaller than the first group, Anna and I were able to participate a bit more in the painting of the waterfall mural. I think ultimately, both murals will be a success, Anna and I may just have to go back to the open gate mural and outline the fence and gate to ensure it is coherent to the viewer.

[kakent-blog]

METHODS - Saturday Workshop, week 7

This week, we had to conduct our classes a little differently than we have been this semester. We had to take turns teaching while the other observed and gave feedback via a rubric.

Anna and I were both presented with different challenges, but I think we handled them pretty well. Anna taught our first session, which is significantly larger than our second session. We informed our students of the teaching approach we would be using and asked them to only talk/interact with Anna. We have a few behavior challenges in our first session and they seemed to use this as an opportunity to push boundaries. Additionally, our students were in close proximity to each other as we were completing our collaborative murals. Anna stayed on top of the students, separated them, physically sat between them, and when those first steps didn’t work, she pulled them from painting all together. I think Anna handled the situation well and there wasn’t much else she could do in light of the way they were behaving. With that said, once she moved into the next lesson (beginnings of a wire sculpture project), the kids behaved amazingly well.

I taught during our second session and had a completely different set of challenges. Only three students were in attendance and our second session kids are more quiet in general anyway. My challenges were to keep the class interesting, and interactive, while keeping the kids engaged. I think it went well considering it was such a small group. We painted on the mural pieces - I assisted because we had quite a bit of ground to cover still and only three students. It was nice to paint along side the students. Then when we moved into the gesture drawing portion for our wire sculpture project, I modeled a bit here and there to make sure students had enough opportunity to draw a variety of poses.

In all, I hate being observed. I already knew this about myself, and I know it’s a fact of life for a teacher, but man! I need to just relax and forget they are even in the room!

[kakent-blog]

METHODS - Saturday Workshop, Week 6

Since our students are painting their mural section in small groups, it was easier to let students paint up on the giant table surface that lives in the printmaking room. We did learn from the first session, to make sure we lay newsprint under the panels to catch paint. There was quite a bit of clean up after the first session. Regardless, the kids loved getting to sit up on the table to paint. Sometimes, just the act of working in a different place/position can cause more creativity.

Our second group is smaller than our first group and we had several absent students, so Anna suggested that we have them align the mural sections and paint as one large group. This worked really well for our smaller group and made the experience more inviting and encouraged everyone to work together. As a result, the mural from the second group already feels much more coherent. We learned from this experience, and when we wrap up painting next week, we are planning on aligning the mural sections for both groups right away. It was important that each group had their own voice within their own sections of the mural, but it is also important that viewers can comprehend the overall symbol that works to connect the mural sections. I have really enjoyed teaching this project and I hope our students gained some insight into the lives of others as well as enhanced visual literacy skills.

[kakent-blog]

METHODS - Saturday Workshop, Week 6

UDL Brushes: We brought the bin of brush alternatives into the classroom with us this week.  I learned during my first semester in Methods, that we should make alternative tools available to all students, rather than just call out the students we think may need them. There is no need to single out a student based on assumptions we have that may or may not be correct. And there is no need to exclude students based on assumptions we have because using an alternative tool can be a learning experience for any student.

It turns out the UDL brush bin was a big hit. One student had four fingertip brushes on one hand and insisted on painting with them! The fingertip brushes became a great tool for painting smaller details. Another student used the toothbrush to flick paint onto the mural in an effort to create texture. Kids are so resourceful because they’re not fully programmed yet to always think “no” or “that’s not for me.” It was a great reinforcement for me as a teacher to make sure I always incorporate alternative tools whenever possible, and to make them available to all students.