I did this project with the sixth graders when I was subbing for another subject area class. Since I was not given any plan to follow and told to do whatever I wanted, I took this as an opportunity to get in more art time with students. Considering this was the last period of the day, a week before Christmas and the students were wilder than their usual wild selves- the projects turned out quite nicely!
Saying goodbye is inevitable. We do not always know when they will happen, or for how long. Already this year I have experienced saying goodbye to two of my students. These TCK’s have grown accustomed to saying goodbye, it is part of their life of moving from one place to another. They bond with one another quickly, often sharing similar experiences of not fitting in with the surrounding culture or the culture back home. This does not make the inevitable any easier, rather the moments we have together are to be cherished. I indeed feel privileged to teach and be a part of these young lives.
Part A of a two part project. Students chose a natural object from my own collection to explore and worked in their sketchbooks at first to test out different mixed media combinations. They chose limitations for their piece in regards to the layout of their compositions and media, and created a grid of twelve compositions. These compositions were to show repetition and variation in exploring an object and throughout the piece as a whole.
And of course, I had to try it out for myself!
I introduced the artist Keith Haring to my middle school classes through new printmaking projects. We discussed the elements in his work and created our own Keith inspired prints. The sixth and seventh graders explored the process of gelli mono printing with collage and the eighth graders worked on a simpler version of the styrofoam relief prints with chine colle (*a fancy printmaking term for a technique involving tissue+glue). I felt a bit hurried to get the work finished due to class time constraints and the approaching Christmas break. Here is the first batch of mono prints, complete with creative titles. Stay tuned to see the finished relief prints!
For the past two classes, we have explored the idea of making art with rules or restrictions. I spent part of an evening coming up with a series of rules for the class to follow. Most of the rules dictated how a piece was to be drawn, and did not specify exactly what to draw or what tool to use. We watched Phil Hansen’s TED talk Embrace the Shake on making art with limitations, and briefly discussed what we had seen in his series Goodbye Art. I had students choose an object from my collection of seed pods, shells and pinecones to continue with our theme of exploring natural forms. Next, they picked a rule from the jar which they needed to follow in making a drawing of the chosen object. I think all my students ended up with some very interesting and creative outcomes. We all agreed that the idea of following set rules or restrictions is not necessarily limiting, but helpful to further expand ideas in the creative process.
Quick five minute portrait studies of classmates. I am proud, they all did great!
I am always trying to expose my students to new and exciting experiences in art class. The class asked a while back if we could do body painting. I love when students make suggestions and my brain has already been thinking through several different ways of introducing the subject. As it turned out, I had planned on trying out this camouflage project. We spent one day mixing colours and using various brushes to replicate a chosen texture. The second day, I showed a clip from the Hunger Games where Katniss finds Peeta camouflaged and hidden among the rocks, and then I showed hand paintings by an artist named Daniel Guido. I had the students place their hands overtop of yesterday’s painting and camouflage themselves into the work. I think they mostly enjoyed it. Once they finished, I photographed each piece and played Goodbye Art as they cleaned up. Art is not always about the end result. In some cases, more emphasis is placed on the idea and the process of art making.
Gateway Art 