Back at it again!

As always, with the start to a new group of kids, school, age group, whatever it may be, I usually get a bit nervous the day before and morning of... but then it usually wears off right when I step into the classroom.

 This day was no different! I kept going back and forth what I wanted to do with these kids as it was their first day and I wanted to make sure we all were on the same page.

 So, with this, and learning what's worked in the past with other residencies, I decided to go in with a bunch of rules put forth. I'd have all of the kids help to establish what they may be, so they stick to their own rules that they were apart of making.

 It's the first day of class and it's a bunch of 6th grade girls. I got this. Mind you, the rest of the 10-15 will probably be coming next week because they didn't have their permission slips today, but it was nice going into the class on the first day of class and seeing their age level and how they like to take their time with their art. Ahhh. This is something I haven't been used to in awhile. I like when they take their time, as they take more pride in their work.

I came up with an idea of "Illuminated Names" sort of inspired by Illuminated Manuscripts from the Middle Ages, and I thought it would be a good first day of class activity for them to do. We did some Art History with Illuminated Manuscript discussion and talked about the process of how I wanted them to make their names, and to incorporate images about themselves, including hobbies and interests, or just things they like to draw. They got so excited. Did I mention they took their time? As something you can never gauge from the beginning, now I understand the pace and interests of these students. I asked them what they wanted to work on, so that also gave me a better understanding of projects to prepare for the future.

They just got started with their names, really. We sketched, painted, and some started outlining with their sharpies. A lot of them said towards the end that they liked how I didn't rush them. They probably get rushed all day at school and I know when I feel rushed in my art it makes me have anxiety!

Here are a few of their started names. Then I got to thinking, what about if we made books? Their own self-portrait books that they could always have and add onto, with each class being a different part to their story. I'm pretty excited just thinking about it!

Favorite Quotes: "I'm really looking forward to Tuesday now."

"I've never been able to express myself like this." 

Henna Hands

   Henna is something that's always fascinated me. From the intricacy of all the designs balancing together, to the process of how it's put onto the body, this is something I wanted to investigate more and see what the kids thought about.

   First we talked about Henna and if anyone's ever heard of the process. A few had, and as soon as I showed them the slides of images, most were familiar. We talked about the history of Henna and how it originated. We talked about that it's a paste made from a plant, and they were very intrigued with the process.
  Although we didn't actually put anything onto their skin, they got to practice drawing their hands, first on sketch paper, then on their final paper. I said that their Henna designs were to describe them as individuals and what interests they had. I showed them examples of designs to draw on each part of the hand, for example, fingers, thumbs, and palms.

   This was the last class, so some didn't get to finish. But my feelings were they left with a lot of new art processes to try as this was just a taste for them. Many were sad to go, and I felt the same. I love hearing that they love art and want to continue to grow up and do art. These are words that inspire me!

Picasso Personalities

It's been a good minute since I've updated some lessons. This Profile and Picasso lesson I did with my 3rd/4th graders and they had fun with it.

   First we started off with some numbers in profiling. They really enjoyed this as not many have done this before: We took number combinations and made face profiles. For example, a 9, 4, and a Z  was one of the combinations and it made a side profile. I showed them all the ways they could do this, with many different numbers and letters, then they practiced their own number/letters. It was a good connection with interpreting math with art!

After talking about profiles, I introduced Picasso's art and how he painted many different types of profile, usually one side looking forward and the other to the side. We took oil pastels to color them in. Here are some examples:

It's interesting how some kids interpreted a more realistic approach and others used different colors

and line patterns to make it more their own style.

Why YES! those are my thoughts exactly. :) I just can't get enough!

What will you make today??

Adinkra Art

Today we learned about the Adinkra Tribe in Africa and how they use symbols in art. 

  

We talked about some essential questions. What are symbols? How are symbols used in art? Why do you think this tribe used symbols in their art to tell a story? 

 I had them pick an object from their backpack that was important to them or had a special story behind it. We talked about their objects in a circle on the floor and all were eager to share their story.

 I said that it's hard not to have a personal connection with our art form. Art is our own style and how we communicate our interests and our own individual personalities.

 First, I showed them symbols they see in everyday life. I explained that art is all around us, communicating thoughts and ideas with us all the time. We looked at pictures of Adinkra symbols and then asked them to go back to their seats to create their own "story" on their fabric square. First they sketched out their designs with pencil, then they outlined with sharpies, and filled in color with watercolor.

 Students were to create symbols on fabric to make their own story based from the designs they discovered they had a connection with.

I was surprised that a lot of students wanted to make up their own symbols, so I thought that if they had a stronger connection to something else, it would be easier for them to express that. 

Beautiful Oops :)

This was such a fun lesson and really opened the student's eyes, with lessons learned of adjusting our mistakes that we make in art, and life. 

We talked about how most times when mistakes happen it's a surprise, so we have to learn to adjust out minds to making it work for us, not against us.

We read Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg. The kids really enjoyed how interactive the book was. The major lesson that they took from it is to see your mistakes as opportunities for creativity. We all loved the touchable “oopses” in this book, like the tear of a piece of paper in the book that becomes the smile of a happy dog when you turn the page!

The lesson objective was that the students will create a piece of artwork that shows how mistakes can be made into something beautiful. 

I would totally recommend this book to anyone. It's one of my favorites of all time. :)

 

After reading the book, I showed them my example of my Beautiful Oops and all the different ways I incorporated different "oopsies" into my collage. (Rips, stains, drips, tears, bends, folds, etc.) Then we talked about how these took on a whole new life of their own in their new form of a collage. I talked about how my biggest oopsies became my most favorite parts.

The students then went back to their tables where I distributed a bunch of "mistakes" or "oops'" on their tables and they were to come up with their own piece of art in the form of a collage. 

  Here one student used the ripped pieces of paper and tissue, magazine clippings, and added details with markers and chalk pastels .

I'm noticing a lot of hearts on a lot of their pictures! :) This makes me happy. 

Inspiration

 Truth!!






Definitely the Right Brained here!!

We love Collage :)

 I always enjoy my time spent in the art room. Today was so great because I got to introduce the art making process of Collage. I explained that we can make art out of anything.  Recycled objects are great, like cardboard and newspaper, because we can find those almost anywhere.

We started off getting their brains engaged with a little warm up of "Miss Rosie Says." just like Simon says, but with drawing prompts. It was interesting to see what was interpreted from my directions.

 After our warm up, I introduced a contemporary Artist, Denise Fiedler, who has worked on her project "Paste" since 2009. I explained that what she does is use old books and paper scraps to create her pasted collage images of animals and whatever else inspires her. The kids really enjoyed seeing some examples of the dogs that she makes. You can find some of her work here: http://pastesf.com/

We looked at images of cats on the big screen and I asked them what shapes they saw in all of the cats facial features. I gave them examples of how to draw the eyes, noses, mouths, ears, and bodies. I had lots of paper scraps left over from my paper cutter, so I also had them make yellow borders like a frame. They could decorate the frame if they wanted with markers or oil pastels. They started with their hills for bodies first, then heads,  then ears and facial features.

It was so nice to see what they came up with. I enjoyed seeing their cats come to life as some gave them names, collars, and backgrounds :)

Way to go!!

Monster Art!

Who isn't at least a little intrigued with monsters? I know I still am. I wanted something fun and exciting to get them engaged with this concept.

 At the beginning of class we played " Pass the Paper" where they have a minute to draw something on their paper, then pass it to the person to their left. After about 5 minutes they had a whole picture that people at their table helped to contribute. 

I then read them a story I wrote about a monster's "Day in the Life." When they got to a part in the story that needed actions, (my monster has a big monster laugh) they would act out their monster's actions. This got a little silly! When we were done, I told them to make that monster in their minds come to life after going through the story. 

We sketched their bodies with pencil then went over lines with oil pastel. After, we filled in spaces with watercolor paints. They were so excited to paint today!! They sure needed it...

Something about holding a paintbrush I think makes all of us happy. :)

                        The process...

Classroom adventures!

It's so exciting to become involved with another teaching assignment. Each one is always different and challenging in its own way, and you always learn something new. Teaching is always an eye-opening experience. I learn so much from my students; their perspectives on ideas are usually viewpoints that I've never thought about, which is fun to think in a different way.


This idea leads me into an exercise that I did with my third graders on the first day of class. I wanted to see what they thought "imagination" meant to them. I talked about how our imagination is so important when creating art, and just in every day life how it helps us form and collaborate ideas. Art and imagination go hand-in-hand, and I wanted for them to write and sketch out what they thought imagination meant in each their own worlds. Here are some pretty incredible responses.

This got their minds ready and their juices flowing for a nice introduction for me to learn their names for a project called name art. I showed them  how to make block letters and all the different patterns we can put in the background of our name to make it stand out like a sculpture. They used color, texture, and patterns to create their names all in intricate and amazing ways!

Way to go, guys! Looking forward to next time. :)

Check 1,2!

  How exciting it is to get back on the Blogger train I must say. It's been too long since I've shared ideas in this type of space. I'm looking forward to all of the lovely experiences and adventures that will come about in  my future of teaching artistry.
 The joy I receive every day sharing my passion for art with students of all ages is something that inspires and motivates me to become a better artist and arts educator. I truly believe in this field as an enriching and important part of human development, at all ages and stages.
This photo I've included says it all!