Aunt Alice's Art Room

Last term...Yep. It's TIME.

2009-03-29T19:52:00.001-04:00

They say you know when it's the right time to retire. They're right.

Running out of Steam....

2009-02-09T23:34:00.002-05:00

The class didn't get the "Jim Dine Valentine" lesson. Most of them just played with the shiny pastels and the shiny paper. One very, long, heartfelt sigh at 6:30 PM as my Friday-tidied-up -nicely art room has become another sizeable heap o' stuff. Two cases of friendly fire at the 7 year old level. One rather clever connection regarding connections, and a little arrogance from a little lady, flagrantly disregarding class rules and drawing on her first-to-tattle neighbour's work. The really smart kids have all found each other and are sitting together, which is an interesting, if not somewhat combustible, mix. Report cards should have been started today. One teacher wants me to do something special with his class: the one class I have twice a week, and the one I dread THE most. What's with that?

I'm running out of steam, with miles of track before July.

Planes, Training and Automobiles

2008-01-01T15:03:00.000-05:00

It was explained that the houses are all going to be tiny when seen from the air; but I enjoy the little helicopter behind the big airliner!

Driving Miss Alice

2008-01-01T14:23:00.000-05:00

Cars, trucks, planes, railways, boats....I brought out a bin full of toy cars that I had bought for our son when he was knee high to a Porsche, and the kids were delighted! All the way from the littles through to the big kids. And surprise to me, the girls had a lot more fun with this project than expected.

Levels 1 and 2
Time frame: 3 - 1 hour sessions

Toy cars
pencils
drawing paper
9 x 12 dark construction paper as a background
coloured construction paper
foil paper
hole punch
scissors
glue sticks

Session 1: We talked about shapes and observation and for a warm up, each student was asked to draw one of the toy cars from observation.

Session 2: After becoming familiar with their subject matter, the kids were then asked to cut out their particular vehicle using ONLY simple geometric shapes.

Attention was given to using the whole picture plane and raising the "ground line" up from the bottom of the page, placing it behind their cars.

Session 3: As the work progressed, the kids were encouraged to add interesting details. and could use the hole punch and the fancier papers to add to their collage.

Saleslady to Small Child

2007-08-17T21:36:00.000-04:00

"Are you ready to go back to school?"
Oh KeeRIKEey! Did I hear that right? Heart goes Thrum, glahloumph, thrum thrum against my chest.

Already??? I checked my watch and was relieved not to have been wearing one.

"NOOooooooohhh...."

(Child and teacher within-earshot thinking: "What the Dickens brought THATsilly comment on?

Adult, "Worker Bee" returns to work at the end of August and opens up the too tiny and odd shaped placeclassroom: thus beginneth the new year's set of pickles. Think about bulletin boards. And supplies and things. Curriculum, meetings, timetables, SUPPLIES! Oops....

Mommy, the one who has been battered by recent years, (remembering) "He really isn't ready, but he's set on going (not that we can go anywhere, mind you...) and baby needs instructions for to make chicken noodle soup from an envelope. As testosterone begins to pump and adulthood quickly on the horizon

Or is it that I'm not ready?

Gulp. - 17 years flew by, I remember, this kid - this nice kid, wonderful, interesting, funny, kind and clever companion ... an accomplished liar, completely independent, lawyeresquely argumentative, perceptive, presumptive,

"He's obnoxious enough for me to want to wish him well, as was nine months pregnancy is enough to turn ANY sane woman into a mother."

"Are you ready for school, yet?"

Never have been. Doh.

"Uh, NO! not really "

Dinosaur Days

2006-04-11T09:20:00.000-04:00

Grade levels 5 - 7

Purpose: To use gesture drawing and blind contour drawings as a means of "loosening up", and to create a mixed media drawing.

A handful of Carnegie Collection dinosaurs were used as motivation for still life drawings, with the intent of fine-tuning observation skills and hand-eye coordination. The groups enjoyed blind contour drawings on newsprint, but were not as adept with gesture drawings (which reverted to stick figures with balloons).

However, there was a general increase in cofidence as each student chose a particular figure to work with for hteoir final drawing, which was then transferred to a prepared watercolour background.

The oil pastels were more transparent than intended, as well as larger to use than the details they had transcribed from their planning drawings. Students were encouraged to use white to increase opacity as well as to try to use a darker shade to create some volume, although there were only a few students who were successful with this.

At this stage, the drawings were still too confused between foreground and background, so we heightened the difference with usng India Ink to create contours. Most of the kids were pretty nervous about "messing up", so I tell them the story of Brooke Shields tripping on Letterman's stage and landing face-first in front of his desk. She stands up gracefully, as if nothing had happened, and says:

"I did that on purpose".

This technique was twice as effective after I spilled an entire half-bottle of ink all over my skirt, shoes, floor and demosntration area. I laughed, said something about "did that on purpose".....

None the less, despite the differences in what I had planned in my head, and what we finally saw on paper, I think the series of dinosaur drawings were quite successful, as did the kids.

Enjoy our little gallery!

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Supply list and sequencing are here; with some more observations on the degree of success in the project.

2006-04-11T09:17:00.000-04:00

Delighted dimetrodon

2006-04-11T09:16:00.000-04:00

Ready to join the herd.....

2006-04-11T09:14:00.000-04:00

A herd of hungry mosasaurs....or is it a school? A flock?

2006-04-11T09:13:00.000-04:00

Parasaurolophus - well blended

2006-04-11T09:11:00.000-04:00

Come back here! Don't leave me! Can you hear me? Wait UP!

2006-04-11T09:10:00.001-04:00

Allosaurus...still hungry!

2006-04-11T09:10:00.000-04:00

Dimetrodon (in dancing colours)

2006-04-11T09:09:00.001-04:00

Love the colours on the cracking shell.....

2006-04-11T09:09:00.000-04:00

Subtle

2006-04-11T09:08:00.000-04:00

This is MY fish!

2006-04-11T09:06:00.000-04:00

Sail-backed cheerleader

2006-04-11T09:05:00.002-04:00

Hissing stegasaur

2006-04-11T09:05:00.001-04:00

Dimetrodon dance

2006-04-11T09:05:00.000-04:00

Meat eater

2006-04-11T09:03:00.000-04:00

Mosasaurus against a blood-red sky

2006-04-11T09:02:00.000-04:00

One fish, blue fish, green fish

2006-04-11T09:01:00.000-04:00

Parasaurolophus "on the half shell"

2006-04-11T09:00:00.000-04:00

Pair of dimetrodon

2006-04-11T08:59:00.000-04:00

Momma and baby parasaurolophus (-phi?)

2006-04-11T08:58:00.000-04:00

One of the hard-headed plant eaters (do you think I can remember the correct name?)

2006-04-11T08:55:00.000-04:00

Parasaurolophus

2006-04-11T08:53:00.000-04:00

Parasaurolophus

2006-04-10T12:13:00.001-04:00

Stegasauraus

2006-04-10T12:13:00.000-04:00

Mosasaurus with fish

2006-04-10T12:10:00.000-04:00

Parasaurolophus hatching

2006-04-10T12:09:00.000-04:00

Dimetrodon

Dinosaur Drawings, Middle School

2006-04-10T09:43:00.000-04:00

Supplies:

Newsprint
pencils
erasers
sharpeners
"good" paper sturdy enough for watercolours and oil pastels
Carnegie collection dinosaur models, as these are more "accurate" than dollar store models
watercolours
brushes
water pots
oil pastels
India Ink

Preliminary: Gesture, timed gesture; contour and blind contour drawings
Prepare watercolour background using washes
Final "practice drawing" for transfer to dried watercolour using pencil over the back
Transfer drawing
Apply colour with oil pastels with lighter and darker areas to indicate volume
Reinforce detail with India Ink.

Observations: This particular group of grades 5 through 7 had a great deal of trouble with gesture drawing, with very few being able to capture the looseness and intent of hte gesture. I had hoped it would loosen them up, and it that it would help overcome their fear of "making mistakes", which it may have done.

There were also some difficulties judging appropriate size for the paper - many still worked too small for both the medium (oil pastel) and the picture plane.

As to using value in colour, only a few actually applied darker colours to the undersides, while many still approached their subject with what I call the "rainbow colouring book technique" - using their favourite colours to colour nicely between the lines.

India Ink was a hit...especially since, after a lecture on the permanency of the medium, I spilled a half bottle all over my dress; the floor and the demonstration area. There was quite the gasp, while I recovered with the comment:

"I did that on purpose"

(a phrase I encourage the kids to use, again, so they don't pitch something out because there's a 'mistake').

Likened unto a polar bear.

2006-04-07T21:00:00.000-04:00

That's what I was compared to today....can get growly sometimes, I guess!

2005-11-30T09:33:00.001-05:00

Level Four: Exceptionally windy day. Hurricane, in fact.

2005-11-30T09:33:00.000-05:00

Level Four: Windy Day

2005-11-29T10:16:00.000-05:00

As the dolphins play in the sunset - I like her use of line to describe movement.

2005-11-29T10:14:00.000-05:00

I really like that little thatched hut at the end of the pier. It's grey and rainy, and right now, I'd really like to be here.

2005-11-23T08:31:00.000-05:00

Not that you can see the top of the CN tower during a thunderstorm, but the idea appealed to all. The particularly patient colouring of half the raindrop to catch the light impressed me. It's also interesting to note the pink parking lot - a valued, if not overpriced, commodity in downtown Toronto.

2005-11-23T08:27:00.000-05:00

The original line drawing didn't seem "complete" to this artist, so she chose to emphasize the mesa by adding colour around it. Level 3.

2005-11-23T08:25:00.000-05:00

I like the strong sense of design and the bold colour sense of this original interpretation of "Wind".

2005-11-23T08:23:00.000-05:00

Castle. With a limited palette, this artist very effectively used line to create a mood. Level 4.

2005-11-23T08:21:00.000-05:00

Choosing a peaceful day to spend in the sky, the artist chose to use the space between clouds and grass with a hot air baloon and a jet liner. I'm liking the way he foreshortens the wings. Level 2,

2005-11-23T08:16:00.000-05:00

The artist had spent the summer in Italy, where they had climbed to the top of a mountain, and back down. Level 1.

2005-11-23T08:14:00.000-05:00

Alligator in a tsunami. Level 1.

2005-11-23T08:13:00.000-05:00

The purple and brown trees are being uprooted and blown down, while the wind and rain conspire to carry the family away.

Recap: Lines and Line familes

2005-11-20T15:01:00.000-05:00

Just a little backtrack here to show you some of my favs from the Line and Line Families Unit - the works are all from Grades 1 through 4.

Report Card Season, still

2005-11-18T09:57:00.000-05:00

...all written, marked and all that's left is to meet the parents.

A little disappointed that I was asked to re-think my comments on a couple of kids, who actually DID achieve something in art for the first time. Yes, these are, er, "difficult to manage" kids, but I was so delighted to finally see two finished projects that I said so. Even if one of them does run around the room with scissors and needs reminding to sit down every few minutes. For the first time in better than a year, not one, but two projects!

I think in many cases, children who have difficulties in the more traditional academic areas (math, reading, etc.) have some relief that they are able to achieve something for themselves in visual art. It's not my problem if their classroom teacher has other issues - as long as they're in my room, I believe I should report on what I see. And I see very good things.

East meets West at report card time, when the powers-that-be have an agenda, and it sure would be nice if everyone toed the party line. Be "honest". Once again, teacher walks the tightrope between living with the child, the parent, the administration and that little voice that lives inside me.

Ahhh...Report Card Season

2005-11-04T09:44:00.000-05:00

...and everyone needs a laugh. Here's a smile from The Mouthpiece at Gopher Central:

Excerpts from grade school students' papers:

* The inhabitants of Moscow are called Mosquitoes.

* A census taker is man who goes from house to house
increasing the population.

* (Define H2O and CO2.) H2O is hot water and CO2 is cold
water.

* The general direction of the Alps is straight up.

* Most of the houses in France are made of plaster of Paris.

* The people who followed the Lord were called the 12
opossums.

* The spinal column is a long bunch of bones. The head sits
on the top and you sit on the bottom.

* The parts of speech are lungs and air.

* We do not raise silk worms in the United States, because
we get our silk from rayon. He is a larger worm and gives
more silk.

* One of the main causes of dust is janitors.

* A scout obeys all to whom obedience is due and respects
all duly constipated authorities.

* One by-product of raising cattle is calves.

* The four seasons are salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar.

* The climate is hottest next to the Creator.

* The word trousers is an uncommon noun because it is
singular at the top and plural at the bottom.

* The future of "I give" is "I take."

* Syntax is all the money collected at the church from
sinners.

* Iron was discovered because someone smelt it.

* In the middle of the 18th century, all the morons moved
to Utah.

2005-11-03T10:16:00.000-05:00

Does this strike a chord with anyone? (My own snapshot, very heavily photoshopped to protect the innocent and get a point across),

2005-10-17T09:59:00.000-04:00

Brand new room: still a little sterile, but at least our first project begins to grace the walls.

2005-10-07T07:42:00.000-04:00

Unfinished (as yet), but great use of curved, straight and angled lines as well as dots and circles. It gets pretty windy during a thunderstorm.

2005-10-06T10:34:00.000-04:00

Thunderstorm in progress - as lightning strikes the CN Tower, we know there will still be a ball game at the Skydome next door.

2005-10-05T18:18:00.000-04:00

Bubble bath! I love this one - the exercise was to use a variety of lines, dots and circles using "Weather" as a theme (or motivation). You can see the candy coloured snowmen in the window, and Mom enjoying her long, hot, rainbow bubbled soak.

The Process: What seems to be the problem?

2005-09-27T08:11:00.000-04:00

Since we're using a textbook this year, I'm finding the results of the "applied techniques" to be less than ideal, so their works are going to take a bit of rescue to make them memorable.

The littles tend to work too fast, leaving random marks - unless I ask them questions like "Is this tornado in your kitchen or outside?" while gesturing towards some empty space. It's also hard for them to use another colour other than black for their first sketch - be it pencil or marker. Even after a demonstration of how pencil can mess up the colours.

The middles just get it, and it's all good.

The biggests are on a different path again, and this year I'm pushing the move towards adult work and away from kid-cute. We're using the Carnegie dinosaurs as models to overlay a drawing on a watercolour background. "it's TOO hard" and "I don't want to draw that" are the most common complaints.

The biggest surprise for me is the difficulty they have with gesture drawing! Lots of gingerbread cookie outlines and puppets, but very few true gestures. Hmmmmmm....

Line, Quality of Line, Contours and Gestures

2005-09-16T09:06:00.000-04:00

Well, that's the plan, anyway, for September. I'm going to confuse myself silly, but I'm working with a McGraw Hill textbook this year: SRA Art Connections.

The littles have been introduced to dots, circles and the three different kinds of lines, and how those different lines make us feel. They did preliminary sketches of varying kinds of weather in preparation for a marker drawing next week. During our discussion of weather, each one of them told me how tornados had barely missed their grandparents, themselves....(tornados in our neck of the woods are not unknown, but relatively rare).

Note to self: there wasn't a lot of originality in their preliminary drawings, although one or two DID recognize the difference in mood when the lines were varied.

The biggests were introduced to gesture and blind contours and I think it really loosened them up and gave them a bit of confidence to attack a more difficult drawing. I gave them all Carnegie dinosaurs to use as models, but I saw some shoes, water bottles....

Note to self: Give 'em newsprint and some contour/gesture challenges more often.

The middles are today; and we'll discuss line quality, but I haven't wrapped my head around the details yet.

2005-09-08T10:30:00.000-04:00

What is art? Drawing: Van Gogh, (need title, date)

2005-09-08T10:29:00.000-04:00

What is art? Sculpture Frederic Remington, Cheyenne, 1901

2005-09-08T10:28:00.001-04:00

What is art? Pottery: Nicaragua, Pataky polychrome (pre-Columbian)

2005-09-08T10:28:00.000-04:00

What is art? Painting. Matisse: madame Matisse, Madras Rouge, 1907

2005-09-08T10:26:00.001-04:00

What is art? Photography. Yousef Karsh: Archibald Belaney (Grey Owl)

2005-09-08T10:26:00.000-04:00

What is art? Cultural artifacts. Haida mask

2005-09-08T10:25:00.000-04:00

What is art? Architecture. Frank Gehry, Guggenheimm Balboa, 1997.

2005-09-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

Brand new classroom, brand new year!

Real teachers..........

2005-09-03T14:37:00.000-04:00

From The Mouthpiece:

Real Teachers

* Real teachers buy Excedrin and Advil in bulk at Sam's.

* Real teachers will eat anything left in the teacher's
lounge.

* Real teachers grade papers in the car, during commercials,
in faculty meetings, in the bathroom, and at the end of nine
weeks have even been seen grading in church.

* Real teachers know that sixth graders get hormones from
Santa at Christmas.

* Real teachers cheer when they hear that April 1st does not
fall on a school day.

* Real teachers can't walk past a crowd of kids without
straightening up the line.

* Real teachers never sit down without first checking the
seat of the chair.

* Real teachers have disjointed necks from writing on boards
without turning around.

* Real teachers are written up in medical journals for the
size and elasticity of their bladders.

* Real teachers wear glasses from trying to read the fine
print in the teacher's manuals.

* Real teachers have been timed gulping down lunch in 2
minutes 18 seconds. Master teachers can eat faster than
that.

* Real teachers can predict exactly which parents show up at
open house.

* Real teachers understand the importance of making sure
every kid gets a Valentine.

Crayon Trivia

2005-08-27T20:46:00.000-04:00

From Trivia Today:

RANDOM TIDBITS

On average, children between the ages of two and seven
color 28 minutes every day.

***

The average child in the United States will wear down 730
crayons by his or her tenth birthday.

***

The scent of Crayola crayons is among the twenty most
recognizable to American adults.

***
Leonardo Di Vinici could draw with one hand while at the same
time write with the other.

Bar Code Art

2005-08-26T11:31:00.000-04:00

What do Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, Lichtenstein, Photoshop and newsapers have in common?

The whole is greater than the sum of it's parts - especially when those parts are simply dots, or half-tones. Here's an artist, Scott Blake, who does the same - large portraits - with bar codes.

Corny, gimmicky, fun, or real art?

There's some fun stuff on this site - you can generate your own bar code, get a bar-code flip-book, and enjoy a nice variety of his work.

The Artist's Tool Kit: Visual Elements and Principles

2005-08-25T07:48:00.000-04:00

A fun little website for online adventures in class from The Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Each visual element - line, colour and shape, movement, rhythm, balance,and space has three "approaches": you can watch an animated demonstration; find examples of the concept in works of art from museums; and create your own composition.

The site also includes two 3 minute movies, watching artists Ta-Coumba Aiken and Judy Onofrio create original compositions using the visual elements and principles.

The Encyclopedia section has an concise set of definitions, as well as examples, and would be excellent for a review. There is also a "Create Your own Toolkit" for teachers where you can pick and choose the elements you wnat to emphasize.

All in all, a funand well maintained website. While linking to the Walker Art Center; I was delighted to find an exhibition on Chuck Close: Self-Portraits 1967-2005; one of my favourite artists, and an artist who inspired my students by his tenacity and drive.

Also fun to find is a rich site of blogs; visual arts, community and education, "off-center"...and at this point, I digress, because Hola! A set of scientist trading cards?

I'm in heaven!

On Beauty (a joke you could tell in class)

2005-08-24T10:29:00.000-04:00

Idea Of Beauty

In an American history discussion group, the professor was
trying to explain how societies idea of beauty changes with
time.

"For example," he said, "take the 1921 Miss America. She stood
five feet, one inch tall, weighed 108 pounds and had
measurements of 30-25-32. How do you think she'd do in today's
version of the contest?"

The class fell silent for a moment. Then one student piped up,
"Not very well."

"Why is that?" Asked the professor.

"For one thing," the student pointed out, "She'd be about a
hundred years old."

Cartooning and Animation: Creating Title Pages

2005-08-22T09:59:00.000-04:00

A great way to incorporate single-point perspective and lettering into cartooning is creating a title page.

Most appropraite for middle school, begin by teaching single point perspective with newsprint, rulers, pencils and erasers. Graduate to block letters "3-D" letters, using their names as preliminary scketches and design ideas.

Also important to note is the spacing of the letters, as too often the idea starts grand and gets squished as the artist runs out of room.

We've used blue pencil (just regular pencil crayons) to create the guidelines, and then photocopied the inked page - voila! no blue pencil!

A great list of cartooning and teaching resources can be found on the Drawing Cartoons Theme Page.

Cartooning and Animation: Stop Motion Video

2005-08-22T09:57:00.000-04:00

Aims: Develop story telling skills; teamwork; understanding the connection between verbal and visual

Objectives: Develop and film a stop motion animated story. Our local public broadcasting channel aired several schools’ stories that were always fun to watch.

Time Frame/Age Group: 10-12 years; 1 full week of summer camp (6 hours/day)

Supplies: Individual sketchbooks for brainstorming, portfolio management
Scissors, markers, Mayfair paper
Brass fasteners (brads)
Mural paper for background; paints
Digital camera or video camera
Sticky tack

Procedures:

1. Brainstorm story theme: Who, What and Where (Time, place, problem)
2. Writing a loose script: Story structure – Beginning, Middle, End. Try to incorporate who, what and where as quickly as possible. Conflict resolution should be quick and clean – slay the dragon!
3. Parcel out roles: Directors; Script Writers; Backgrounds; Character animators; properties; Camera, Lighting, Sound and Special Effects. (Some of the roles depend on how the final product is presented – computer or video). If you have a good group, the interaction required so that the props are the right size for the characters, which in turn, are the right size for the set; scriptwriters using visual sound effects. The director, in our case, was a student and was responsible for coordinating everything, while teacher (producer) did all the “hard” stuff. Special effects people were encouraged to be highly imaginative, as they felt low-man on the totem pole.
4. Make everything
5. Rehearsals: Mural paper background was set up larger than viewfinding and characters and props pinned to the “wings” in appropriate order. Scripts were, written, distributed and speaking roles (for video) assigned. A digital camera could use the video function.
6. Film, or record for 10 seconds; move “puppet”; and continue. Experiment with timing for film – the script will generally determine how long a character is still – i.e. if talking, the puppet stays still.
7. Sit back and enjoy. A few minutes is a lot of work, but this is a technique that was used in the Nightmare before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach.

Although the computer has almost entirely taken over this type of animation; (and there is plenty of information available: i.e.
http://www.unmuseum.org/stopact.htm/
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Animation/Stop-Motion/ ) this was a lot of fun, even if “primitive” – yes, there will be a few hands that get in the way. If you use an older video/camcorder, you don’t need to touch the computer at all. This could also be used with clay or other puppets. The cooperative aspect of this project is key to both the students’ enjoyment and the product’s success. I also found having an extended time frame, such as the camp, gave an intensity and flow that may be more difficult to achieve in smaller chunks.

I’ve also tried this with a less cooperative group of kids – basically double the teacher negotiation aspect. Would be great to show off at assemblies!

Lego in the Art Room

2005-08-20T19:42:00.000-04:00

Dali's Lobster Phone

Damien Hirst's Shark Tank

You know, the thought of using Lego crossed my mind last year; but full kudos go to two British artists, John Cake and Darren Neave, aka Little Artists, who decided the only way they could own some artworks they admired would be to make it in Lego. They currently lave a show at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool entitled Art Craziest Nation and some well documented photography of the exhibit.

Art, Political Correctness, and Where's the Art in Today's Art Education?

2005-08-10T09:06:00.000-04:00

Every so often, the theorist in me raises its head, sniffs around, and goes back to hibernate. Just got wind, today, of a very interesting article, "Where's the Art in Today's Art Education?" by Michelle Marder Kamhi.

At long last, it explains those unsettling moments when I'm flipping through the catalogues of Crayola's multi-cultural crayon set; or lesson plans for Black History Month (or is it African American history month?). Why can't folk just mix skin colours? Betcha 10-1 they don't include "Cuban" as a skin colour. And why should black people only have a month for artwork? Does this same month exist in India or Haiti? It would be nice if there was a Short Persons of Welsh Descent Month, and then whatever I did could be called art, and I'd get famous.

Brushing these thoughts aside as "different country, different agenda" I moved on, only to find myself in a classroom wondering how much I could say about the Nazis during a discussion of Paul Klee's life. Would I be unconsciously brainwashing the kids with my parent's version of WWII? I admit to glossing over that aspect and moving on to watercolour technique fairly quickly.

I had fallen into what John Stinespring calls the "Postmodern Trap". And to think that I, a "rank-and-file teacher in the classroom" thought that art education was about colours and composition, negative space and art history, and confidence in finding one's own expressive voice.

Here's an idea..........

2005-06-22T10:00:00.000-04:00

Actually, I'm having TONS of ideas as I say goodbye to this year's batch o' kids. Ideas are quite fun without the reality factor of kids whose task is to distract as many people as possible. This one comes from a rather "different" gallery of photography by Kelly Haigh called Living Dolls. It's actually part of a lager site, Doll in the Family. I found the work innocently dangerous, and very compelling.

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The idea? Using digital photography with toys and building "masterpieces".

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Thanks, Kelly, for the inspiration.

2005-06-03T08:43:00.000-04:00

Note the sleeping cow!

2005-06-03T08:41:00.000-04:00

Art Club

Cartooning: Normal faces, silly faces

2005-05-30T08:25:00.000-04:00

The purpose is to give the student an idea of ideal facial proportions and features in order to contrast that with "silly" faces, and otherwise oddities of the human face. The great fun in teaching this is the hilarious "silly" face that's created concurrently with the "correct" face.

Thge students will make a little booklet with a variety of cartoon faces.

Grades 1 through 7

Supplies:

Sharp pencils, eraser, white cartridge paper cut into thirds lengthwise

1. Have the students accordian fold their paper to create booklet sized pages

2. General face shape: the oval vs. the circle (pizza)
3. Placement of the eyes: middle vs. top (bowling ball)
4. Eye shape: boats vs. olives
5. Pupils: the incomplete circle (observation) vs. dots (stuffed olives)
6. Highlights (observation)
7. Eyelashes: A few at each corner (quotation marks) vs curved rays (squished spider effect)
8. Eyebrows: Hair and expression vs. lines
9. Nose: As gentle parantheses at the nostril vs. beaks or upside down trees or racing stripes
10: Nostrils: Hint at vs. large dots (Porky Pig)
11: Mouth: upper lip as squished M shape vs. U's, boomerangs
12: Teeth: The periles of the piano key mouth
13. Neck: Width vs. pencil neck
14. Ears: Placement betewen eyes and nose vs. handles
15. Hair: as shape vs. spaghetti.

At this point, the kids will have a generic face that approximates ideal porportions - and they are encouraged to continue to create as many different faces as they have page space. A construction paper cover, and they're off to the races!

The Forsythia Effect

2005-05-27T08:50:00.000-04:00

Tremendous amount of work for an hour and a half exhibition.

Poisonous parent took a strip off me for using his kid to make money. Volunteers didn't show up to help until mid day, then left early (mostly due to sick kids). Not a great turnout, thanks to soccer season starting, parents who didn't see the letter in the kids' backpack, and an untimely health thing that cannot be named. That's the downside.

Upside is the completely positive nature and tremendous support and help of the volunteers, the admin staff from Heaven and the wonderful families and parents who really looked and enjoyed the kids' efforts. A number said they were very impressed with the work, and I noticed quite a few really learning from and inspecting the projects that were displayed.

Next year? Perhaps no silent auction - there's a lot of extra background work to that I'm not sure pays off - like the forsythia that takes all the care, and then doesn't bloom for four years. The whole point wasn't about being a fundraiser anyway. I had thought that buying a kid's work would validate and encourage their ability, but already we're beginning to see the politics of the art market.

Maybe use half the gym for longer and show the work off longer, so the kids do get to see their stuff properly displayed and not in a work pile. But now, no more. Done. Finis. It's report card season...

A Pigment of our Imagination

2005-05-26T08:27:00.000-04:00

Our exhibition and silent auction are on today...er, tonight.

A very few wonderful parent volunteers have been mounting, sorting, labelling, counting, and the Most Important Person of All in our front office is keeping me sane, organized and is handling the bulk of the work.

I've had laryngitis all week; a glue gun burn that got infected, a cold, classes to teach and sorting out all the kids work and getting their permission to exhibit, sell or not sell....and I haen't been able to sleep since Mom died. To be honest, I can't wait until tomorrow, because that means all that's left is report cards.

What else? Soccer starts tonight. And the town of Aurora has the highest per capita participation, or so I'm told. Hey! Sorry, teach. Can't be there, can't miss first soccer practice, you know.

Not done yet. Lice have invaded, and more than half those kids are missing - with the count growing. Could that not have waited until next week?

-------------------

Wish me luck. I hope some people show up to see how wonderful their kids work really is!

Oh BOY! Prizewinners!

2005-05-16T08:45:00.000-04:00

Just after March Break, the Aurora Chamber of Commerce announced an Art Show that would be displayed concurrently with the Aurora Home Show. The theme was my Family in the Community.

I'm not a huge fan of art contests because I believe it distracts from the freedom to express oneself and moves it over to the competitive, mine-is-better-than-yours approach.

The politics of "who's judging?" aside, we sent a few pieces over.

Then my personal life became FAR more important, and I had more or less forgotten the contest. Then at the end of April, we got a phone call.....

and OUR guys had taken FIRST, SECOND and THIRD place! My congratulations to the Overall winner, from another school.

About the way it was handled? Thought there was supposed to be a ceremony, but the kids and their parents showed up, and simply received plaques at a table. Might have liked a little more pomp and circumstance, for the kids sake.

There was an artist judging - a name I recognize, but don't know - and I was pleased that the winners were kids I would have chosen as well, if I had ever thought to pick a winner....mind you, one little lady turned and asked me if we could have an alebrijes contest. I think she'd like to win something - and should - her work is excellent. Her honesty kept her from entering the Aurora show - she simply "doesn't live there".

Sure am proud of OUR three, though!

2005-05-12T08:23:00.000-04:00

"Tiffany" windows - Level one

2005-05-11T08:20:00.000-04:00

"Tiffany" window

What? Lose sleep? Over an art show?

2005-05-10T08:51:00.000-04:00

Second annual art show and silent auction. Two weeks. Have collected kids work all year, but it still needs to be matted, organized and "label" ready.

Four days and I'm still waiting for class lists from the office. So what if two of those days were the weekend? I didn't know I was going to go sleepless until Sunday. Deep breath. It's just a little thing.

VP's favourite hobby is worrying. Asked her last week not to be contagious. Caught it anyway. Deep breath.

Sharing a room means I can't work in it to get anything ready even though I could come in early. Deep breath.

Okay. Okay. I'm pulling at straws here....I know I'm worried. Worried enough to be really cranky with one of my favourite classes...God Bless their little hearts for staying late, and just being sweet. Warm thoughts.

Mind you - the class before them? Bloodshot eyes from having received footballs in said spot. Private requests to tattle to principal about previous class - with desperate calls for a witness. The gym coach hauls out two individuals. Young Super-sensitive-can't-deal-with-it locks himself into freeze-murder position, while Very-smart-but-very-sneaky kidgets all wide eyed and innocent claiming victim threatened him. Mr. Can't-let-a-whole-sentence-get-finished-without-three-questions, (two of them irrelevant) gets told off by one of the saner kids, and the next battle of words ensues.....

Oh, and that's the tip of the iceberg in that classroom. That's not counting "I don't like my project so I'm not finishing it." (If you don't let me free-draw, I"ll sulk for an hour)

Naaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh. I'm not stressed. Some days I don't think I'm cut out for this kind of work, though.

2005-05-09T08:30:00.000-04:00

Afraid of his own shadow?

2005-05-08T01:44:00.000-04:00

Catching up to yesterday

Long time! Way too long....

2005-05-06T08:40:00.000-04:00

1. Should have posted sooner. Been sick. Travelled March Break. Lost my Mom. Got sick again.

2. The kids are STILL doing their alebrijes project! Mostly the senior grades - as they took time to listen to a number of art projects, as well as doing their own.

Wile cleaning out old email, I found this post from Judy Decker and the Incredible Art Department, with an excellent link to Oaxacan Wood Carvings. The kids ARE really proud of their work, though!

3. Junior grades have started doing tissue paper stained glass windows based on Tiffany - our artist of the month.

4. Coming soon - out Second annual Art Exhibition and Silent Auction. Coming too soon. Must freak NOW.

2005-04-04T10:50:00.000-04:00

More finished alebrijes

2005-03-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

The Van Gogh Gallery: Term art project Level three

Flowers Are Red

2005-03-03T09:23:00.000-05:00

Flowers are Red

The little boy went to the first day of school,
He got some crayons and started to draw.
He put colors all over the paper,
For colors was what he saw.
And the teacher said.. "What you doin' young man?"
"I'm paintin' flowers," he said.
She said... "It's not the time for art young man,
And anyway flowers are green and red.
There's a time for everything young man,
And a way it should be done.
You've got to show concern for everyone else,
For you're not the only one."

And she said...
"Flowers are red young man,
Green leaves are green.
There's no need to see flowers any other way,
Than they way they always have been seen."

But the little boy said...
"There are so many colors in the rainbow,
So many colors in the morning sun.
So many colors in the flowers and I see every one."

Well the teacher said.. "You're sassy.
There's ways that things should be.
And you'll paint flowers the way they are,
So repeat after me....."

And she said...
"Flowers are red young man,
Green leaves are green.
There's no need to see flowers any other way,
Than they way they always have been seen,"

But the little boy said...
"There are so many colors in the rainbow,
So many colors in the morning sun.
So many colors in the flower and I see every one."

The teacher put him in a corner
She said.. "It's for your own good..
And you won't come out 'til you get it right,
And all responding like you should."
Well finally he got lonely.
Frightened thoughts filled his head.
And he went up to the teacher,
And this is what he said.. and he said,

"Flowers are red, green leaves are green.
There's no need to see flowers any other way.
Than the way they always have been seen."

Time went by like it always does,
And they moved to another town.
And the little boy went to another school,
And this is what he found.
The teacher there was smilin'
She said ... "Painting should be fun.
And there are so many colors in a flower,
So let's use every one."

But that little boy painted flowers,
In neat rows of green and red.
And when the teacher asked him why,
This is what he said .. and he said,

"Flowers are red, green leaves are green.
There's no need to see flowers any other way,
Than the way they always have been seen."
~ Harry Chapin

-------------------------------

Found on Elementary Lesson Share (Yahoo Groups)

2005-03-02T11:12:00.000-05:00

Game plan: Hockey

2005-03-01T09:58:00.000-05:00

There's nothing hokey about the way these kids play hockey

2005-03-01T09:56:00.000-05:00

Ski Day: Racing pylons (snow sharks?)

2005-02-28T12:38:00.000-05:00

Ski fashion statement!

2005-02-28T12:36:00.000-05:00

Somebody dropped their skids from the chairlift

2005-02-28T12:35:00.000-05:00

Of course, there's nothing like the electric tree that ignites the chairlift to zap the wrong winner....

2005-02-28T12:33:00.000-05:00

My feelings exactly! The bunnies, on the other hand....

2005-02-28T12:32:00.000-05:00

Let's catch some air

2005-02-28T12:30:00.000-05:00

Grade 2: Love the overlapping!

Ski Draw!

2005-02-28T12:27:00.000-05:00

We ran out of Celluclay in the middle of the alebrijes project (have I mentioned that it's taking a VERY long time?), so I reviewed a bit of composition and design notes from an earlier printmaking project....and instead of "free draw", we did "ski draw".

2005-02-27T23:22:00.000-05:00

Term Project, Level 5: Letterman interviews Claes Oldenburg