Still life season: Don't forget to renew your artistic license!

It is here and I have to admit I am anxious for it to be over already. Still life season. The weeks in the year where nothing gets put away where it SHOULD go, the room is in total disarray and my desk becomes completely lost for the remainder of the school year. So long fancy glitter desktop that I spent a week coating and layering.....I won't get to see you again until probably June. I should explain why the room transforms into a possible episode for the show Hoarders. I don't set one still life, I don't set two still lives, technically I don't set any, but in my room there are 7 still life sets AND many students set up a personal still life as well. So there is no counter space, extra table space or any extra space period. Which, in a classroom where there are almost as many sculpture students as introduction to art students that can be issue when it comes to storage space and places to put "stuff."

                      Getting back to the part where I don't set the still lives anymore........I bring in boxes and boxes of interesting items junk for the students to peruse. We spend almost a whole week setting them. A day or two "playing with the items and arranging them at seats and then begin placing them in a final setting over the next few days. While they are setting them they start creating thumbnails, and then begin final sketches in pencil, charcoal and also white charcoal on black paper. During this time we also talk about what a still life is and why artists have used them forever.  We begin discussing what makes an artwork successful, and how the arrangement and the objects of the still life can affect the final drawing. We look at what might be communicated to the viewer of the artwork.  Then we brainstorm lists of "have to find" items to truly complete their sets and finalize their message.



I am a firm believer in the idea that students will do better if they draw what they love, if they have a say in what they use to draw with and if they feel that they have ownership over the whole process............and why shouldn't they. Honestly, it is more enjoyable for them and less stressful for me to allow students to set them and the majority of the time they are better than what I would have tossed out there all on my own. And the really cool thing is that it is a perfect example of practicing 21st century skills (Collaboration, Creativity, Communication), not just with me but with their classmates and between classes as well and they still have the opportunity to have their independent and individual style show through in the final work. 2 more weeks and we will package up and put it all away, ending the season. But who am I kidding, we will still be a top contender for Hoarders: Education Edition.


 

The year has begun!! Every year my students have less than 2 class periods to design and create their name tags for their shelves. With my new students it gives me an idea of their creativity and work ethic. With my older students it is always a surprise!! I should note, the available supplies are construction paper, glue sticks, scissors and tape! I hope you enjoy!

NEW APRONS!!!!!!

WOOOOHOOOOO What you are lucky enough to not see is the happy dance I am doing right now!!! While I realize this might just be me...I absolutely love  my aprons in my classroom..... It is a small obsession of mine. They can hide a multitude of fashion faux pas, spilled coffee, and previous art and non art stains.......and today I scored two of the cutest ones at WAL-MART. (Wal-MArt may be one of my least favorite places to go to ever.....especially during the day...and during back to school. It is always packed and I am slightly claustrophobic when I go there. They are Absolutely adorable....and the price was right too!! Less than $8.00 each! BOOM!

 I went on an apron hunting kick this summer and discovered that there are a lot of really expensive aprons out there. Some for over $400 each!!. I am not sure if I will bling these up or not. I do want to add a snap on the neck but I already know I am swamped so chances are it will never get done which is also why they probably won't get any bling. I also have ordered new classroom aprons as well for my students!! Can't wait to get those. The printmaking students are going to silkscreen a class logo on them (they just don't know it yet!) Last year my two favorite aprons were the Foo Fighters apron I made and the Starbucks green barista apron which I scored on Ebay. I Also have 6 plain white canvas ones to DIY for later this year!!Down to 11 daysbefore these babies can be on display and in use!!!!

Back to School!! THANKFULLY!!!!

Yes, I said thankfully and back to school at the same time. YES, I am a teacher. So, why on earth would I be excited about back to school? I will tell you. It is more than just my awkward and weird love of the smell of new paper, new sharpies, fresh coffee, shiny waxed floors, having a real reason to be up at 5 am and I can't forget my new aprons.This summer has been CRAZY. A new-ish puppy along with my hubby and his partners starting a new business, ...well.....my routine is all out of whack and truth be told...I miss the creativity of all my kiddos. I have "Pinterested" till my eyes hurt, I have redesigned my curriculums,  I have reorganized my house-albeit not by choice(2 floods in June and July)-till I have no more organizational spots of genius left in me(or money left in my budget for totes and bins and Clorox), and I am ready for some normalcy.....and I AM really excited for some of the projects I have planned.

 My intro classes have almost all new lessons planned in pretty much every area, and my sculpture kids well, some of them actually started over the summer collecting their gear for the annual assemblage project which this year, involves a new twist. Printmaking has been revamped and the crafts kids will be pleasantly surprised this year. I am so excited to roll out the new stuff! AND I get to meet my new homeroom freshman class!!  I have so many ideas for their first week that I hope they will enjoy. I know I will, I mean what is not to love about mustaches, top hats and feather boas....a photo-booth, cup cakes, and  special invitations.

AND I get to do it all in a newly reorganized classroom-this time the reorganization was by choice. And I did make at least one classroom example to replace some of the ones that were destroyed. My sock doll Melton-who is a grilled cheese and spicy pickle aficionado and my rolling "lightening bug" finally was finished from my May workshop with Michael DeMeng.

Two weeks....that is all that is left of my summer, Two weeks that is all the time I have to "relax"..and two weeks...... is all I have left in my 30's. As crazy as this final summer of my thirties has been, I don't think I would have changed any of it........well, except for maybe the floods.

NEW CLASSES and mini monsters......

I always get a little bit overwhelmed at the semester change. This year is no exception with the 2 hour delays,  prepping for new classes and curriculum's, submitting works to the 2013 Scholastic competition, grading exams and final projects, and a mad dash out to replace a pretty sick lap tap. Add on top of that the spring musical marketing drive of posters, tees and props and my hands were completely full! I am thankful to say that my new classes are just as fabulous as my old ones, partly because I have a lot of the same students, but I am excited to see all these new faces and some I haven't seen in a few years as well! while we are trying to recover from the interrupted schedule and get back on track from the delays, please enjoy a few of the Introduction to Art student sculptures. They created a new breed of monsters to audition for Monster's Inc 3.

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Plagiarism?

MUTT

Plagiarism and the arts is a very gray area. It isn't as clear cut for the Visual Arts as it is in other disciplines. I think we can all agree that blatant copying and passing it off as our own is unacceptable. It is the influenced by, inspired by, and subconscious strokes of genius that create those "gray" areas we question. In a teaching situation, we often have students attempt to recreate the masters. It is how we learn techniques and process. We look to artists of the past and modern day masters for reference and to instruct our students on timeless themes and concepts...... but where do we draw the line of what can be considered truly influence and what is considered plagiarism? I spend a fair amount of time in my classroom discussing plagiarism with my students because of this, grayishness.

In an attempt to help students begin selecting their works and understand the quality that goes to competition, we look at slides of past artworks and online galleries of many competitions. It is inevitable that we will find an example of questionable plagiarism and sometimes blatant plagiarism. While it is a wonderful discussion and life lesson for my students, it puts a sour taste in my mouth thinking that an original artwork by a student somewhere was passed over for a plagiarized one.

This year was no different, we looked through the online galleries of one competition with strict guidelines on plagiarism. This time I had multiple students react to an artwork that was shown. They had all seen the original image on Pinterest. It led to a discussion on responsibility. Ultimately, my students felt it was the responsibility of the artist/student to inform and that they should voluntarily pull their work. The discussion was immediately followed by students pulling out smart phones frantically searching for any projects online that might resemble anything close to what they were already doing or had plans to do.

mutt

The question that remained however, was who...if anyone..should contact the sponsoring arts competition and inform them, do we as educators and artists have an obligation to inform them, ........or do we just let sleeping dogs lie?

Conference Survival Guide!

Art at the Cinci Bridge

The 2012 Ohio Art Education Conference has come to a close and it is with a sad heart that we say goodbye.  All in all I would say another successful year filled with lesson ideas, new state initiative-eh, and new art media to explore :).  and now.........I have the post conference blues. You know what those are. You are a little saddened because you are out of the highly creative environment filled with like minded artists and educators who feel like you do about sharpies, kneaded erasers and mini art samples and happen to be for the most part over the age of 22.  I don't want anyone to think I don't enjoy the creative energies from my classroom, but it is nice to be around individuals who have voted at least twice in a presidential election-no matter who they voted for;)

The bonus from conference, the stuff that isn't in the daily list of classes, meal topics or event opportunities.............is the simple collaboration and time spent with other arts educators. Sometimes it seems as if you glean more from those sessions than scheduled and planned events. The cross collaboration between districts, the simple solutions to problems you thought you were the only one experiencing, a fresh perspective on a piece of art and celebrating each other's successes and failures together.

So for those of you who have never attended a conference, or are about to go to one, here is a simple Conference Survival Guide.

1. Leave space in your suitcase to bring back samples and other stuff you accumulate. I always take a huge suitcase but forget to leave space, so I look like a bag lady when I leave.

2. If someone offers you a tote bag, even if you have gathered 25 of them......take it. They are like gold in the classroom. Kids always need bags!

3. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. And alternate that with copious amounts of coffee. and breath mints.

4. Dedicate a note pad or sketchbook just for the conference. Jot down everything you think is important. You won't remember it otherwise. Get contact info for new people in there too.

5. Write down presenters names. If they were awesome, you will want to seek them out the next time. And if they were awful, you want to avoid them next  time.

6. Have lots of pens and pencils to suit your moods and pens to give to people who forget theirs. You don't want to give away your favorite super skinny green sharpie on "accident".


Missing Pig Sculpture

7. Remember, everyone has a camera at conference. Don't do anything stupid........like stealing someones pig sculpture. And you can use it to get pictures of all the projects too!

8. Sit in the back at regional meetings, unless you want to be volunteered for a duty or position. (Just kidding-sort of)

9. Keep your conference guides from year to year to help jog your memory on sessions attended and because it usually has contact info on the important people from the conference and the vendors as well.

10. Whatever you felt was missing from conference, make a plan to research it, and present it at the next conference! Remember conferences are made up of educators educating each other! Chances are, someone else, felt the same exact way you did.