Batik

     Who doesn't enjoy a little fabric art?  I'm sure my piece will not influence you any direction.  But there amazing batiks out there that are certain to taint your view.  

     This little bad boy is simple a piece cut from a sheet.  For my resist I used the none expensive and less messy flour and water mixture.  Usually wax is used, but this seemed to turn out just as well.  For my dye I used tempera paint to create my own original color and dabbed on using a sponge brush.  After proper drying time-rinsed it out and behold, my creation.  Have some fun with this one.  Think what function this could serve in your life before planning out our batik.  

Wire Sculpture

     I by far got the most out of this lesson I feel.  This was truly a "walk in someone elses shoes".  Students throughout the class were assigned a disability and then asked to create a wire sculpture with what they understood.  Some students were deaf, some blind, some had limited motor skills, and some like me were english as a second language.  

     The ESL students were asked to leave the room during the directions and then our professor gave us the directions via ASL.  I got none of it.  So I observed the students around me and thought discovered I needed to make a three dimensional animal about twenty minutes later.

    It was eye opening and really got me to understand what students can undergo in a classroom.  Loved being able to experience this.

    By-the-way, my sculpture is a bee.  In case you couldn't tell.

African Mask

     First and most obvious-who doesn't love a mask?  This scary/adorable mask was created using a milk jug as its skeleton.  Then was taped in all sorts of layers to give it that leather, aged quality.  Shoe polish was then put over it to once again achieve that aged look.  The final step was putting on paint to spruce it up.  An option is to add rafia for hair.  

    This is another great integration project.  Teach about african mask and what they are used for.  An earlier post mine tells more about the culture of the african mask.  Worth checking out and your students will love it.

Scratch Board

     This was a new spin on the classic scratch board.  Created by coloring a thick layer of crayon, and then adding a layer of black tempra paint mixed with a touch of dish soap.  Of course anything can be scratched on these little pleasing puppies.  I went with the A,B, C's.  One can never be too strong with the alphabet.

Map-Themed Project

     After touring the Special Collections at Utah State University and the on campus art museum a genius (sarcasm intended) had the students make this practically pointless project.  It's a good way to integrate mapping and art as well as symbols-but I struggled with this assignment.  So I just went for it on this one and made it a map of my life at college.  Sorry if I let you down Nadra.

     All things considered-I love my map.  It's personal and representational, yet is uses literal mapping features.  I think its a home run.  Not one I hit, more like an infield home run.   

Google Sketch-Up

     Something teachers don't really realize is that we can approach art from a technological standpoint.  Google Sketch-Up is the perfect program to introduce that.  This project is also a great way to integrate.  Here I've integrated art with architecture.  The element of classic architecture I worked into my dream playhouse was the columns on the front of my structure.  

Coil and Pinch Pots

     The classic pinch and coil pots.  Step one in any introduction to clay.  The pot on the left is my pinch and the one the right is clearly my pinch pot.  Used standard clay to create these little gems.

     Oh I see you noticed these aren't your typical pots-it seems they symbolic value.  They sure do!  Here is where those petroglyphs come into play.  When the petroglyph is dry simply stamp it into your pot while the clay is still fresh.  What an excellent way to pull together a project.  (pots displayed are before firing) 

The Finished Product

Petroglyphs

     What an excellent way to integrate history and art with this hum-dinger of a good time.  Take a look at actual petroglyphs.  What symbols represent what from that prehistoric time period?  Then think of your life and what symbols you can use to represent things in your life.  I chose a mountain, sun, and a runner.  They represent my love for Utah's Mountains.  My love for anything outdoors and the need to be sun kissed in the summer.  And of course, my love for running.

    These were created using cardboard, and yarn soaked in glue.

African Mask Research

African Masks

The African Tribal Artist

The African tribal artist's training, which may last many years, involves the knowledge of traditional carving techniques and how these apply to the social and religious objects he creates. His craft can be learned as an apprentice in the workshop of a master carver, or sometimes these skills are passed down from father to son through many generations of his family.

The Role of the African Tribal Artist

The artist holds a respected position in African tribal society. It is his job to provide the various masks and sculptures for use in ritual ceremonies. His work is valued for its spiritual, rather than its aesthetic qualities. Art without a 'spiritual dimension', in the broadest sense of the term, never transcends the level of mere craftsmanship and is unable to communicate those elevated emotions that are born from a deeper mystical inspiration.

The Influence of African Art

When artists and collectors in the West first took an interest in African Art, they did not appreciate its social or spiritual function. African art was simply viewed as a naive genre with a strong visual impact.

At the dawn of the 20th century, European artists were looking for new forms of expression that challenged, rather than simply illustrated, their rapidly changing world of ideas and technology. The traditional techniques of realism and perspective seemed overworked and predictable.

Their solution was to draw on images from other cultures and fuse them with European influences to refresh the tired traditions of Western art. The new perspectives that these cultures offered opened many doors of development which led to the cross-fertilisation of ideas and styles that constitute our art world today.

The expressive power of African art was fundamental to this revolution and to the development of the first modernist styles: Cubism, Fauvism and Expressionism.

Today, the finer qualities of African tribal art, like the qualities of good art from any continent, are more clearly understood and have assumed their true position in the art of mankind. Sadly however, most traditional African artworks are now produced for the tourist trade. Although some of these objects are examples of skilled craftsmanship, collectors suggest that many lack the character that is generated by a spiritual, as opposed to a profit motive.

Source:  http://www.artyfactory.com/africanmasks/context/artist.htm

African Masks History and Meaning

	In Africa masks can be traced back to well past Paleolithic times. These art objects were, and are still made of various materials, included are leather, metal, fabric and various types of wood. African masks are considered amongst the finest creations in the art world and are highly sought after by art collectors. Many of the pieces some replica's, can be viewed in museums and art galleries in many parts of the world. Masking ceremonies in Africa have great cultural and traditional significance. Latest developments and understanding of Aesthetic principles, religious and ceremonial values, have brought about a greater insight into the ideas and moral values that African artists express in their art. During celebrations, initiations, crop harvesting, war preparation, peace and trouble times, African masks are worn by a chosen or initiated dancer. It can be worn in three different ways: vertically covering the face: as helmets, encasing the entire head, and as crest, resting upon the head, which was commonly covered by material as part of the disguise. African masks often represent a spirit and it is strongly believed that the spirit of the ancestors possesses the wearer. Ritual ceremonies generally depict deities, spirits of ancestors, mythological beings, good and or evil, the dead, animal spirits, and other beings believed to have power over humanity. Masks of human ancestors or totem ancestors (beings or animals to which a clan or family traces its ancestry) are often objects of family pride; when they are regarded as the dwelling of the spirit they represent, the masks may be honored with ceremonies and gifts.
During the mask ceremony the dancer goes into deep trance, and during this state of mind he  "communicate" with his ancestors. A wise man or translator sometimes accompanies the wearer of the mask during the ritual. The dancer brings forth messages of wisdom from his ancestors. Often the messages are grunted utterances and the translator will accurately decipher the meaning of the message. Rituals and ceremonies are always accompanied with song, dance and music, played with traditional African musical instruments. For thousands of years, rituals and ceremonies was and to a lesser extent is still an integral part of African life. The gradual, effects of parceled out territories to Colonial governments, and the ensuing damage to traditional economies followed by the displacement of huge quantities of people, by colonialism, resulted in economies and food production systems being wrecked. In general the vast number of people have lost some of its tribal identity and culture, hence masking ceremonies are no longer common place in Africa. Source: http://www.rebirth.co.za/African_mask_history_and_meaning.htm

 

Differing Between Art and Craft

     According to Clements and Wachawiak "art education fulfills many important functions of schooling.  Learning about--and producing--art is a critical part of what our children need to be doing as they develop their awareness of the world around them."

     I feel like what Clements and Wachawiak have stated is a good measure on what is art in education and what is a craft.  That being said, what is the difference between the to and do they go hand 

-in-hand?  

     Referring to answers.com, a craft is an application of a technique.  Crafts commonly result in a useful object.  I know all the crafts I've made were useful as a decoration.  So that would make art "the use of skill and imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experience that can be shared with others--rather than what it is"according to Britannica Online.

     I feel as though crafts are more of a semblance of materials and art is more of a creation though use of materials.  

     To bring it back to fulfilling art education as Clements and Wachawiak define, I feel as though it is more important to have art, rather than a craft in the elementary curriculum.  Sure, the application of techniques can prove to most vital to a child.  If anything a craft teaches proper craftsmanship which will help a student to succeed in their masterpieces to come.  But teaching art and the different art genes we have today is too valuable not be a part of curriculum.  To refer to my favorite authors Clements and Wachawiak, art provides: cultural understanding, national needs, making the ordinary important and special, personal communication and expression, a different way of learning and communicating in school...just to name a few of there vital functions.  A craft just cannot provide the depth that an art piece can.  Crafts do have there time and place.  Crafts can even aid in the development of art.  But art trumps a craft when it comes down to curriculum.  

Van Gogh Painting

    Inspired by Van Gogh's "stary night" this was an excellent use of watercolor and pastel to create a resist.  Of course this isn't a replica (I know, I had you fooled) it's the night view from my window.

     Of course this isn't the literal view from my window-like I said, Van Gogh inspired.  And I still have my ear.  Influence yourself and your students to be imaginative with this assignment.  Throw in a little surrealism with this one folks. 

The Color Wheel

Food for Thought: Watercolor

     These eight wonderful squares all represent a different food and I painted how they tasted.  I feel I captured each accurately.  This was an exercise to work on watercolor techniques and to experiment.  In one square I used salt, another I used wax, another alcohol...can you tell which is which?

     This is a great way to have an excuse for food in the classroom and to involve visual texture into watercolor.

Motivation

     What motivates me as a learner?
There are many motivaters for me as a learner.  Requirements and deadlines, as elementary as they sound the have honeslty motivated me to get in there and get things done.  Maybe this isn't the most profound way to motivate someone to learn something, but I have to admit, it's effective. 
Another motivator for me as a learner would most certainly have to be if I love it.  Throughout my years in education I never really had that amazing history teacher that made the difference.  But I loved learning about history.  Day to day things would spark my interest and I would be in the encyclopedia, on the internet.  I loved learning about it and just a want to know about it was motivation for me.
Of course, I can't deny the amazing motivation that comes from teachers.  They really do make all the difference in a learning experience.  I have two favorite teachers.  Not because they were the coolest, or the youngest, but because they cared for all their students equally.  They were energetic about their subjects.  Would never give up on you.  And yet, were ridget about the way their class was run.  They were consistant and tough but also sympathetic to who their students were as individuals as well as rewarding.  They made me want to strive for more.  Do even better on the next project.  They challenged me to make a postivie difference in the world.  Their love for teaching and their students went beyong the classroom.  If that doesn't motivate you...I fear nothing would.

     What do I think will motivate my future students?
My future students, I hope, will be motivated by me.  I decided to go into education because we need great teachers.  I want to make a difference.  I want children to love to learn and understand that it's ok to not be perfectly genius in all their subjects.  I think I can help my students to feel this motivation by never giving up them.  Creating a safe and postivite learning enviorment were respect for everyone is high prised in my classroom.  I feel like this was created a motivating factor for learning.  A fostering classroom environment would have to motivate. 

Visual Culture Prints

     The assignment here was to find an image of our own personal visual culture, create drawings, then create a total of four prints.  I found the above two were the best of my four.  Can you tell my visual culture?  Old Main, at Utah State.  I see not only the actual bell tower every day, but also the multiple images of it a thousand times in a week.  As a student, this has definitely become a huge part of my visual culture.  I created these prints by converting my drawing into a print making piece.  The white or blue is what I subtracted from my styrofoam board.  I used cross-hatching to make a more pleasing background and the stipple texture in the "A" to give it that famous aggie victory glow.

Teaching Artist Statements

 
     Creating an Artist Statement can be as simple as one word or as complex as multiple paragraphs. Artist statements range as far and as wide as art itself. Something that would helpful when teaching children what an artist statements is and how to create one would be showing them multiple examples of statements from artists and their works. Don't limit them to one or two examples, use a wide variety.

     Molly Gordon, master certified coach has some excellent template type questions that could help your students get the ball rolling on how to write a successful statement.

• What is your favorite tool? Why?
• What is your favorite material? Why?
• What do you like best about what you do?
• What do you mean when you say that a piece has turned out really well?
• What patterns emerge in your work? Is there a pattern in the way you select materials? In the way you use color, texture or light?
• What do you do differently from the way you were taught? Why?
• What is your favorite color? List three qualities of the color. Consider that these qualities apply to your work.

     I would recommend actually making Molly Gordon's questions into a questionnaire for students and have them fill it as part of an assignment. Something else to keep in mind when helping your little artists come up with their statement is the main objective is "to understand what you believe to be the most important aspects of your art and the techniques you use to make it" according to Nita Leland, a working artist. Leland also some great questions that can help make up an artist statement. They are as follows:

• Why do you like to make art?
• What subjects do you prefer? Why?
• What processes and techniques do you use? Why?
• How is your work different from others?
• What do you see in your artwork?
• What do other people say they see?
• What are your goals and aspirations as an artist?
• Who or what inspires you?

     Both Leland and Gordon's questions are excellent. Mixing these into a questionnaire would surly provide the ground work for a very effective artist statement. Squidoo.com paraphrased the photographer, Paul Turournet on simply what an artist statement should accomplish. "An artist's statement explains your work and how you approach it when you're not there to speak about your work. Organising your thoughts in an artist's statement can give you the confidence to engage others effectively when you meet them and present your work in a meaningful way."

Collograph Prints

     The insect rubbing and print.  This is also something that was totally foreign to me.  Using cut up paper to fit my desired shapes and then positioning them on the page to create my insect was really all that was done here.  

     I wanted the head to be my focal point, but not necessarily the center of attention.  I was thrilled with the outcome and how the layers of the insect were portrayed though the rubbing and print.  I did two other rubbings and I liked the green, blue and yellow of the last one and how they really put out that "lazy summer in the grass" feel.  That was by far my favorite color combination.

Chinese Brush Painting with Chop

     How cool is this?  I used water color, Chinese bamboo brush, rice paper, and Chinese painting techniques with practice and this is what I came up with.  In all of my years of taking art in high school and college I've never done anything like this.  What an incredible art from I've just skimmed the surface of.  

     What I was most pleased with was the contrasts I was able to display though amount of water, paint, and brush pressures.  Compositionally, I really love to use the rule of thirds and usually end up smashing things into that left corner because my eye finds it very pleasing to look at and I'm American.  So I tried to do something a little different and I went for the right corner to set up this composition.  I like the look of it.  But the contrast is definitely what I'm most pleased with.

Through My Viewfinder: 3 Contour Line Drawings

     I really enjoyed making these drawing because I have a lot experience with photography.  So drawing though my homemade viewfinder was a natural view for me.  What I feel helped made me successful at this project was just going for it.  When drawing I always want to re draw, re shape and erase things.  I 've gave up on that with these drawings and just went with the flow.  Stop thinking and keep moving your arm to what you see in from of you.  That was my attitude.  I really like how each of these drawings turned out.  They are simple, clean, and confident.  Mission accomplished I feel.

The Formative and Summative Assessments in Art Education

Formative Evaluation

     According to Clements and Wachowiak, authors of Emphasis Art, formative assessment happens during the art creation process.  Formative assessment isn't just a teachers input and influence but also the development of the students own thoughts they form while making their art piece.
     Garrison and Ehringhaus, from the NMSA publication Formative and Summative Assessments in the Classroom, have another take on how to conduct formative assessment.  Garrison and Ehringhaus suggest to look at formative assessment as practice.  Not only does practice allow a student to grasp what is new to them but also allows teachers to give themselves a formative assessment.  Is the instruction I am giving helping my students progress towards their summative assessment?
     A few formative assessment examples from Garrison and Ehringhaus:

• Observations -go beyond walking around the room to see if students are on task or need clarification.  Observations assist teachers in gathering evidence of student learning to inform instructional planning.  Use these observations for feedback to give students about their learning.
• Questioning Strategiess -embed these into the lesson plan.  Asking better questions allows an opportunity for deeper thinking and provides insight and depth of understanding.   This also helps student ask better questions and is a part of a students formative assessment.
• Student Record Keeping -the process of students keeping ongoing records of their own work not only engages students, it helps them go beyond the grade and see where they started and see the progress they are making toward the learning goal.

     Something else that was brought to my attention by Lisa Pulsifer, an eHow contributor, was how to implement formative assessment.  Her suggestion was:

• Define learning objectives in both short-and long-term.  This should include specific benchmarks so the students will easily be able to understand what steps it will take to reach their final goals.

Summative Evaluation


     "Summative Evaluation is used to diagnose, to revise curricula, and to determine if objectives have been met" says Clements and Wachowiak.  Summative is just that-a summing up.  Keeping that mind, Clements and Wachowiak suggest that summative assessments are most effective at the end of the academic year, or when portfolios are finalized.  Some effective ways to go about conducting summative assessments according to Garrison and Ehringhaus:

• State Assessments
• District benchmark or interim assessments
• End-of-unit or chapter tests
• End-of-term or semester exams

     Also, a way to conduct a summative evaluation of not only what the students learned, but how effective your teaching was is though a questionnaire.  Develop a questionnaire to have the students fill out.  Some examples from Clements and Wachowiak of questions are as follows:

• Did you learn any new words or art ideas this year? What?
• What did you learn this year about how to make art?
• How is art different from other subjects?
• How could the teacher make art class better and be better to the students?
• When you are older, how will you use anything you did in art this year?
• Why do you think students should study art?

     The last way and something that has come up across the board as an effective way to go about summative assessment was using a Rubric.  To quote Clements and Wachowiak, "Rubrics provide standards and expectations they can use to evaluate their performance while completing the assignment".

    

The Self-Portraiture Progression

     My first sorry attempt at a self-portrait was drawing a picture from memory.  If I were ever to appear on the Cartoon Network I now know what I'd look like.  

     My second attempt was just looking at a photo of myself.  Although more accurate and slight more human looking than my first try, I still left a bountiful room for improvement.  

    When drawing a face from a photograph, go with the grid system.  I was impressed with how much my finished drawing looked like my photo when going square by square not concentrating on drawing features, but focusing on lines as well as positive and negative space.

     What I feel turned out the best was the hair actually.  Just by using line and shading I was able to capture the body of it instead of just strands.  I'm pleased with the outcome and hope I never have to do anything of this caliber again, because it's just out of my league.

Picasso Head

    "Are we to paint what's on the face, what's inside the face, or what's behind it"

-Pablo Picasso

      Here one can see that I made eight different designs.  Two designs that would show texture, complementary colors, analog colors, cool colors, warm colors, and the last two: wild and creative designs.  I received inspiration from everyday objects such as my coat, my niece's quilt, and my embroidery floss made bracelet, as well as animal planet.  Our ever day is filled will fun designs. The project was not complete here.
     Part two was a contour line drawing of a friend.  What can I say, I'm really good at not looking or lifting my pencil from my paper because the above is practically a photo of Peter.
     Part three was to implement the designs into the face.  The part I was most pleased with was the hair which I used my small texture design (coat inspired).  Over all, I thought my Picasso Head turned out really well.  I loved the colors as well as the designs I was able to pull together.

Reflection: Why Teach Art?

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life"

-Pablo Picasso     

     Close your eyes and imagine school without art.  All I can see is  anything positive from my educational experiences as a child slipping away.  It a horrifying thought to me, as you so have imagined.  The authors of Emphasis Art, Robert D. Clements and Frank Waschowiak state it perfectly in their first chapter. "Art education fulfills many important functions of schooling.  Learning-and producing-art is a critical part of what our children need to be doing as they develop their awareness of the world around them".  And with ten very well thought out reasons Clements and Waschowiak bring truth to their above statement.  I'd like to bring those ten to light. 
     Why teach art?  Art, according to Clements and Waschowiak, brings: cultural understanding, national needs, making the ordinary important and special, personal communication and expression, general and artistic creativity, vocations, aesthetic awareness, literacy and cognition, a core participant in learning in school, and a different way of learning and communicating in school.
     It is this last reason that really strikes my fancy.  Art is important to teach because it is a different way of learning and communicating in school.  I couldn't agree more.  As important as the core academics are we sometimes intensify and pressurize them to much.  Among the arithmetic, science, and reading let us teach these kids to create with their hands.  Use their minds to discover and work though their very own masterpiece.
      In the book The Creation of Mind, this is illustrated perfectly when the author explains that we solve problems all too neatly in school, unfortunately this is not the way the world solves them.  "The implementation of means might lead to unanticipated effects that may be more interesting, promising, or problematic than the ones originally sought.  In such cases, and especially so in the arts, the individual takes his or hear lead from the work.  The work, so the speak, also speaks, and at times it is the artist who listens.  The work in progress begins to look more like a conversation than a lecture".   I think this is a great way of saying that an art piece is as unpredictable as life, and it needs to be figured out as you go.  One has to improvise and go where the decisions you've made lead you.  That is something that isn't learned though text or memorizing the times tables, it's a gained understanding that can be developed though art.  After all, in the words of Sir Ken Robinson (author and expert in creativity and innovation), "children have extraordinary capacities for creativity".  Let us teach them effective ways to express it and give them every opportunity to do so.

Reflection: What is Art?

     The World Book Encyclopedia defines "in a broad sense, art is skill in making or doing".  I had never thought of art in this light before.  When asked "What is Art ?" I was stumped.  The only answer I could come with was that art is an expression that may or may not speak to others.  It isn't that simple however.
     Wikipedia has art widdled down to a the definition of "the product or process of deliberately arranging symbolic elements in a way that influences and affects the senses, emotion, and/or intellect".  This sounded very scientific to me.  I don't consider myself an artist, but I most certainly would never make Wiki's cut as one.  Would Jackson Pollock or Margret Burke-White?
    No matter where one goes to define art there is no black or white answer.  As vast as the art works created centuries ago to the even more vast of today, the definition of art is as complex and as dimensional as art work in and of itself.  Like reading into a painting or taking it at face value the definition of art is what you make it.
     Through all of this, I've discovered my very own personal definition of art.  Art to me is a creation.  Weather it is the art of hitting a home run, to the art of making a quilt, to a painting, to the creation of canyons...I view it as art.

Mandala

Mandala: 

Oriental Art . a schematized representation of the cosmos,chiefly characterized by a concentric configuration ofgeometric shapes, each of which contains an image of adeity or an attribute of a deity.

Dictionary.com

     Here is my little Mandala.  Now, I realize that the things that make up my life are no "deity", but they are a part of my universe, so that makes them important none the less.  So, If you're curious as to who "Haley" is, all one needs to do is simply take a closer look.  I know my drawing abilities are sorely lacking in skills so I'd like to offer a little bit of an explanation.

     The camera represents my love for photography.  I first fell in love with photography when my sister brought home here black and white prints from a photo class she was in in high school.  I followed tradition and sought out such a class upon entering high school.  From inserting the film, to clicking the button, to reeling my film, though development, to printing I feel in love with making my own photos.  I now continue to pursue photography as a hobby and I dream of one day having my own dark room.

     I love to ski!  The ski snowflake is how I decided to portray this very time consuming love of mine.  I have been skiing Utah since the age of 3 and intend to do so the rest of my life.

     When it's not ski season...get out and road bike.  I am a more recent convert to road biking, but when I'm riding (especially in Cache Valley) I enjoy every minute of it.  My bike's name is Sandra, or Sandy for short.  We've had some great times together.

     Gilmore 4 Life.  I am an avid "Gilmore Girls" fan.  I cried when it ended.  I am a proud owner of all the seasons and I am constantly cycling though them time after time.  And in now way is that sad.

    The muddy shoe print expresses my love of hiking.  The greatest way that I know of to get away from the demands of the day-to-day and clear ones head is to get into the mountains.  Hiking provides a refreshing escape for me.  Nothing can compare to fresh mountain air.

     Hello Kitty's face.  Need I say more?  If the mere sight of Hello Kitty does not make you smile then...I can't even come up with a situation for that.  She's great.  I love Hello Kitty.  I have always been a fan and always will be.  She adorns my apartment in ever room.

     A good old fashioned vanilla ice cream cone.  Definitely my favorite dessert.  I'm never not in the mood for an ice cream cone.

     If you couldn't already tell from the above, I love Utah.  It's nerdy, but I genuinely enjoy living in Utah year round.  I love all four-seasons and everything they have to offer.  I'm also Utah born and raised.  I think that's kind of cool.  I don't know where life will lead me, but I hope to end up back here.  Utah is home to me.

     Admit one!...I love movies.  I love going to them, renting them, buying them, having nights dedicated to viewing them.  I love movies.

     That completes my Mandala for now.  But as you know, as I grow so will my Mandala.  It's something I'll be adding to for the rest of my life.