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Back to it

1/26/2016

This week marks a fresh start in Art Teacher world. A new semester means class changes and new groups of students, most of whom have never had me as a teacher before.

Last week, as we finished up the semester, I was so thankful to have volunteers stay after school to help me accomplish a massive labeling task! As a teacher who lets kids loose with materials, I have learned that there is no such thing as being too organized. The response from students have been nothing but smiles when they see the neatly organized areas shown:

This week marks a fresh start in Art Teacher world. A new semester means class changes and new groups of students, most of whom have never had me as a teacher before.

So far this week, we have worked with clay on the first day, signed up on Schoology, and started getting our portfolios in order.

I also started a new class with my Dual Enrollment students this Spring. I have been teaching for KCAD in the Dual Enrollment for about six years. This is the third time I have taught Color because we alternate offerings for our students each year. This is also the first time that all the students enrolled have had be as a teacher in the past - many as a part of my After School Art Class.

It has been a delight to start again with these guys and see how they have grown in their talents. I am especially excited to see them develop their understanding of color through skill based drills into more creative expressions.

After School Art students are also hard at work with their class banner. This year they decided to use Emojis for their #classof2020 sign to hang in the cafeteria.

And finally, I want to thank all of the readers out there who have been stopping by to check out our work. Thanks to those who voted, this blog just got a 3rd place finish in The Art of Education Blog of the Year contest.

I started this blog as a way to reflect and share - it has really become such a fun five years of writing and posting!

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Finishing Up for the Term

1/22/2016

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I have mixed feelings about this time of year. I am excited that we are half way through the school year and that my students have grown so much in such a short time, but I am sad that our time together is over.

As a part of our final exams today, I had students answer questions about concepts they learned over the semester, create a video reflection, and make a piece of work that represents what they learned and know.

Below are some of the images created by students that reflect on their learning from the semester:

Corrinne: In art class this year, I have learned SO MUCH! It was such a big change (in a good way) from what we did in previous art classes by far, and I just learned so many new skills because of that. First of all, I learned about how to properly mix colors (with a white colored pencil), so I used that skill with the bird. Then, I learned a bit of perspective which I used for drawing the house and some of the ground. Also, something very simple, but very important that I learned was how to properly draw mountains and trees which I showed in this piece. One last thing that I thought if in this work is a meaning or story in your work. I never knew how important it was to tell a story or have a meaning in your work. So in this piece, The bird is looking down from a high perch down to the semi-empty beach and the abandoned island, he may be thinking of going down there. Then, the lonely sunburned man on the beach scared everyone away because he was so red! I learned so much more than just these techniques and I am looking forward to learning more next semester.

Damien: In this piece of art I used pencils to create a shading effect with a bunch of things in the art. I used rule of thirds with the hill, the two trees near the top and a bit of the weeping willow. This art in my opinion is no more than a sketch, but I think that if I had the time it would be really fun to finish this piece. I've learned a lot about art since the beginning of the year. I tried to include everything I learned into this one artwork, and I think it isn't that bad.

Mwansa: I learned this year that every art piece you make should have meaning. So for this work, I remembered that my dad sometimes feels like he left a part of him back in Zambia, and so In this work I portrayed the plane leaving, but my dad is still in the airport.

Josh: 2 things I learned this year or improved in is the way I place my objects in an art piece and shading. In this piece, I used the rule of thirds for placing the center of these knots, which previously I used very rarely. For the shading, I placed shadows under the knots to make it seem as if it is a 3D image popping out, and also added some shading to the center to seem as if the light source is coming from the left side.

Alexis: In this art piece, I made a water color and sharpie drawing of what i've learned this year in art. In my drawing, I drew a hand, a jar of paint, glue, pastels, pencils, tape, and scissors. However, I added a twist with my drawings. instead of drawing a realistic picture, I added wings and crazy designs on everything. In this piece, I made all of these for a reason, and it is because of what I've learned. In art this year, I learned primary colors, secondary colors and complementary colors, so I used water color in my art and I used many colors to represent how much I learned. I then added a twist to my art by adding some abstract things, because this year I learned about surrealism and abstract art and I wanted to incorporate a little of this into my art. Also, this year, I learned how to put meaning into my art and I think this was the most important thing I have learned.

Sarah: I created this piece with water color pencils because i wanted to showcase how i have learned to use water color, however i didn't get to do as much as i want with it. I also blended other warm colors to show what i have learned about color. I would've used sponges and salt, and added water, but i didn't work fast enough to have time for that. I still think i had a pretty cool idea though. I decided to make the word Art as a tree because i wanted to illustrate how i have grown as an artist, and how i will continue to grow. For example, the unhatched eggs show that i have a lot left to learn about art, and the small amount of leaves show that the tree is still growing as i am in skill.

Eli: Over the past few months in art class, we have learned many things. The thing I tried to focus on was with pencil drawing and using a water color blowing technique. I created an image of two eyes that had shading and other techniques. I then took watercolor paint and added it to the image. I used cool colors for the foreground image and warm colors for the background image. I did this so that they contrasted each other.

Because Monday is a fresh start with a new batch of kids, I spent some of my time this week organizing my classroom and getting ready for that new crew!

I will post pictures shortly. I especially want to thank Cassie Stephens for getting me in an organizational mode so my students and I can better maximize our learning time in the classroom!

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Reimagining work

1/15/2016

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Our last major project of the semester before finals is also my most favorite. I love seeing how students go back through their portfolios to recreate works in new ways. This also offers them a chance to demonstrate their advancement of ideas and ability since the first time they tried the image the are selecting to revisit. Here are some highlights:

Jewel: My artwork is a newer improvised version of Rain Downpour, one of my favorite projects we did last year. This is an improvised version because it shows the techniques in stippling and the new techniques used in watercolor, like sponging and blowing. It shows similarities between the pieces like the water color back ground and the drawing in the center. Both of these pictures in Happiness at its Finest, show what make me happy, my best friends, and my puppy. :) I really wanted to revise this idea because I remembered how much fun I had the first time I did it and wanted to bring that joy back to me.

Eli: In my artwork, I decided to make a self portrait out of cut out cardboard pieces. I am redoing a piece that I made in 6th grade. That piece of work was a cardboard cut out that I painted on to. The piece I made recently is shows a lot of improvement because when I made the piece in 6th grade, all of my facial features were distorted and not placed correctly. In my updated image, I tried to make sure that all of my facial features were where they were supposed to be. I tried to be as detailed as possible in making this. For the background I took a blank white sheet of paper and I used a spraying technique to make the paint dots. I personally wanted to revisit this art piece because it was one of the first ones I ever made at Byron Center and I wanted to see how much I could improve since i've started coming here.

Gabby: My piece of art reflects a new version of a city I created in 2008. I grew as an artist in the past 8 years. I learned how to shade, draw 3-D shapes, got better at drawing people and objets, and I have more of an idea that goes into my drawings. In the old drawing there were a few people looking out of the windows, in my new piece there is a girl who is painting. The building she is painting on has a similar pattern to a building in the old drawing. The shapes I had cut out in my old drawing are now floating in the sky in my new one, along with the fish that was in the 2008 drawing (in the bottom right corner.) My art has a personal connection with Takashi Murkami because the triangles in it have faces like the little characters Takashi makes in most of his pieces of work.

Grant: I made this with a dead fish, watercolor paint, and regular paint. I made the watercolor background, took a dead fish, painted all over it with red and black. After that, I took the paper and surround the fish with it and made sure I got all the faint on the fish. The one with the white background, I put on a separate white paper and cut it out. The old thing I made this from was from 6th grade and it was a regular water color fish(not real) just painted on.

Ethan: I chose to redo my Clay modern home because I love creating house designs and I felt like I could do better with this house while still keeping the same "house" with the same design. I used the same window layout as the old house, and the same chimney, but added more exterior detail, and a roof, that would help make the house stand out.

Damien: I feel a connection with this piece of art because in 6th grade I did this piece of art and it is still really cool to me. I also just like birds in general. I did this piece of art again because it would be a great opportunity to prove that I've advanced as an artist. This bird reflects what I've learned in terms of shading and color and how it has the bird flying instead of sitting. That is why I chose this artwork rather than any other one.

Sarah: For this Project, I chose to remake/reimagine my Dot Project, mostly because I thought I could do a better job on it with more time. I decided to incorporate Mitchell Feinberg's concept of time into my work, and another student inspired me to make my piece only black, white, and grey. This piece has the concept of time because there is a young girl, and sitting next to her is an older woman. This could be interpreted as a grandmother and her grandchild, one girl as her older and younger self, or really anything you want. I personally have never used charcoal before so learning different techniques and discovering the cool effects was fun.

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Almost Complete

1/11/2016

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Sarah is working on the elaboration of one of her first pieces from this semester (the dot day project). It is so fun to see how students use their sketchbooks as resources throughout their creative process.

This is always a hard time of year for me.

I struggle during the weeks coming back from break, trying to regain the routine of the school year. I also find myself feeling a bit sad and overwhelmed because I am saying goodbye to students I have had for the last two years and may never see again.

During this transition, though, I am very grateful for our time together and the amazing accomplishments shared. This is all a result of hard work, dedication, and a fearless approach to creativity that I hope to keep opening up further as I venture more into how to best foster a complete Visual Arts Education for my students.

With all of that said, we are nearing completion of the last and one of my most favorite themes of the semester: Something Old, Something New. It has been super fun to see students reflect on their own progression as an artist over the years and make selections on which works they would like to revisit and how they want to do so. It is at this point that I think the whole adaptation of Design Thinking in my classroom has resonated with students as they are taking to their sketchbooks to reference ideas, test solutions, and make note of discoveries.

Projects should be finishing up in the next two days. Here are some more images of students in progress as they manipulate materials and ideas to reflect how they have grown as an artist:

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Happy Scholastics!

1/8/2016

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Today was a day students have been working towards since the start of school (and some even earlier than that). We found out whose work was recognized for the West Central Michigan Regional Scholastic Art Awards.

Our Byron Center 7-12th grade Visual Arts program had a stellar year, breaking our previous record of award-winning works! You can see the full list of winners here.

The following are pieces from my 7-12th grade students that will be honored at the celebration March 5th. The thing that makes me most proud of these works is that all were imagined, designed, and executed by my students through their hard work and willingness to push further with materials and ideas.

I am so thankful to the TAB community for encouraging this type of teaching in all classrooms. I feel so fortunate to have finally adapted a more open model in my classroom so that works like the ones below could come to life.

American Vision Nominee

Ana Ha, 8th grade: A Fading Dream

Gold Keys

Jason Kent, 12th grade: Torn Between Light & Dark

Leah Fan, 8th grade: Perfect Imperfections

Riley DeJong, Jewel Richardson, Abby Boyle, and Abbie Clum
What is Beauty?

Sarah Koenes, 8th grade: Penelope & Piccolo

Denver Lahay, 8th grade: My Fire

Kasey Lee, 8th grade: Key to Identity

Ethan Pipe, 8th grade: ModernHome

Ethan Pipe, 8th grade: ModernHome2

Jewel Richardson and Gabby Vitali
The Little Crayon

Jewel Richardson, 8th grade: Fixing the Good Things (artist trading cards)

Cameron Schulke, 8th grade: Modular Necklace

Corrinne Wayman; 7th grade: Duct Tape Dress

Silver Keys

Jason Kent, 12th grade: Rebirth

Jason Kent, 12th grade: Hollan Horizon

Jason Kent, 12th grade: Payful

Caiden Bazuin, 8th grade: On a rainy day

Lily Bloye, 8th grade: Bouquet Bandit

Ana Ha, 8th grade: The Special Necklace

Lexi Brummel, Cameron Rabideau, Austin VanderMarkt, and Alexis Wierenga
Be the Sun

Gracie Keiser, 8th grade: The Koi Watcher

Sarah Koenes, 8th grade: Peace

Clay Lake, 7th grade: Greenscale

Ethan Pipe, 8th grade: Surreal Mountain Scape

Ethan Pipe, 8th grade: Skyscraper1

Jewel Richardson, 8th grade: We Can Be Persuasive

Gabby Vitali, 8th grade: One Tenth

Alexis Wierenga; 8th grade: Sitting on Clouds

Honorable Mention

Jason Kent, 12th grade: Happy Home

Jason Kent, 12th grade: Photography

Jason Kent, 12th grade: Work

Dalton VanderArk, 9th grade: Throwing Color

Maddison Denning, 7th grade: The Springs Of Life

Jessica DeRidder, Katie Hauch, and Sarah Koenes
What if?

Cheyenne Jensen, 8th grade: The Sapling Saviors

Gracie Keiser, 8th grade: Puppy Paradise

Sarah Koenes, 8th grade: Fire

Denver Lahay, 8th grade: Choose to be Good

Gwenneth Paulson, 8th grade: Rust

Gwenneth Paulson, 8th grade: Perspective

Colton Summers, 7th grade: 3D Tree House

All Gold Key winning works will now move onto the next phase at the national level and we will be notified of outcomes by early Spring.

If you have any students awarded, please share the work and celebrate the success with us! This is a great competition with an over 90 years of honoring students' creative ideas and skills in the classroom!

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Something New

1/7/2016

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I am not going to sugar-coat it; this first week back from break has been rough. Each morning has been a little harder than the one before to get out of bed and be energized for school. Luckily I have some of the best students out there to help me bear with the transition back to limited bathroom breaks and the rush that occurs as we tie things up before the end of the term.

Because we only have two more weeks before exams, it is important to finish up loose ends and get one last project in there before we say our final goodbyes. Here is what we have been working on this week and some thoughts on the eve before the announcement of West Central Michigan Scholastic Awards:

Empty Bowls

I used Holiday Break as a perfect opportunity to catch up on firing our bowls that were glazed in preparation for our annual Empty Bowls event. This year will mark the 9th year of the event and we are planning to try some new things in hopes to keep it fresh and the community involved. What stays the same is how much students love the fact we use clay on the first day of class to make these pieces and how impressed I am with their ability to see the connection art can have to impacting others in a positive way. Several students already brought in donations so they could claim their bowl!

Here are a few of the finished bowls and thoughts from my students on the experience. You can see the full gallery here.

Clara: Empty Bowls is a very nice project that is helping our community. In empty bowls, people donate canned foods to receive a bowl and the food is later donated. Not only does this give people pieces of art made by students it also gives the hungry food.

Mwansa: his was a good experience making the bowls because it made me think about how some people don't know when their next meal will come, and It makes me want to do something nice for the community. One way we are helping with empty bowls is, by doing this people donate money to the foundation, and they community enjoys a good time with the food and music.

Alexis: In my art piece, I made a bowl that says be happy on the inside, and has a rainbow city on the outside of the bowl. This art piece is more than just a bowl. This bowl will be one of many that will be used for the less fortunate and people who don't know where their next meal will come from. These bowls will help our community by bringing everyone together in a community and to help the needy. This is the reason we make the bowls. Its to help our community.

Porter: This empty bowls brings the community together because the bowls are given away if you bring a thing of canned food. Then after all of the canned food is collected they donate them to a food bank. The bowls that the students created give other kids in need that aren't fortunate. We are helping our community and bringing our society by giving to kids that aren't as fortunate. Empty bowls is a create way to donate goods, and bring our community together

Something Old

Toby started sketching out ideas on how to reimagine his landscape from earlier this year before beginning his final project.

For our final project of the semester, students have been given the theme "Something Old, Something New." This theme challenges them to look through their Artsonia portfolio (some students could go back to works from 1st grade) and select a work to reimagine.

Students were asked to think about how they might use a different media to interpret the previous work, or switch up the composition, or even use a similar media, but focus on showing new skills and growth in the way it is used.

Before getting to work on their sketches, students also viewed the work by Takashi Murakami. He is influenced by the past and present and discusses this merging of ideas in this video, which students viewed.

Students then worked in their sketchbooks, conferenced with each other, and then presented ideas to me before finally diving into their final works. We will be finishing up this project next week before we move onto Final Exam prep, but here are some snapshots of work in progress so far:

Scholastic Thoughts

Tomorrow Kendall College of Art and Design will post the outcome of this year's West Central Michigan Regional Scholastic Awards. Regardless of what happens, this is the most excited I have been for a result since I started entering student work in 2008. I am super proud of our kids either way and look forward to sharing the news of the results tomorrow. If you are antsy, like me, and do not want to wait for a post, you can always go here at noon tomorrow and see for yourself!

I want to wish all of my Art Teacher friends much luck as they await their students' results, too! If your students are recognized this year, please do share the results!

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5 years later

1/1/2016

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This picture is from my first post. I love breaking pastels and encourage others to do so when they get new ones in their hands.

Happy New Year!

2016 is going to be an amazing year and I am so looking forward to all of the things happening once we return to school. The Scholastic Awards will be announced for our region next Friday, we will be starting on our last project of the semester, and then wrapping up learning experiences before exams and starting over with a new group.

I started this blog five years ago as a New Year's resolution. Since then, it has not only given me and my students a space to showcase the learning in our classroom, but it has also connected us to other teachers and students, which was not something I had considered.

When I began blogging, it was to try and find a way to reflect and share what was happening in my classroom in hopes to improve my craft. It has lead to that and so much more.

Since the commitment I made to share on this blog, I have been a keynote or featured speaker in three states, regularly present at State, National, and Online conferences, and have been acknowledged with various State and National accolades.

What's better yet are the connections I have made with other teachers from across the world. I am honored to be a part of a thriving educational community of committed teachers who care about their craft and are always pushing to be better.

I am so excited to see what come our way in this new year and will continue to share the art adventures we have along the way!

If this blog has impacted your teaching or students in some way, please share how in the comments.

Otherwise, I will see you on the internets!

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Back to it

Finishing Up for the Term

Reimagining work

Almost Complete

Happy Scholastics!

American Vision Nominee

Gold Keys

Silver Keys

Honorable Mention

Something New

Empty Bowls

Something Old

Scholastic Thoughts

5 years later

Archives

Janine Campbell

Categories

American Vision Nominee

Gold Keys

Silver Keys

Honorable Mention

Empty Bowls

Something Old

​Scholastic Thoughts

Archives

Categories

Scholastic Thoughts