Week Twelve and Thirteen

Thanksgiving Week

Because Thanksgiving week was only a two day school week, I decided to take a break from the weekly post and push the last two weeks together. The two days we spend together before break were filled with glazing bowls for our spring Empty Bowls event as well as critiquing our own work and prepping pieces for show at both The Van Singel Fine Arts Center for the month of December and at Barnes and Noble for our school Book Fair next weekend. 

When selecting which works they would like to have considered for show, I have students sort their portfolios through a GAP process (make a good pile, an average pile, and a poor pile). Once done, they pick the best of the good and the worst of the poor to compare and contrast with a Venn Diagram. 

Afterwards, students do a gallery walk to see what others considered to their their best and worst works and discuss whether or not it was easy to tell the difference. This is a great introduction to personal aesthetic and how we view pieces not only based on how they look, but the experience we have with them. 

I like to travel, but this year I stayed close to home for the holidays. I did, however, make sure to go to The Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture park and view their awesome holiday displays. I cannot wait to share these little houses and architectural pieces from above with students in the spring when we create our own models for a STEAM collaboration. 

Finished Challenge 3

We have had a really productive round of projects for this past challenge. Students were forced to think beyond their comfort zones and discover new talents as they examined the concept of the things in our lives and the objects we interact with on a daily basis. 

​In this challenge, students were asked to use a material they had yet to explore. The results were so diverse and exciting to see. Some students used tools for the first time to explore felting. Others explored clay, photography, making their own scratch art paper, and more tools to showcase their solutions to the challenge. It was impressive to see what they were able to create and a joy to see them develop new talents, as one student described in her artist statement below. 

Cam: This is my art I did for project 3. I chose to use clay as a material because clay can sometimes be a challenge and I was willing to take on the challenge to create this hot dog in a bun with all of its ingredients. This connects with project theme 3 because it is an object. One artist that I used as a reference for this art was Janet Fish. I used Janet Fish as a reference because I was making food in my art and she also makes food.

Lindsey: In this artwork, I decided to use the materials that I chose because I thought that making interesting cut outs on these birds would look good against a silver background. The materials that I used help me to communicate my ideas because I tried to use a lot of vibrant colors in the birds so that they would stand out against the background. This artwork relates to the theme because these birds are objects and something that I left in the past because when I was younger my grandpa and I would always fill up his bird feeders in his backyard, and we don't do it anymore. My artwork is similar to Wayne Thiebaud's work because he makes his artwork of different images of the same thing, which is similar to mine.

Tara: I LOVED making this art piece and I would gladly do it again! It was amazing to figure out I had talent in felting. If I can do this again, I'm gonna make ALL of my animals.

Emmie: I was inspired by Wayne Thiebaud and his image of the rows of cakes. The scratch art makes the desserts look inverted and like those neon signs on buildings at night.

Anna: I used photography and things that are left behind in my life to portrait my ideas. I used these techniques and materials because a photo can say much more than a drawing because it is in real life. I used the things that are left behind idea because I was really inspired by Audrey Flack so I wanted to use that concept in my art project. Audrey Flack shows how things are left behind because she paints cluttered areas to show this.

Zoe: For this project, a lot of people did physical objects that you leave behind, but I wanted to do something that you mentally leave behind. So, I chose memories. I took watercolor paper and splattered paint on it, creating the pattern. I used blue because blue represents sadness. Next, I tore up the paper, layered it into a face mold, and glued it all together. For the hair, I printed out my memories and then cut them out. I took tape and placed it over the cut outs. Then, I ran water over the tape, the paper rolled off but the text stayed. I layered the hair on top of the head. I used Do Ho Suh as an inspiration because he made a sculpture with deeper meaning in it, and that's what I did as well. Overall, I enjoyed this challenge even though it took me a while to make.

Feeling Thankful

I am so thankful for so many things this year and these past two weeks are a great example of why. I want to thank everyone who helped us reach our goal for our latest DonorsChoose project! We were able to get it funded thanks to matching funds from the Carnegie Corporation as well as those who gave during Giving Tuesday! It was awesome to see that project receive support knowing it will be a super engaging activity at our upcoming Fine Arts Night. I am also so thankful and proud of my students who have worked hard this year to enter competitions, showcase their work in shows, and take risks with their work to discover new gifts and talents. 

​It is going to be a busy push to the end of the semester and I look forward to seeing where students go next with their work ahead! 

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