Playing with Hearts...Part One

Jim Dine, interview

Learning to Look, Play and Think
 with 

Jim Dine

Jim Dine is one of those "go-to" artists in an elementary school.  Specifically his infamous "hearts" have become a staple in February, across elementary art rooms.  From young, first grade students, to older sixth grade, we (art teachers) use this perfect little shape as a platform for making art.

I am guilty of using Jim Dine as inspiration and his perfectly, imperfect hearts, but this year I thought about the project a little differently.  The fourth grade curriculum that I designed focuses my students' attention on critically looking at artwork and studying why and how, artworks are made, through the lens of an investigator and an artist.


DAY ONE:
Prior to even entering the art room, I started my students with one simple direction..."follow the direction on the board and in your packet.  You have 10 minutes to do what it says". With hesitation, uncertainty and a little confusion, my students entered the room, read the direction, "draw a heart".  They had ten minutes and an assortment of materials to "draw a heart", is all they had to do....

But did they?

The results of their 10 minute drawing were predictable.  Most drew the simple shape of a heart and filled it in with red or pink.  As we took a "gallery walk" around the room, each student noticed that although the hearts were "different" they were also very much the same.  The important component to this activity was discussing "why".

"Well, because we just always make hearts like this".

"Why?", I asked.

A question, hard to answer.

This quick exercise started my students on their way to understanding an artist's process and understanding how materials work, through experimentation and "play".  It, also, gave me a quick snapshot of my students' risk taking meter.  My goal, throughout this unit was to encourage my students to take risks and step outside their comfort zone.  And to THINK!  (without me at the helm).

With Jim Dine, we started by skimming through a Scholastic Art Magazine article to find some basic information about the artist.  I did not provide my students with much visual information, because I did not want them to be influenced immediately by Jim Dine's work.  Instead, I had them "play".

abstract from packet

For the remainder of day one, students collaborated with their table mates, experimenting, playing and discovering new approaches to art-making.  The experience opened the door for discussion and debate, filling the art room with wonderful noises of movement, talking, scribbling and "playing".  This led to a homework assignment:

abstract from student packet

DAY TWO:
In this art unit, I wanted to incorporate a technology component to my students' art-making experience.  I wanted the focus of the digital component to be a tool for developing their creative process, not solely to use iPads in the art room.  In planning this component, I asked myself, "How would this experience benefit their overall understanding of the art-making process and enhance the students' creative thinking"....."What's the point?".  My response (to myself) guided the sequence of the unit and my students' exploration of materials and their properties.

On DAY TWO, I arranged to use iPads in the art room and the App: Drawing Pad.  The students' objective for the day was to "play" with 5 art materials offered through the App: paint, colored pencils, drawing pencils, crayons and markers. Parameters: Students needed to utilize all 5 art materials and there was no erasing or starting over.

My students LOVED it....of course, but little did they know I had other plans up my sleeves for them;-)
Upon completion, I printed their digital works for the following days.

DAY THREE:
My sleeves revealed their hidden surprises!
We started the session with an overview and survey of Jim Dine's infamous hearts, looking at them with a more critical eye.  Throughout the whole group discussion, it was refreshing to hear how their new knowledge and understanding of materials translated into their understanding of possible ways Dine created his art-works and visual language.  The students broke down what they saw in Dine's artwork into processes, techniques and materials...even theories of Dine's art-making sequence.  They no longer saw a heart, but rather they saw a thought process.  

Now it was time to challenge their 4th grade brains again!
I distributed their digital hearts.  The students were simply thrilled to see what they came up with actually printed and in their hands.  Yet, the enthusiasm slowly turned into anxiety when I broke the news to them.



"Great!  I am so glad you are happy with your digital art-works.  Now, you have 25 minutes to re-create them with "real" art materials, using the same materials you used on the iPads.  And no erasing, no starting over", said Mrs. Angelopoulos.

"WHAAAAAT?" said all the students.

"Go", said Mrs. Angelopoulos and the scurry of students started! 

Paints were splashing, students were moving swiftly throughout the art room, discussions were taking place and I was watching as time ticked away and my students worked really hard :)






















After the dust settled, the room was cleaned and the students finally sat down again, there was question, "Which method was more successful towards creating visual language"?
The polls were split.
When I asked, "which one was more challenging", all hands pointed to the 'real materials'.
When asked, "Why", the resounding voice was "because we had to move around and figure things out".

"Oh really", said Mrs. Angelopoulos, "wait until next week" ;-)

The project continues....follow my students and classroom on Instagram :)

xoxo, Smock Room

Rooted in Family...

Rooting Creativity with Trees

in 2nd grade

In their self-exploratory journey, my second grade students venture on a quest to discover a little bit about themselves and how they connect to...well....the world.  
We have, recently, completed our exploration and art-making on our families by creating our family trees, expressing our family's unique characteristics through paint, oil pastels, markers and liquid water colors.  

This art unit encourages the students to ask their mom and dad's questions, understanding the importance of the people in their lives.  The art-making component offers the students the independence to make their own choices, take risks, problem solve and take ownership of their work.  The important component was the process and path the students, individually, took to accomplish their final art work.

The experience opened my students' eyes to the endless possibilities for the use of our art materials and the understanding that I (their teacher) is not going to tell them what to do:) 

Liberating! 

and a bit more challenging....

I loved and love seeing what my students come up with on their own.

Is it a bit harder...sure!  

You have to manage more components in your classrooms, 

you have to allow students to get a little disappointed when something doesn't go their way,

you have to have more than a few materials out all the time,

you have to just let things go......

and that is hard.

I was recently reading and article by Olivia Guide, Playing, Creativity, Possibility offering insight and encouragement for allowing our students to explore, "play" and experiment independently....with whatever they want.  It does sound scary to think about just stepping back and watching.
BUT- the results are better than any well oiled, preconceived lesson.

In the end, each student was beaming with pride!

Check out more on Family Trees HERE
and the Power Point HERE.

xoxo, Smock you.

Contemporary Inspirations for 6th grade Art Projects...

"It was hard to find that perfect word." ~Bobby

Every year I make an effort to create new projects for my 6th grade students, that are new and fresh and contemporary.  Primarily,  I want grasp their attention and then hold on to them, for as long as possible.  A challenge, to say the least.  So....Here goes something....

As all other years, the central theme to the 6th grade art curriculum is "Identity", answering the bigger question "Who am I?"  It's interesting, with all that 6th graders have to say, this question brings a hush over the room (along with some confused looks).  Throw in taking their pictures and they are just about to scream out of anguish and agony.  

I found this amazing photography project that sparked my interest and motivated me to find a way to use the idea of photography and text for the students first project.  The Identity Project: What defines you was the perfect connection (with some slight modifications). 

 The Identity Project: 

"This photography project seeks to explore the labels we choose to identify with when defining our gender and sexuality."  Intriguing but, not entirely appropriate for 6th graders, or my school in general.   BUT, most definitely adaptable for encouraging my students to reflect on their unique characteristics that make each of them special.

 I can't begin to try and explain ARTY FEMME to a group of 6th graders, but we can take a look at their photographs (without the label) and study their characteristics.  With descriptive words, we can 'label' their identity, explore their personality and breakdown some stereotypes.   

Our goal, for this component of the lesson was to take a picture and with one, unique word, capture their identity.

Taking the pictures was not all that challenging, but figuring out the most unique word, was.  My challenge was trying to encourage my students to think outside the box, get out of their comfort zone and think...just a little bit about their internal selves.  

WOW....like....what was I thinking?

Along the way, I was skimming through Facebook and took notice of a post from a long distance friend and her recent artwork: Define Me.  The theme related completely to my students' theme but I found a way to connect their word choice to their art.  Stacy Gibboni used words to emphasize word choice and the lack of words.  So, simple but amazingly powerful.  

Well.

That is what we did.

But how....how was I suppose to encourage my students to put aside common words, "nice", "funny", "smart" and rethink word choice.  

We used dictionaries.

A blast from the past but WOW, it demonstrates how technology, spell check and auto correct have hindered our students' ability to spell.  Not surprising, this activity took a little longer than expected, but the results were incredible.

The goal for component number 2 was to choose 6 different words that "define you" and be able to express why.  In doing so, create 6 different little drawings expressing the word choice, using two elements of art: color and shape.  Sounded simple enough, but I quickly observed the students mindful attention to the connection between drawing and word choice.

Simple tools and materials made the art project more engaging and the students felt a little more independent.  My students used 4x6 inch pieces of paper, traced a 31/2x 31/2 square template and used oil pastels for their drawing and word.

The concluding component to this lesson was a written and typed reflection statement, targeting specific questions about the students' processes and thinking.
The results were thoughtful, reflective and honest.
...And impressive.

This was only a small caption to an 8 week project. 

 It made my students think. 

 It made my students reflect.  

"It makes me feel happy to know about myself more."~Crystal

Check out the power point to this lesson!

SMocKyou.

Contemporary Inspiration for Identity Art Projects

Here's a snapshot of 6th grade identity exploration.  Check back for more information, resources, inspiration and lesson plan!

SMocK you.

From the archives....studio time

Mini Artist Residency

University of Illinois
an art teacher's journey into art making

This summer, I found a wonderful opportunity to go back to my roots, as an artist and art teacher....back to making art.  For a week, I immersed into materials, processes, techniques and reflection, all the while letting my self "play".  

I experienced a sense of fear at first.  The last time I had my own studio, my own time and my own space was, nearly, 11 years ago in the precious city of Venice, Italy.  For graduate school I worked, lived and breathed the encompassing notion of art. 

I made it.

I read it.

I explored it. 

I discussed it.

I ate it.

I drank it.

I fell in love with it  (and the people who became part of my life--love you.)

In the past 10 years, although my ideas were/are endless, they never transpired into something tangible....something real....something.  Art education became my life.  Not in the sense of living and breathing and becoming a hermit crab to the world, thinking only about my students, BUT teaching opened the door to other amazing opportunities, steering my focus away from making art.  Until this opportunity came around.

And thank goodness...I was beginning to develop a twitch.         

 Seriously.

So, what happened?

Well, for one week I sat for 10 hours in a studio and started painting, started drawing, started writing,  and started making incredible connections with some incredible people.  There were about 24 of us (?) who wanted nothing more than have uninterrupted time studio time. As a group, it seemed like we woke up together, we ate together, we created together and grew together.  Something magical happens when time and space are not a factor..

My week started off...small.  I have always seemed to float back to circles, ovals, orbs, spheres, playing with their shapes, and given them a sense of identity- Playful but somehow permanent.

I was, in reflection, focused on change and my ability to alter shapes, ideas, thoughts, motion and impression.

Throughout the week, I changed, altered and transformed my studio into different spaces, constantly moving from one idea to another...

But somehow they connected.

Floating shapes, colors and impressions connected one painting to another and one idea to another, linking my process throughout the week.

From small oval eye-ish shapes, I veered towards larger than life figure drawings of women, inspired by works of master artists.  If you look closely you may notice the pose of a Rembrandt, Matisse and Picasso.

By mid week, color and large surrounds changed to something more intimate and clean.  Sometimes, I feel to find inspiration and stay in the sweet spot of making art, you need to strip away everything and just work with simple, raw and organic processes.  

I felt good.

I, also, felt good to fall back into my comfort zone.  About ten years ago, as I was playing around with copper wire and gloss medium , I discovered something magical (well, at least to me).

A change.

 A transformation.

In an exciting farewell, our weeks work was displayed in a pop up art exhibit in a gallery.

My my new friends and colleagues....see you next year!

xoxo, SMocK you.
PS.  For more information: http://go.illinois.edu/microresidency