From the archives.... Yianna and Helios in Russia

Privet!

Back in the winter (?) of last year,  our traveling friends, Yianna and Helios sent us a message from the snowy streets, Russia.  The message was sent at the most perfect time, because the Olympics had just started.  Russia has an incredibly rich history of art, dance, theatre and music, coupled with cultural traditions.  From historical monuments and buildings, to the artists that influenced Russian history, my students, inquisitively, followed Yianna and Helios through art, history and just a little mystery.

Thinking back, as a warm up we looked at the amazing artistry of the hand painted eggs through the experience of children's author Patricia Polacco and her story of Rechenka's Eggs.  Amazingly enough, I found the story on Vimeo through Reading Rainbow!  

Love it.

Although in art class, this portion of the art unit as delivered and executed a bit differently, I created a quick resource for my classroom teachers: Russian Eggs.  This allowed not only my students to learn and connect but all students (hopefully).  

Our exploration of art, artist and art-making lead to Wassily Kandinsky and his abstract expressionist paintings, created from lines, shapes and colors.  Considering, Kandinsky is a very popular artists among elementary art teachers (and in general), there are a lot of resources out there (see below).  For my students' purposes, I wanted my students to independently choose the Kandinsky style that worked best for them.  
We started by comparing two of his paintings, observing, describing and discussing the differences and similarities. 














Before starting our art works, we watched a truly vintage recording from 1926, in which Kandinsky is seen using a brush and ink to sketch an idea or start a drawing.

Well, that sparked our beginning process as we created our own, very unique drawings.

By looking at the photographs, you can probably tell that we used all sorts of materials that suited our needs.  Students made choices, they initiated their explorations and they took ownership of their work.
In the end, from just little "Kandinsky" drawings, they really made self-portraits.  Each students personality and character just came screaming out!

RESOURCES:
http://thebirdfeednyc.com/2012/10/11/kandinsky-coloring-activity-for-kids/

 http://makingartfun.com/htm/f-maf-art-library/wassily-kandinski-biography.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td_1z-ZvJjE/

See you back in the 
SMocKroom!

xoxo, 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

Lessons from the archives...5th grade

So, life caught up with me back in the spring and posting came to a screeching halt.  To make up for slacking off, a bit, I offer some snapshots from my art lessons last spring.  It is really a few months ago, but with the new year starting, and as art teachers prepare their lesson plans here are some ideas....? :)
Or at least one.

 Understanding Modern Art by Connecting to Not-So Modern Art

5th grade students explored the world of Modern Art and tried to make some sort of sense of it.  This extensive and in-depth lesson started with looking at 18th-19th century American still life paintings.  They were beautiful, realistic and perfect.  Well...What happened?  In the early 20th century, a big art show made an enormous splash on the east coast, altering and questioning Art.  What changed?  Why?  Who?
These questions engaged my students' thinking and challenged their perception of art and paintings.  























My challenge was finding a way for my students to make connections and understandings.  We talked about and experimented with deconstructing a 'realistic' painting by using shapes, colors, lines and "blocking out".  This process really loosened up the students' thinking and eased them into seeing the elements of art appear out of nowhere and everywhere.

















One of their experiments became their large scale paintings.  To add to their challenge, they were only to use paintbrushes.  This might sound silly, calling it a challenge, but consider how reliant students are on their pencils and erasers.  There is a sense of security with a tool that is erasable.  "Taking their pencils away" slowed their process and elevated their thinking, forcing each student to consider very carefully where that paint was going to go.
The artroom transformed into an art studio, in which students used every space possible to paint.  From tables, to easels, to the floor, students found their comfort zone.





















The results were remarkable.

Modern Art: The Influence of the Armory Show on the American Perspective

(lesson power point :-) )

More from the archives soon.

Have a great year!

xoxo, SMocK you.