Wrapping up

Everyone is ready for the semester to come to a close. As each semester winds down its almost like you can feel the motivation and determination drop away with each passing day. While classes are in full swing students get into a routine, and become accustomed to the rhythm of the school year and its demands. However, as the countdown gets lower and lower, it becomes more difficult to stay focused.

But, this is the last stretch. Just one more week of studying, getting up early, and rushing in a panic to get studio art projects complete. Just one more week before a glorious, restful span of time away from school. This break will not only be chance to relax and catch up with family over the holidays, but will also serve to refresh ideas. After three months of consistent work on art, I have begun to run out of good ideas.

The break will give me a chance to stop thinking about art for a couple of weeks. Or, at least, it will give me a chance to stop thinking about the same ideas I have been thinking about for months on end. The time off will renew my idea store-room, and definitely allow me to come back to the new semester with fresh ideas and motivation to make a lot of art.

Lesson Idea

Students could take on the assignment with the requirements of having to draw themselves from life, and combining that with a made-up representation of a "thought". The image below is a good example of how the two drawing styles can be combined:

Unknown Artist. Pencil Drawing.

Students would be able to work from reference materials such as photographs, drawings or paintings in order to create the imagery necessary for their "thought". They would need to be able to explain how the imagery they chose to draw relates the viewer to the place, time or event that they are attempting to express.

Importance of writing

There is something in the act of writing that creates clarity. Whether it is the physical act of  transferring ideas and thoughts onto paper, or just the amount of focus required to organize thoughts in a logical structure, I do not know. Either way, writing can be a useful tool whenever an individuals thoughts are cluttered, or ideas are scattered.



Many people think of a journal as a personal item, used only to write about emotional experiences and private thoughts. I think that a journal can be a very useful tool when used in a public way, though. In my art classes I plan to have my students keep a journal/sketch book that they record subjects and topics they have been thinking about, as well as ideas for projects and art. I would inform students that this notebook would be a public item, and that I would be reading through it at several points through the semester. This way, students would be able to keep their personal, private thoughts out, and include only ideas they wished to share. Students would also be able to write in whatever style they felt most comfortable with, whether that include only drawings, only writing, or a combination of the two.



The journals would help me, as an instructor, to get a better sense of what my students are interested in and how they are currently thinking about art in relation to other topics. I would be able to keep current with my own assignments and be better equipped to keep my students interested in what I am trying to teach them. 

Influential Artists

Some of the major influences to my own art making.......


Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois

Cells; Spider

Kate Chopin

Literature

Janine Antoni

Saddle.

Touch.

Mona Hatoum

The Negotiating Table

Corps Etranger

Egon Schiele

Self-Portrait

Visiting Artist

This past Wednesday, November 28th, the UICA hosted a Penny Stamps discussion in their theater style auditorium. Along with smaller venues, such as colleges and other types of art institutions, the two art museums in Grand Rapids do a great job of bringing in many different artists from a variety of mediums, style and popularity. Unfortunately, more times than not, I have been unable to attend the events for whatever reason - work, deadlines, or otherwise.

This time was different though. One of the most influential individuals, in regard to my art-making practice, was going to be in Grand Rapids. The UICA was hosting Janine Antoni, not only one of my own personal favorites, but an internationally recognized and successful artist. It was an incredible opportunity to be able to hear Antoni talk about her own work and ideas. She was well-spoken and communicated the concepts and ideas behind her work very articulately ad convincingly. Her ideas made sense, and there was a logic to the way she works that was refreshing in its straight-forward, powerful, elegance.

Janine Antoni at the UICA. 2012

I am so happy that I was able to attend this artist talk and hear the thoughts of one of my favorite artists. Her work and practice are so similar to my own, and her influence is directly accounted for in my own sculptural process. The experience of hearing  her speak was one of learning and encouragement, and makes me even more excited to continue making my own art.

Finding that fine line

       As a future instructor of art it will be my responsibility to give my students a foundation of principles, rules, and guidelines from which they can build their art skills upon. Through instruction, explanation and demonstration I can give my students the basic understanding that they need in order to be able to make interesting, quality pieces of art. However, it is also my responsibility, as an art educator, to push my students to explore.
      When does this transition from teacher-led instruction to student-led exploration occur? Will I be able to recognize when students are ready to move past the basic skills and start thinking in more conceptual ways? I think so. Students will have several chances to prove that they understand fundamental skills such as color theory, two dimensional and three dimensional design, as well as composition and basic drawing skills. These skilsl will all be assessed through major projects in an introductory level art class.
        The real interesting work will be once students have acquired these skills and begin to learn how to address concept. Teaching students how to think in a new and more difficult way is a tricky thing to do. In one hand, there is little concrete, straight-forward methods for teaching something as abstract as conceptual thought processes. So students will feel lost and slightly abandoned as they are encouraged to explore ideas and expression.

 

       On the other hand, it is also tricky for a teacher not to direct a students thought too much. It is my job to help students understand new things, but in this scenario it is critical that their ideas be there own. It would be very easy for me to give students examples- but that's too easy. I need to find ways to promote critical thinking, curiosity in a topic, or the exploration of an idea. Rather than giving students ideas to work with, I will give them resources for which to start researching, or have discussions with them about where their interests lie.
        Through these discussions, research and exploration I believe that introductory level students can begin the process of thinking about art in a richer, more complex way. They can begin to make connections between the physical mediums they are working with and the abstract ideas that they are interested in, or feel are important.

To define is to limit

The way that the art education major is currently set up at Grand Valley allows students to obtain a Bachelor of Arts with their K-12 certification. This is all well and good and will allow graduates to obtain a job teaching art at any grade level, which is a welcome freedom when jobs are scarce.
However, a BA degree does not reflect the extensive amount of work that students do in their actual studio classes. As art ed majors we are actually required to take many more studio classes than those students who are getting a studio degree. The requirements for art ed include a wide breadth of classes, including several introductory level classes, a handful of intermediate and advanced levels, as well as many drawing classes.

The lack of recognition for this effort is a little frustrating. So, after a little bit of research and investigation, I discovered that I would only be four classes away from a Bachelor of Fine Art degree. With the amount of classes I have taken to obtain my BA, there would only be one extra semester needed in order for me to graduate with two whole degrees.

This news was an excellent surprise to me, and I have since jumped on the opportunity to add on a BFA degree. I will not only graduate with the recognition I think I deserve for my efforts, but I will be able to go farther in my professional work. Many graduate programs will only accept BFA degrees for those hoping to eventually get their masters in a studio, such as sculpture.

With only one extra semester at Grand Valley, I will be able to go on to graduate school, get my masters, and eventually get a job teaching sculpture at a university level. This is a win-win situation that will allow me to fulfill some pretty major goals.

Cheers.