In Art Club last week we worked on contour line of the human form. I placed four tri-folds on the floor, the students then lied down in a shape and another student traced around them. This was repeated with all of the students so that there was overlapping. They then applied color or patterns to where the shapes and forms overlapped. A finished product was not our goal- we had a lot of fun collaborating and getting to know someone new!
Where Have You Been?
Imagine my delight when a current student of mine asked in an email, “Why haven’t you blogged in a while?”I almost fell off my chair! I really never thought anyone ever really looked at what I had to say or what adventures I had experienced. Daniel is currently in Israel studying languages and wanted to know what I had been up to and what the students were currently working on. Where have I been? This past summer was spent doing DIY projects around the house (Ugh) and I am now ready to get back and create with a vengeance!
In Art 30 Class we are working on a mural in our courtyard. It is divided into four panels and four groups of students. Their task was to come up with a word and and show it with the use of sign language. The jury is out with some of the words that are used, but there was no changing their minds.( nothing offensive) Hopefully we can get this finished soon because the weather has not been cooperating!
Ta Dah!
I have not or completed any art work since school has ended- instead I took on the daunting task of refinishing my 25 year old dining room table and six chairs. I would have really loved to just throw the whole thing out and buy something industrial sheik, but I felt guilty because the table is solid wood and I am the queen of DIY. I decided to start with the chairs - I painted them in midnight blue and then re-apolstered the seats with canvas that me and my students painted. Re-sanding the table was as challenging as it sounds- but I managed to get the table to feel " as soft as a babies bottom". How to finish the table was another hurdle- my advice -don't look on the internet- way too much conflicting advice! I decided to ask the experts at " Timber Town and "Mark" was very helpful and suggested I use a Varathane on my stain free, maple table. I am very happy with the results and I hope that I never have to go through this ordeal again!
Indigo Blue
My obsession with this color started last summer when I visited a creative art center in Taipei. There was a young girl at the centre selling clothes that she hand printed that had indigo blue designs on them. I wanted to buy a shirt from her, but Taipei clothing sizes does not fit a 5 foot 9in women very well! I have been dying to try this method for the past two months but the timing was never right but last Sunday afternoon the conditions were perfect- no wind and a hot blazing sun. I painted a wash on the pillow case a pressed a variety of foliage that I found around my yard. After letting it sit for two hours, I then took off the foliage. I was really surprised at the detail that I was able to get with such a simple procedure. I was really beautiful!
Color to Express Movement- "ReBirth"
What better way to express movement with color is to totally immerse yourself in it- to really become one with it, to feel it, to move with it. The goal was not the end result but the process- what or she would feel when encountering the paper with her body and paint. Nothing was preplanned, she moved on instinct and emotion. She called the finished piece "Rebirth" - the start of a new beginning for her as she leaves Calgary and moves on to Emily Carr in August.
Cymatic Images- Workshop #3
Today we made history! We were the first in Alberta to capture sound from the 17th Ave construction and visually record it. The students gathered various materials from around the school- grass/dirt/rocks/leaves ect and then placed them on water-colour paper that had been coated with a photo sensative chemical. Underneath the paper was a speaker that vibrated the sound the students had collected from the construction and produced a cymatic image. The paper was then rinsed off with water until the water was clear. The more images are going to be framed and put in various office buildings in Calgary and be part of different festivals. Their final resting place will be here at the school.
We are SO lucky to be able to be apart of this whole experience and for the students to be able to explore their horizons and be able to think and see the world around them in a different way. Thank- you Ashley!
Message in the Bottle
Today in Art Club we were Guerrilla artists. Guerrilla art is a fun and insidious way of sharing your vision with the world. It is a method of art making which entails leaving anonymous art pieces in public places. It can be done for a variety of reasons, to make a statement, to share your idea's to send out good karma, or just for fun. I am currently fascinated with this and stems from the belief that it is important to make art without any attachment to the outcome.
I was lucky to score some small chemical bottles that the science department was going to throw out. I had the students decorate the bottles and put a small positive message inside. I was super impressed with the creativeness, variety of the art work and the messages- ranging from art work, a poem, a comic or kind words. They then put them in various places on their way home from school. Who knows, maybe you will stumble upon one of these little jems in your journey's around the city!
Stop and Smell the Flowers
Today was Western Canada's first attempt at an instillation piece. I found some old arrows that PEd was throwing out and I thought they would make great flowers- and they did. The students made them out of found objects and I was very impressed with how creative they were. One of my students was worried that someone might steal them or kick them down. Sadly that is the risk of displaying public art- a lesson learned- make it and let it go!
Smoke Drawing
I worked out of my comfort zone today by completeing a "smoke drawing". I was inspired by Diane Victor's video where she explains the genesis and meaning of her smoke drawings and how the medium interacts with her subject matter. The most challenging thing was drawing a straight line and not to catching the edge of the paper on fire!(which it did- twice!) If you are wondering what it is, it is a self portrait of half of my face.
How To Be An Explorer Of the World
This is the title of an amazing book I stumbled upon by Keri Smith. Her book has a "learn by doing" approach that fosters non traditional methods of exploration. She encourages you to explore your world as both an artist and scientist and proposes a mission- "To document and observe the world around you. Take notes, collect things you find in your travels, document findings, notice patterns, copy, trace, focus on one thing at a time, record what you are drawn to."
Her prompts are challenging and I intend on incorporating them into the art program in the fall. I have started one of the challenges with a student- we are recording everything we eat or buy for a week. Or so I thought it was a week- she wants to record it for a year! Yikes! I have also given some of the students a handout or 100 Idea's from Keri's website. The challenge is to see how many challenges they can "knock off over the summer." Are YOU up for it???
Between Play- Workshop #1
Today was the first workshop of three where the students will be working with local artist Ashley Bedet to produce site specific audio and cymatic artworks that relate directly to the 17th Ave construction. Ashley gave the students a brief history of the evolution of ambient music and the students engaged in "Deep Listening" and ASMR with the sounds she provided. Take some time to listen to the following artists, I am sure that you will be as intrigued as I was!
Elaine Radigue/John Cage/Pauline Oliveros
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall....
Actually it wasn't a mirror we used today, it was plexiglass! Contour line is drawing the outside line of an object- no shading- just really looking at what you are drawing and recording everything you see. The process was challenging but the results were whimsical and fun. I plan on introducing this exercise to my Grade 10 Art class next year:)
Negative into Positive
We continued our pin hole photography this week in art club by turning a negative into a positive photo. It proved to be a bit more tricky than we thought. The first step is to sandwich the negative with a piece of photo paper- the negative on top. Then glass is placed on top of the two and we shone a light on it for one second. We figured out that our desk light had to be at least three feet above in order for it to work. It would have been nice to use the enlarger light but the enlarger we have is a old Beseler and it is really hard to find light bulbs these days! The paper was then developed and we watched the magic happen. Here are some of the pictures I took- some might think that they are "blurry" but I personally think they are kind of cool:)
Pin Hole Camera's
In art club today we played around with some pin hole photography. The concept is really quite simple- you turn a tin can into a camera and then you take pictures. Not quite so easy- there is a lot of variables involved in getting the right shot- the can cannot move and the intensity of the sun depends on how long you hold your shutter open for. There is photo paper inside the can and the picture you take is really a negative. We developed the photo paper and next week we will turn our negative's into positives.
Celebrate Western
Not even a snow storm could keep this event from happening! Another successful evening and my 17th show. I am so lucky to be able to work with such talented and passionate students!
It Was Only Just A Dream.....
Going away to warm weather is amazing but coming home to the cold, Calgary weather is really depressing- its spring for pete's sake! Was I dreaming? Did I really get to spend a week in the sunshine reading books, sitting by the pool and visiting art galleries? I got the chance to visit the Palm Springs Art Museum where they had on a display of Andy Warhol's prints- I have only ever had the chance to see his work in books and it was really something to get to see it in person. At the Heather James Fine Art Museum- I was really impressed with the work of Herb Alpert and his show called "A Visual Melody". His sculptures reminded me of a student of mine's work but in a smaller scale. I also visited a Art Fesitval at Indian Wells- there were over 200 artists that we displaying and selling their work. It was really great being able to talk to them about their work- what inspired them and how it was made. I met a really cool woman named Sharon Kaplan- she is a maker of enamel and gemstone jewelry from Los Angels. I bought one her necklaces and I am inspired to try some enameling with my students in the future.
Easy on the Eyes
My son sent me a picture of him working out at the gym. The shadows, shapes and lines were amazing and I felt the need to do a piece of him on a really large piece of white cartridge paper and charcoal. He loved it- success!
A Little Bit of Summer
I decided to add a little fun into a dreary day by by taking advantage of all that wonderful snow that we have. In art club today we did some snow painting, bubble blowing and the occasional face wash! I appreciate everyone's enthusiasm and participation:)
Surprise, Surprise!
We played a game in art club today called "Play it Forward". The paper was divided into four and the first drawing was a head and then we passed it to the person on the left and they drew the chest, third person drew the torso and forth person drew the legs and feet. The results were surprising funny and we could not stop laughing!
The Sound of Swimming
I had an idea to visually paint the different sounds of swimming- back, fly, free, and breast stroke. I taped the sounds of my friends Michelle and Karen swimming and then visually converted it. The idea of it is great but my interpretation is lacking and I am not happy with my results. The paintings below are my feeble attempt- I still would like to do something with them but will have to do some more brainstorming. Can you guess the strokes?
