A Final Word

To my future students:

If there's something I'm more passionate about than making art, it would have to be talking about it. I absolutely love the prospect of sharing my knowledge and excitement about art, in all its many different forms. I very well know I could talk about it until I'm blue in the face, but none of that is going to reach you unless I teach you how to speak about art as well. The art world has its own language, where different styles and periods have their own names. We describe works based on different criteria. We evaluate visual messages and discern meaning from depictions. It's really not that much different than talking about the rhyme or meter in a piece of poetry, or explaining a math problem, disciplines that also have their own vocabulary. The only way to learn how to appreciate art is to become artistically literate. More importantly, I want to give you the language to be able to speak about your own creative endeavors. I want to give you the ability to articulate your inspirations, describe your processes, and visually convey your messages. Art is not about a pretty picture. It is about communication.

Sincerely,
Erica, a future art educator.

Top Ten Toolkit: Word Wall

I think this concept has been thrown around a bit. Can't remember where I read it or who mentioned it, but I thought of a neat little five minute activity that can be done once or twice a week.

So a particular piece of art is showcased on a bulletin board, complete with a caption of the title, artist, date. Students are responsible for coming up with words to describe the work, based on what they see.

• Line: bold, skinny, sprawling, quick, hurried, thick, meandering, sketchy?
• Color: saturated, muted, vibrant, dull, somber, shimmering, hazy, atmospheric, primary, acidic, fluorescent, naturalistic?
• Shape: geometric, organic, ephemeral, irregular, angular, rough, jagged, soft?
• Composition: linear, busy, minimal, ordered, vertical, horizontal, chaotic, illogical, symmetric, asymmetric, balanced?
• Movement: fast, sluggish, busy, complacent, rushed, impulsive, implied? 
• Subject: figurative, landscape, still-life, city-scape, abstraction, imaginative, realistic? 
• Mood: lively, awe-inspiring, transient, epic, calm, dismal, introspective? 

Those are just a few descriptor words I came up with off the top of my head, a few possibilities. Kids can throw post-it notes up on the board, around the artwork in question, and so it would be really easy to add to the list. It looks really good too, to have someone walk into the classroom, and see that kids are actively engaged with a work. This sort of instruction would take a little bit of modeling, to get students to really think about how to articulate what they're seeing. This would be a good strategy to use to introduce a new history lesson, or a new project, depending on the artwork involved. 

Top Ten Toolkit: Point of View Guide

This is a neat little technique to use to get students to think outside of their own perspectives when thinking critically about a subject. In this case, it's another way for students to look at art, by putting themselves in the role of the artist.

1. Eyes
• What am I seeing? 
• What am I envisioning? 
• What do I want others to see?
2. Head
• What am I thinking?
• What is my purpose in making this art?
• What inspires me?
• What were my initial ideas for this piece?
3. Hands
• How did I make this artwork?
• What could I have done differently?
4. Ears
• What are people saying about my artwork?
• How are they reacting to it?
• Do people understand its message?

I think this would be a real thought-provoking activity for works of art that many would look at and say, "okay... why is this art?" Because there's a lot of art out there that gets that precise reaction. I'll admit, I used to look at some works of modern art like that.

Actually, I still do that. Takes a little bit of critical inquiry for me to come to appreciate it.

And sometimes, I come to the conclusion that it's bad art. XD

Top Ten Toolkit: More books.

Hobbs, J., Salome, R., and Vieth, K., (2010). The Visual Experience. Worchester: Davis Publication.

I was introduced to Davis Publications last year when I had to buy text books for a particular art ed class. I love this publisher because they offer materials exclusively for art education, and it's good material too. I've seen The Visual Experience used as a major instructional tool in the high school art classroom. And it's really great. Very explicit about formal properties of art, gives step-by-step instruction on traditional techniques, shows student artwork.

My one beef: you can't learn how to make art exclusively from reading a book. I would hate to create that misconception. You learn how to make art by making it. But we've all benefited from reading about our subject. And to be honest, sometimes I'm awful at giving an explanation. =P

Top Ten Tool Kit: Another Textbook

Visona, M. B., Poyner, R., et. al. (2007). A History of Art in Africa. Prentice Hall.

I realized that the majority of written resources I have provided have been largely Western/European oriented. And I'm just not all about that. Yeah, that comprises a large component of what we teach in an art class, but let's diversify a bit, yes?

I picked up this text book for an African Art class, and I loved this class soooo much. It was fun, interactive, and learning about culture, context, ritual and religion was just as much a part of the class as learning about art.

One of the course objectives for secondary art education is to teach about a variety of art from different cultures, and foster an appreciation for those artistic expressions. This was a major reason for taking an African Art course. 

Top Ten Tool Kit: A Textbook.

Kleiner, F. S. (2008). Gardner's Art Through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Ohio: Wadsworth.

Okay, I'll admit, Gardner's Art Through the Ages is really a college-level textbook. I probably wouldn't assign reading from it. I wouldn't expect a high school to order a whole bunch of these for art students. But to have a current edition in a school library, or to have my copy in an art library in my class? Most definitely. This is my go-to book for just 9/10ths of my art knowledge because it has so much. It runs the gamut, from ancient to contemporary, Greek, Scandinavian, Middle East, to Etruscan and Egyptian. It is the penultimate survey of Western Art. I <3 this book to pieces. Sure, it's typically on the market somewhere between $150-$180, and more current editions are more expensive. But it's the only art history book to print all of its images in full color, and give a scale of the artwork. I base my opinion of all other art texts to this one, because Gardner's sets the standard.

I talk to other art majors, and they regret they sold this book back. Yeah, they should regret it, because it's a very easy source. Why go to Wikipedia when you have this book? This is the best book to begin research for an art history report, develop a basic understanding for art periods, movements, and styles, and the pictures are just wonderful. You can't have a good art resource without good pictures. And when I'm having trouble coming up with a lesson plan? I go to this book for inspiration. What culture do I want kids to focus on? What pieces are we going to learn about? How can I inject an art project into these lessons? What processes and techniques are we going to learn?

I bought this book for my Art 101 class. We probably only used a third of it. So there are still parts I haven't read, chapters I know nothing about. I should probably read up on the chapters related to the Middle East and Muslim art, incorporate works we have in the Freer gallery in DC, develop discussion about tensions pertaining to Islamic groups, why that is, use an art lesson to foster an appreciation for religious diversity...
makes for a good two-week unit, where we can incorporate things like geometric designs, calligraphy, a history lesson on the Hagia Sophia... can you tell I love this book?

Top Ten Tool Kit: Student-Teacher Coorespondence

Okay, I totally wrote out this nice blog post, and for whatever reason (I blame Internet Explorer)..... I lost it. I've about had it with this bad Internet connection and our damn service provider dicking around and not actually fixing it.

So instead of rewriting the whole sappy... whatever... here's some bullet points.

• getting feedback from my students on their experience in the classroom is going to help me be a better teacher.
• I'm probably going to need the feedback.
• it's going to make them feel valued as individuals.
• it provides an avenue for at-risk teens to speak out if they're facing some serious life issues.
• I want to know my students.

Top Ten Tool Kit: Interacting with Colors!

Cortes, M. C. (2003). [Multimedia] Color in Motion. Retrieved from http://www.mariaclaudiacortes.com/colors/Colors.html

Okay, seriously, this is really really cool. It's this interactive flash movie/game about colors, and how different colors carry meanings. It's simple, yet informative. Very hands-on and entertaining. Here's some more screen caps from the movie portion.

The interactive website gives information on each color, including things like complementary colors, what colors symbolize in other countries and cultures, and there's a lot of descriptor words.

I love the little movies, because they're very dynamic, providing visuals and music to describe each color. It's just so darn sweet. But I think the content level would be good for middle school kids. I don't know, I think older students would get a kick out of it. I sure did. ^_^

This would be a nice change of pace when discussing colors; bring it up on a computer and hook it up to a projector, have the kids watch it as an introduction to color theory. Relate it to some early Kandinsky (because I really like his work).

That's right, we even have games and creative stuff. Seriously, you want to go spend some time playing with this.

Top Ten Tool Kit: Question the Author

Last night I was really taken by the Question the Author reading comprehension strategy. I'm thrilled by any technique that's going to force students into some higher level thinking. Let's recap on those questions:

1. "What is the author trying to tell you?" This is a low-level question in the Bloom's department, but you know what? It's going to get kids to reiterate the information they received. Writing something in one's own words is really helpful for information retention. 
2. "Why is the author telling you that?" Here's where critical thinking starts: asking why. It's really important for students to understand that people always express things with a bias. They have an intention, some sort of agenda, when writing an article, a book, a blog post, whatever. It's really important to understand the angle at which the information is being directed towards them. 
3. "Is it said clearly?" I don't like yes-or-no questions. I think a better question would be, "What did you find most impactful about it and why?" You'll get more varied answers and it reinforces the notion that a student's opinion is valid. 
4. "How might the author have written it more clearly?" Another critical question. 
5. "What would you have wanted to say instead?" I think this is a good open-ended question. Students can mention their own ideas or knowledge on a subject, show how they would write something to a particular target audience, whatever. 

I think this would be a good tactic to use if we were reading an article out of the Hi Fructose magazine, or were reading an artist statement. I would encourage this format if students are required to keep an art journal. 

Top Ten Toolkit: A Web Gallery

Kren, Emil (Ed.) (2011). Web Gallery of Art. Retrieved from: http://wga.hu

I was going to hold off on using suggesting this as a resource, but you know what? It's just so frickin' awesome. I changed my mind yesterday, when I was looking for specific works to relate to this reading comprehension lesson plan. Their collection is extensive, since they compile sources from just about everywhere. It's easily navigable, the information is accurate and concise, and the picture quality is great.

Here's some uses:

• images collection for art history instruction
• student's independent research for art history
• images for brochure research project! =D
• general resource for confirming names, dates (I'm terrible with dates), titles, styles, etc.

My only beef with this is that they're focused exclusively on European art.

Top Ten Toolkit: Think Aloud

Yeah, after that last post on Saturday, I thought I'd go ahead and just claim the Think Aloud as a very good strategy. I think its pretty adaptable too. Other than comic book reading, here are some other ways we can use the Think Aloud in art instruction:

• talking about art. You can read a lot into a painting, and talking about a work of art, pointing out various features, your impressions of what you're seeing, speculating about artist intentions... that's a good modeling strategy. 
• since we're talking about art critique, get your kids to talk about their peer's artwork in that Think Aloud manner. If you're modeling it regularly during a lesson, they'll emulate that when it comes to art assessment. 
• .... okay, that's all I can think of. 

Think Aloud... with a Comic.

So I was reading the chapter on vocabulary in Beer's book, When Kids Can't Read, and I came across a very interesting statement:

"Hayes and Athens (1988) explain that we encounter more of these rare words in printed text than we do in oral speech. In fact, adults, when talking to other adults, will use about 17 rare words for every 1000 words. ... a comic book ... uses about 53 rare words for every 1000..."

Really? Seriously? Naw, you must be joking.

So I pulled some of my old comic books off the shelf and started flipping through the cherished (ahem) memories of my teenage years.
Okay, yeah, there might be something to that. But you know what, it's not just the advanced level of vocabulary that you have to comprehend in these stories; you're reading these pictures too, you know. Why else do you think kids love comic books so much? An illustration can lend so much more to the mood, action, setting and character development of a story.

But back to my teenage years. Back then, Jhonen Vasquez had really made a name for himself with the launch of Invader Zim... yes, that wildly popular cartoon that aired on Nickelodeon before that channel really went down the shitter.... but that addictive cartoon was really a gateway drug for his comics, which are far more surreal, disturbing, sordid, disgusting, gory, violent, and need I say, hilarious.

I do believe Vasquez's Johnny the Homicidal Maniac was his master work, for the simple fact that it touches upon a question that so many of us have wondered, "What if I had done something about that douche that cut me off on the on ramp? What if I had turned around and punched that ugly asshole in the face for cat-calling? What if I had the opportunity to take a chainsaw to all the registered sex offenders in my neighborhood?" And surely the one question that follows all of these, "What if I were to enjoy it?"

Jungian psychology for the day: Johnny really is an archetype for the Shadow Self, because he represents a more reptilian nature that really desire to dominate without regard for others' wellbeing. This is how he takes control in his world: people piss him off, and he kills them. Well, in some cases, it gets a little more complex. And his interaction with others plays out in this frank yet all-to-true satire of the condition of our society.

This scene is from volume 2, which is probably my favorite volume out of the entire series, because it really focuses more on Johnny's deeper motivations for killing. It begins to hint at some of his insanities, which are rather convoluted, but how Jhonen left much up to interpretation was an excellent plot device. This scene in particular has a real tragedy that I think was played out masterfully. Just read.



Notice how the heading at the top has this really sinister version of that comedy/tragedy motif. So... expect to visualize this as a play while you're reading. Johnny in the first frame looks rather contemplative, considering he just asked a very loaded question to... apparently his next murder victim. This guy in the death-contraption is set back in space a bit, making him appear more insignificant.



Rare words: fundamental, ravaging, existence, defy, trivial, amusement, incessant, mistreatment. Is Johnny back-lit? Having our main character blacked out is a typical comic device to give a character an air of mystery. Showing his teeth is kind of creepy; I think it further alludes to his murderous nature.



Rare words: general (?), horrendous, inperceptible. You might have figured out by now that our main character isn't stupid. He's rather eloquent. But does that mean he possesses any real insight into the nature of things, as he would claim? This guy is acting pretty calm, considering his position. Johnny is just very frank - I think the final panel reinforces this. Circle among squares... it's a little jarring.



Rare words: sensation, reassurance, deprive, awareness. Maybe restraints (common word in our house; zing!). Middle panel: what look is the author talking about? Oh, that look of assuredness. Johnny feels very strongly that he's doing his victim a great service. This is how screwed he is in the head. It doesn't appear our victim is replying with sarcasm, but is instead trying to be as understanding as possible.



Rare words: effigy, infuse, detestable, self-loathing, damper. Do you think it's worth noting how this guy is restrained in this apparatus? That, coupled with Johnny's intention of making him into an "effigy," definately carries some religious connotations. But it takes on a double-meaning here. Effigy can refer to the sculpture of a noteworthy person (religious figure). It could also mean a mock up of a hated noteworthy person, created simply to be destroyed (George Bush Jr.?).



Ah, this is where it gets a little hairy. We have a name for the guy, Edgar. This is actually a rarity in this series; most of Johnny's victims aren't named, because they aren't worth naming. They're dumb characters, the "goblins" that these two keep talking about. The author chose to introduce this character. And now that Johnny knows this guy, he's starting to feel a little regret. The fact that Edgar is hoisted up, and Johnny keeps looking up..  really bothers me.



Intimate moment. Does Johnny look like he's considering Edgar's request?



Rare words: dire, circumstance, specifically, particularly, curiousity (?). In every single panel, Johnny has some look of reluctance, hiding, regret. Indeed, there is an actual plot to this whole series, if you were wondering. Spoiler: yes, there actually is something behind the wall. It's not just the fears of a paranoid schizophrenic.



Large panel = drama! Then we have these harsh diagonals, and a character who is desperately trying to reconcile the inner conflict he is now experiencing. It looks like he's trying to revert back to treating Edgar the same way he'd treat any other victim, but I don't think its working.



Have you noticed how in several of these panels where we're forward facing with Edgar, the background is blacked out? I think it lends a great sense of isolation and futulity to the scene. Good question: where is this man's fear?



Ah, it's all out now. There's Edgar's simple, yet profound explanation. It's not self-righteous, just... frank. Notice the shift: Edgar is set in real space, everything clear. Then it's Johnny who's standing in this isolating black space, completely dumbfounded. And he looks pained by the reality of the situation. "KLIK" so far has been our only sound effect in this entire scene. I think it's resolute, kind of reaffirming the nature of things: this man dies, and Johnny is completely damned.



Yeah, for this scene, you don't get the privilege of seeing a man get disembowled, or his limbs torn off, or his head exploded like you do in other parts of the story. So why the glasses? Edgar was not "clouded." He had a clear and unwavering perspective of the world and his place in it. And he accepted that. He had the vision that others would so desperately claim to want, but would be horrified if they even remotely understood their own realities. Johnny is remorseful. He's not entirely a monster, buy you can definately tell some external force is compelling him to be.

 Was that too long? Terribly sorry if it was. If I need to add another disclaimer: this is Jhonen Vasquez's work, I just supply the commentary. =P For educational purposes, you see. I found these images on Google docs, which I was grateful for, because it saved me the trouble of scanning them in myself. =D

Top Ten Toolkit: IUC Spiral Art Ed Site

Gude, O. UIC Spiral Art Education. Retrieved at: http://www.uic.edu/classes/ad/ad382/index.html.

I found this website about a year ago, and I just keep coming back to it. The web editor is apparently the coordinator of the Art Education department at University of Illinois in Chicago... something like that. But apparently they're very passionate about innovative art ed practices that focus on multicultural perspectives, community involvement, meta-curriculum... etc.

There's articles on pedagogy, lesson plans (and examples), teen art programs that UIC undergrads are involved in... just a lot of information. I like the lesson plans in particular because they are extremely creative and highly adaptable. This is where I go when I'm having trouble coming up with an art project.

For instance, a visiting artist (Heather McAdams) developed an art project for UIC: autobiographical comicstrips. The article explains the purpose of this project, the process the teacher takes the students through, and some variation on the project. There are several student examples given (both middle and high school).

Look at what teenagers are capable of doing: telling a story through words and images in an intriguing way. I want my kids to do stuff like this.

This is really more of a resource for myself, rather than something for students to be directly involved with. I've been using this as a resource since my Art 360 class (Foundations of Art Education). I'll probably be using it in the fall (Art 363/365) and during my student teaching.

Go check it out.

Top Ten Toolkit: National Gallery Website

National Gallery of Art. (2011). NGA Classroom: For Teachers and Students. Retrieved from: http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/index.mhtm.

Okay, sorry if that's a botched citation. =P Works for me.

But seriously, this website is about as massive as the museum itself. It has tons of information, tons of interactive stuff, tons of teacher material. This is just great for making lesson plans in general. All the artwork displayed on the website is in the national collection. It's just so frickin' awesome!!

I really could spend hours navigating this site, but I'm not. Here's a laundry list of things I have played with that has piqued my interest:

• matching game! Match the Greek deity with its corresponding symbol (like Diana with her hound, Apollo with laurels... you get it). 
• background information on Art Nouveau, including images and discussion questions. 
• make your own mobile! Because we love Calder! =D 
• create your own still life, like Cezanne!
• Art and Greco-Roman mythology. Worksheets included!! 
• 17th century Dutch paintings! Hooray!! 

Am I the only one that geeks out over a Dutch still life? Yeah... that's what I thought...

Most awesomest.... website... ever. Check it out.

Top Ten Toolkit: Brochure.

One memory that stuck with me from my practicum was the day we spent in the library, getting the students to research for an art history paper. I was so flippin' excited to share with the students because I love art history. I brought some of my own books, helped them find information, gave them some key words to research, helped with citations... I was all over it.

The kids were less than enthusiastic. I can understand; I don't like to write research papers either.

But it got me thinking for a while: what's a good way to get students engaged in research but not have them feel overwhelmed with something as daunting and as tedious as a research paper?

Enter: the Brochure. Research required, but only give the essential information, presented in an engaging and colorful manner. And illustration and visuals are required to enhance the written word. So students have the additional problem of composing a well-laid-out brochure. And it doesn't have to just be the typical fold-twice-over brochure. We can get way super-fancy and work this thing on an 18"x24".We can do brochures.... with posters!! We can do art history... with time lines!!

But let's take it a step further: my final project for one of my classes last semester was to make a 'zine. I can honestly say this was the most engaging and FUN final project EVER.

Here's a link: How-To-Zine-Crash-Course

Top Ten Toolkit: Reflective Writing

Last week I had asked one of my coworkers, someone who is artistic like myself, "when you took art in high school, how much writing did you do?" Her answer was, "quite a bit." During her AP Art class, she had to write a paper for each project, describing the process of production, what techniques were applied, things that didn't work, or things that did, and thoughts on the final outcome.

And I thought to myself, "gee, that sounds like a reflection paper."

Reflection writing is an excellent way for students to value what it is they're learning, because they have to think about what they've learned. It's good for assessment because the teacher has a glimpse into a student's thought process, what they've internalized, and how they've applied learned lessons.

Ummm.. have a picture.

Top Ten Toolkit: An Art Magazine

Attaboy, & Owens, A. (Eds.) (2011). Hi Fructose, volume number (19). 

When looking for good reading material over the weekend, I remembered I had bought this magazine about a month back, because it had a really awesome cover page.

Lamb with tree branch antlers on an ice sheet in the ocean. I am totally onboard.

You can't find information on contemporary artists in textbooks. You can't. Unless you buy the latest edition... publish four months prior. Most public schools will never have this kind of budget.

But magazines are cheap! And up to date! And their information is relevant! And they publish them regularly! Could I ask for anything more?

Have a monkey.

Christophe Roberts uses Nike shoe boxes in his animal sculptures to address issues of consumerism and environmentalism. In post-modern art, the material of the piece has become as important as the subject matter. How does material further communicate the message? What emotions are expressed through portraying these violent animals?

The text is rich, descriptive, and gives these artists the credit they deserve.

Yeah, aren't you just dying to read the rest of the article? Martin Wittfooth is showcased in this issue, as seen in the cover. Here is another one of his works. I think this is one of my favorites.

Red Soil; red has a tendency to draw people in and get them excited.

What do you think this artist's hopes are? How does the setting lend itself to the composition? Would this message not be as powerful if the corpse was in a forest? What do you think the color red symbolizes here? I love this guy's work. He's bringing Surrealism into the 21st century, and I like it.

There is so much diversity in this magazine. Check this out.

You think that's great, you should see his talking head teapots. =3 No, I'm not making that up.

Revisiting "Name that Style"

So I had mentioned this book last week as part of my Top Ten, and I said I'd post more about it when I got it. I received it in the mail last Thursday, and took twenty minutes to look it over.

Final consensus? I could launch a few lesson plans off this book. But that's about it. It's cute, it's concise, provides accurate and descriptive information, but it is as not as expansive as I like.

Let's talk about the things I like. For starters, the pictures.

The caption reads, "destroyed in 1945, formerly in the Dresden State Art Collection Gallery," now, think about the kinds of discussions you can have about that relating to WW2. Just sayin'.

I want art books that have good quality pictures. Everything is printed high-quality on nice paper. You can't look at art in black and white, or as tiny little pictures (I compressed this scan for your convenience). Kids need to see the painting for what it is. And I hate art history books that have tiny, black and white pictures. That actually impairs my ability to study the material. I'm serious.

With every artwork presented in the book, we're given a page that explains the style of the work, like so: 

Large print for your convenience; you're welcome. Presenting "who-what-where-when-why" information in a concise manner is very effective for easily defining the topic, in this case, Realism. I also think that the way things are framed lends to the ability for discovery. In the first paragraph, the author (Bob Raczka) explains, "artists typically painted scenes from the Bible, heroes from classical mythology, and portraits for the rich." Yeah, that's correct. But why? This can lead to discussions to the purpose of Baroque art in Rome, or the French Academy's perceptions of what the purpose of high art was meant to achieve. We can discuss how Realism also influenced literature, especially in post Civil War America, and how artists like Thomas Eakins and Winslow Homer began to depict real people in real life scenarios. Presenting other artists examples gives students a chance to research more art. I also like the words chosen to describe each work. "Gritty" is a good word to describe Courbet's The Stone Breakers, because the style as well as the subject manner is very real conveys hardship.

I'm not surprised if this painting was destroyed if it was in Nazi Germany; Hitler hated all art that contained some modern sentiment. And in 1849, Courbet's work marks the beginning of a modern age.

My only problem with this book is that it's rather limited. There's no mention of Dada, or Pop art. All works after Late Antiquity to Late Renaissance are lumped into "Naturalism" which I suppose is a style... but I've always seen naturalism as an alternative to Abstraction or non-representation. It's too broad. I would have liked to see a page on medieval art (which had its own style), or Baroque art (which had its own agenda in presenting Biblical narratives).

Occasional Paper: Trip to the Museum

This weekend I had the fortune of making a quick visit to the National Gallery in Washington DC. I was blown away with the amount of famous works our capital has in its collection. Many of them I’m familiar with because I have learned about them in various art history classes. Rococo works by Fragonard and Boucher displayed a sense of wantonness in pinks and blues. Thomas Cole captivated such beauty and detail in his allegorical Stages of Life series. Early works of Picasso showed his curiosity to break away from tradition by his descriptive use of line. Both his and Braque’s first experimentations with Cubism expressed a level of friendship and camaraderie between the two artists. Cassatt, our only American Impressionist, had the ability to display the love and affection between a mother and child like no other, except maybe Copley, a famous American colonial portraitist. 

Art tells a story. That’s always been a big thing in classic art, to tell a story, or teach a lesson. Poussin was a master painter, arranging his characters in an orderly setting, gave them gestures and expressions that told a story as if they were characters on a stage. His works were always based on some Biblical narrative or Greco-Roman history, as was the expectation of the time. These history paintings have always been a pleasure to unpack, but the history of the painting itself has always been more meaningful, in my opinion. I want to know the background of the artist, where they were living, what captivated them, what events were taking place during their lives, why they felt their subject matter was important. 

How paint is applied to the canvas is important to me too. Genius artists have learned how to take a tangible substance, pigment and oil, and make it mean something completely abstract. In the past, paint was only used to express color and light. The drawing was responsible for depicting form and depth. Now, artists experiment with how to take a static medium and create movement, weight, busyness. A Futurist painting is loaded with brushstrokes that convey a sense of briskness, energy, vibration, nervousness, to where the excitement of motion is palpable. With this quality is carried the sense of anticipation of a Machine Age, a common theme in the early 20^th century. 

I love to discuss these kinds of things while viewing art. These insights are what help to develop appreciation for a piece. But true appreciation is developed by seeing the work in person. I would love to give this to students.

Top Ten Kit: Non-Stop Writing

Lady Gaga has mentioned that the ideas of her songs are usually created in about fifteen minutes. It's like this vomiting up everything you have in you. I totally get this. But great art is not about the first fifteen minutes. It's about the revisions, the fine-tuning, building up, expansion, polishing, tearing things down and rearrangement. And most times, the final product is never what you first imagined it to be.

I see Nonstop Writing, mentioned on page 92 of our Content-Area Writing book, as a great way to take a mental dump. I actually use this, when I've got that jittery, restless feeling of, "gah, I gotta do something I GOTTA MAKE SOMETHING."

Within an art class, our prompts would be rather open-ended, and gives kids a very easy way to put down their thoughts in a short amount of time. It helps to get the brain revved up when "I don't know what to draw." So here are some prompts to work with:

• When was the last time someone made you mad? 
• What does joy look like? 
• What's your biggest concern for the future? 
• Write about a particularly vivid scene you read recently. 
• What do you see when you hear a favorite song?

I really liked the list given on page 94, of ideas for going back and really honing in the important bits of a writing. Underlining key sentences, circling really descriptive words, crossing out filler that doesn't relate to the main point.

It would be amazing to start new projects in this manner. Like the "draw a song" project. What formal elements visually describe this song? What colors and shapes set a tone? How do you use line and texture to indicate the tempo, or the severity of a bass line? What about the lyrical message of the song itself? What sort of representational images would you use to reflect the message of the song? How would you arrange these in the composition?

Everyone loves this project. I'm serious. And it makes kids feel so good about themselves, especially when they stand up to present the finished product and say, "my song was 'this and that' by 'so-and-so'" and all their peers make that "ohhhh" sound of "I totally see it." Because that's when you know that student has communicated something really well.

One problem with it is you don't want students to be recreating recognizable images. I think the Word Dump (that's what I'm calling it from now on) might be really good to combat that because you're really asking the students to describe what's in their heads. And they have to stick to that as their basis for the creative process.

I don't know; makes for a good experimental lesson plan.

Here's Gaga.

We miss you, Clarence.

Top Ten Kit: Drawing and Illustrating

This technique is described on page 48 in Content Area Writing. Okay, this really was a lead-in from my previous post. Of course, in an art class, this is the meat and potatoes of our learning. Visual learners are typically drawn to art because this is the majority of what we do. We look at stuff, and we learn the ins and outs of it by drawing it. We learn how light reflects differently on shiny surfaces compared to matte surfaces. We learn how draw things to scale, which requires us to take into account the space around objects. And we have to take value into account, because the hard edge of a shadow or the level of contrast within an object indicates the condition of the light. And then we take all this knowledge and turn it into something you've never seen before. Art develops visual perception, and it's a darn good mental booster.

And it's not just good for art making process either. I'd encourage my students to take art history notes in their sketchbooks. Draw the concepts, instead of just writing the definitions. If we're looking at Degas, do a thumbnail sketch of some of his ballet paintings while I'm prattling on through a ten minute PowerPoint.

Good for discussion on Impressionism, implied movement, positive versus negative space, color, impasto, among other things.

Degas is known for his early ballet paintings because of his attention to details like body mechanics, and light, and color. He studied his dancers, spent a lot of time in the theater and the dance studio. The dancer looks like she's in mid step, like this is a transition to another pose. We love this dynamism. Look at the white dress. Well, it's not really white; I'm seeing... blues, pale lavenders and muted yellow. And the contrast on the face and arms clearly indicate the light was coming from below, probably lamps situated around the front of the stage (which you can't see).

Who knows? Students may take this drawing note-taking approach and apply it to other disciplines. It's how I got through my science and math classes.

Top Ten Kit: K-W-L Chart. And an art lesson.

I love organizing information. When I saw this neat little process introduced in Chapter 6 of When Kids Can't Read (p. 80; yeah, I've been reading ahead), I immediately saw how versatile and multi-disciplinary this technique can be.

Essentially this chart allows you to build a web of information through class discussion. It is divided into three categories:

• What I Know
• What I Want to know 
• What I Learned 

Using this technique is based on the understanding that active readers use prior knowledge in order to make sense of new material. They will engage with a new book or resource before even turning to the first chapter and anticipate what they are likely to find. These kind of techniques do make one more receptive to new information, because you are building it on knowledge that is already firmly established.

Of course I saw this as a great activity for an art class. Let's say I was beginning a  new unit on Greek and Roman art. Students will have already developed a schema of what that is: marble statues, contrapposto, buildings with columns, Pompeii, Parthenon, pottery with figures. I appreciate a teaching strategy that acknowledges that students are coming into a classroom with prior knowledge. Also, this is a very student-oriented strategy. Someone may have heard "Greek and Roman statues of the late-classical period are presented in a natural, contrapposto pose," but that student may ask, "I know what it looks like, but what does 'contrapposto' mean? How do you make a figure look that way? What is the body doing when you shift your weight to one leg?" Good question! We can build a lesson plan on basic figure drawing just on that. Kids may be interested in that more than, say, a mosaic project.

Actually, most of what we know of Greek statues comes from Romans. This is a Roman copy of a Greek original. The Greeks didn't carve in marble; their statues were cast in bronze.

An art class lends another dimension of the learning process because we learn a lot by doing. My understanding of "contrapposto" was not learned out of a book. It was learned by studying the body, repeated drawing of it, and continuously fixing mistakes. And you notice the shift, when a live model finally stops standing so rigidly. All their weight shifts onto one leg, therefor the pelvis is tilted up on that weight-bearing side and to compensate for the imbalance, the upper torso and shoulders are tilted in the opposite direction. It's really strange and remarkable, how we can always manage to stand so much of ourselves on tiny little feet and not fall over on a constant basis. But there's a real science to it that has everything to do with the mechanics of balance and weight distribution.

An anatomy study of Michelangelo's David. Stand in this pose for a second. It's very easy. Now, raise your right shoulder. Feels a little lopsided, huh?

The biggest obstacle with this chart is getting kids to ask questions, which is essential to active learning. "Why are there three orders of Greek building? Why not five? Did they (ancient Greeks?) deviate from any of those prescribed orders? How are we still using these building techniques and styles? Do we still use them to communicate the purpose of the structure? In what ways?" It's always good to remember that questions arise out of what we already know. As a teacher, I am mindful that in order to get students talking, it's always best to bring up a subject they are familiar with. Chances are, they haven't mastered it.

Top Ten Tool Kit: Name That Style

Raczka, B. (2009). Name That Style: All about Isms in Art. Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing.

This simple yet informative book focus on different styles of Western Art, beginning from the Renaissance to the Modern era. The book is divided into chapters that focus on one particular style, when it was implemented, gives examples of artists and their works, and gives explanations of formal elements of each style. It is written for a middle school grade level but can be appreciated by anyone who is new to the world of art.

I do not have a copy of this book, but you best believe it's in my Amazon wish list. I think the title was what caught my interest, because it's true: in art, we have a lot of "isms," and I'm pretty sure that this book doesn't cover all of them. Regardless, it's a fantastic way to illustrate to art students the concept of naming different types of work. This is a resource that helps to build imagery and association to a type of vocabulary that is fundamental to art.

Many reviews I've read on this book have said that it is intended as a resource for children between grades 5-8. To that I say, "whatever." When I was in eighth grade I couldn't explain to you the difference between Pointillism and Fauvism, much less give you examples of artists who implemented these two styles. By the time I was in high school, I couldn't have explained the difference between late Renaissance and Baroque (more of a difference in ideology and subject matter, rather than style). My point is, even though I could draw you a pretty picture by the age of 18, I was artist-illiterate. I didn't have the vocabulary to describe the formal properties of a piece and how they aided in communicating a message. I had trouble with even reading the narrative of  a painting (even to this day I do; I bring my fiance to the art museums with me because he's the one who's well-versed in all the Biblical and Classical stories).

My one beef: when am I going to find an approachable resource that deals with non-Western art? 

My thought on it is, if crucial concepts are explained simply yet thoughtfully, it would be a benefit for anyone who's new to the information. I would like to do a followup on this book, after I receive it in the mail and read it over the next weekend. =D

Because Amazon is just so friggin' awesome. And I love how people give such thoughtful reviews.

Top Ten Tool Kit: Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion

The Guerrilla Girls. (1998). The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western Art. New York: Penguin Books.  

The theme of this book poses the question, "What role do women have in the history of Western art?" and further looks into issues of gender inequality from ancient to modern times. The art work featured and explained in this book are all produced by women and this message impresses upon the reader that women have also contributed a lot to our artistic traditions. Furthermore, this book brings up issues of race and sexuality and the inequalities that modern women have had to face in regards to their art work. 

I was first introduced to this book last year in my Foundations of Art Education class. I think it's a great book to have in a high school art class because it tackles some complex issues relating to social justice, subjects no doubt young adults should be discussing in their history, social studies, and English classes. I would be reluctant to bring this book into a middle school setting because there are some themes regarding rape, sexuality, and there's a lot of boobage in this book. I don't know how the parents would feel about all that. =/ But most kids can maturely handle these things by the age of 14.

In regards to Art, you can ask most kids, "name me some artists," and they can prattle off about half a dozen male artists; da Vinci (and the other Ren artists that inspired the names of the Ninja Turtles... if kids still remember that show), van Gogh, Matisse, Dali, Polluck. Female artists? Georgia O' Keefe is about all they can come up with. And most don't know she painted more than just her famous vagina-flowers. Most of the students you will find in a high school art class room are young women, because for whatever reason art has become a "girly subject" for all it's creative-feeling-perceiving aspects. It's empowering for girls to know who paved the way for them in the artistic traditions, because the fact of the matter is that few women were allowed to express themselves in any matter at all, much less given the opportunity to create art. 

In regards to the literacy component of this book, it is highly approachable. It is filled with art work, illustration, photography, and collage, so all these visual cues lend themselves to an active reading process. Important blurbs of information are highlighted in text boxes apart from the main body of text. Some stories are presented in the form of a comic or news article. You can pretty much flip to any page and start reading and get some kernel of information from it. It can be read from cover to cover, but I think it's more fun to hone in on one chapter or one artist in the book and open it for discussion.

My one discretion: how do you open the floor for a feminist-oriented topic that doesn't devolve into male-bashing? This is my one beef with the women studies undergrads, to tell the truth. We must keep in mind that we do not raise women up by putting down the men for all of society's past social injustices. Girls today are being raised by parents who tell them they can be pretty much anything they want. Boys are growing up with the understanding that girls are just as capable as they are. And I think it's important to dismiss this notion that just because a woman did it (wrote it, created it), doesn't mean it must be enjoyed exclusively by women. Young men can appreciate the creative work of women as well.

All images scanned by me.

Literary Autobiography, Part 5

I guess the best way to round this off is to give some idea of where I am right now in my literary life.

At this point, my interests are pretty extensive. I'm going back and forth between a sci-fi anthology of Ray Bradbury's works (really weird), and a book on the Philosophy of Art (which is making a lot of sense).

I'm also working on an autobiography that revolves around my long-term employment with Starbucks. It's sort of like that guy's "How Starbucks Saved My Life", only way more snarky. And I'm convinced that my stories about companionship between partners and our connections with customers will be a little more vivid. Because they make this story more than I do. Gill's personal story of white privilege, and him losing it, and then developing new meaning in his life, was more shocking to people like him than it was to people like me.

Besides, his portrayal of Starbucks is how it used to be at least seven years ago. I felt a huge sense of nostalgia while reading his book, but at the end I thought to myself, "this is not how it feels for so many others."

I think everyone has the potential to tell a story. How often are we impressing this upon our children? How much are we encouraging them to explore and develop their own life experiences? In many ways, schools preach safety, the well-worn path of academia, the illusion that you will become successful if you squeeze yourself into that four-year-university-right-out-of-highschool demographic.

And so many kids are learning right now that that's just not how it works anymore. You're not guaranteed a job when you're done with college, because chances are, there are none. Or you have to compete with people twice your age, with more experience.

So what do these kids do? Go right back to school to get their master's, because that's all a lot of these kids every really learned to do: jump through hoops, fulfill the requirements, be rewarded with a piece of paper.

I think we should do what the Europeans do: tell the kids to take a year off. Get a job. Travel a little bit. Make some mistakes. Figure out what you really love. Then go back to school. You appreciate it more that way. And getting the party out of your system allows you to better focus on your long-term goals. Education is meant to enrich your life experiences, not monopolize them.

I think that's a big motivator for me, as a future educator. I want to impress upon my students that they are not learning in a vacuum. What they are seeing, and learning, and producing, is relevant to what is happening in the real world. And we should shatter this polarity between sheltered school community and everywhere else. Learning should not be isolated to the classroom. We need to impress upon children that the world is a classroom. Learning happens everywhere, not just within the confines of a text book. School should be a hub where we share our experiences, and testing should mean showing how we have internalized those experiences.

I'm rambling. Insert random picture.

Yeah, it's always good to end it with your heart smiling. <3

Literary Autobiography part 4

In my last post I explained my "Descent into Fandom Process."
When I came across the Twilight series, something went horribly wrong after step 3. Or... step 3 and step 2 got horribly mixed up and I had what I like to call a "Pop Culture Conflict."

Literary works become popular for many reasons. The characters are relate-able, the conflicts are timeless, the ending leads to some internal moral insight.... but this is not the case for Twilight.

At first I considered that maybe it's because the books were targeted to girls between the ages of eleven and sixteen. Until I started to see young women my age, reading this garbage. 

My words are cruel, I understand. But when a book is entirely centered around a self-hating, whiney, unremarkable teenage girl who develops her self-esteem by dating guys who want to kill her out of blood lust.... we women of a post-feminist era need to take a step back and ask ourselves what the hell went wrong.

Margot Adler wrote this extensive article on the surge of vampires in our literature and media, noting the fact that our contemporary portrayal of vampires involves moral conflict. Blood-sucking, light-evading, hellish creatures grappling with the fact that they are not human, but desperately trying to act human.

I don't like it. I want my vampires to be evil, because the archetype of the vampire gives us a glimpse of our own maliciously animal nature - and in contrast, reminds us of our true goodness and humanity. And this is why people find vampires to be oh-so-sexy. The fantasy is completely taboo because we so desire to link sex with blood, and darkness, and decay, and desecration. But to white-wash this charismatic and brutal personage is to take away its power in the psyche.

There's my Jungian psychology for the day.

When I was in high school, I fell in love with Anne Rice. Her early stuff was hypnotic. The characters were average until they became vampires (except Lestat; he was awesome before he turned over... and being a vampire just amplified it). But then you begin to realize just how depraved these characters really were. You began to see the irony in how they lived, because no matter how hard they tried to blend into polite society, to live fashionably, they were fundamentally apart from the people they feasted on. And to watch the character's slow realization of this was heart-wrenching. You'd finish the book with a greater sense of your own humanity, because the characters you just fell in love with (or grew to despise) were so very nihilistic.

Why aren't girls still reading those, huh? Why not encourage teenage girls to explore their own psychology through something as sexually tensioned as a vampire novel? I feel this is far better than having them relate to a "heroine" as pathetic as Bella. That series has started a deplorable trend: all the girls want a vampire for a boyfriend. Don't bother, they just want to suck your blood (pop your cherry) and leave you for dead (move onto their next naive target). And most vampires are stuck on themselves anyway.

Notice, ladies, how you're not getting any of his attention.