Making Papier Mache Masks 2011

Its been a couple of months since I last posted to this blog, and so here I am again.  I haven't paid too much attention as to who has been looking to see what's happening here.

Since the classes in Jewelry had been working with paper and paper mache to create pieces of jewelry, I decided to capitalize on their learning and experience and have them create masks.  I showed them a series of different forms of masks.  We looked at examples of ceremonial, day of the dead, masquerade, horror, and funny masks as well as from a variety of ethnicities and cultures.

I demonstrated two forms of creation.  The first being to form a mask based on one's face structure.  I had them use aluminum foil to form over their face/head, use crushed paper or a balloon to help the structure, and then the paper mache strips to construct the mask.  The second was to form a base with crushed paper, roll the edges, and then to form the paper mache strips over that base.

I shot some random video of the students working, along with some still pictures of the pieces in progress.
I also included some shots of the students posing with their creations and a classroom shot of them hanging on the wall in the front of the room.  The music track is from an album by Jamal Mohammed, who was my percussion teacher many years ago when I was creating clay drums.

I hope you enjoy the video and make comments.  Thank you.

Paper Mache...a Fun way to create jewelry

Well, here I am again 3 weeks later.  Something tells me I'll have to "step it up" with posts on this blog if I expect anyone to care enough to follow or even to view any of my posts.  With this new assignment of teaching jewelry, I have had some "learning curve" to go through and will continue to go through for quite awhile.  I determined early on that my students really love to be busy when they are in my classroom.  Not that I didn't provide enough for my Art I students to be involved with last year, but that these students came to this class with the EXPECTATION of being creatively active.  It is so much FUN for me to see an entire classroom full of engaged learners seeming to take delight in what they are involved with.  I am posting this little 3 minute video from yesterday to show some students in my LAST PERIOD OF CLASS ON A FRIDAY toward the very end of a 90 minute class.  Next Wednesday we will be assembling the results of their productive activity into bracelets and necklaces and I'll post those pictures and video at that time.

Creating Paper Beads

Yesterday, on the 5th day of class, we spent the majority of time cutting, winding, and gluing paper into beads.  I had shown the students a couple of decorating ideas on Monday.  Most of them used the colored construction paper with both the wooden skewers and the round toothpicks and Elmer's Glue.  When we come back to class on Wednesday next week we'll start out by coating the beads with Acrylic Gloss Medium.  This will give them a protective coat and make them shiny.

I put together a short video using some short clips of students at varying stages of construction along with 38 pictures of the beads they produced.  Looking forward to a few days off.  Enjoy the video.

Just because it's Monday post...

Today was such a full day of learning I just didn't get around to photographing or videoing any activities at all.  I can see ample opportunity coming up on Wednesday for just that, however.

I introduced them to the textbook we'll be referencing this year, THE JEWELER'S ART.  I had them read a few pages in Chapter 3, PAPER JEWELRY, which discusses, among other things, paper beads.  I had looked at a few Youtube videos of artists demonstrating the making of paper beads and wanted them to find out about it.  So I first had them read a little, then I demonstrated a couple of techniques I picked up on the demos.  I cut 6" X 18" strips of colored construction paper, showed them how to measure half and full inch width strips/triangles, showed them the cutting procedure, and then rolled a few beads on a wooden skewer and a round toothpick.  During my advanced class I even took the time to demo the painting on of the acrylic gloss medium.

The students took to the concept and the procedure with a gusto.  They wanted to show me their first efforts and EVERYONE did a super job.  As I told them before they started and when I looked at their beads, "yours are going to look SO much better than mine"...and they did.

One of my goals in teaching these classes is to get the students to REALLY ENJOY the act of designing
jewelry.  I want them to experience a wide variety of media and expressions in their learning and I want them to look forward to each day they spend in my class as a time when they can fully express themselves in this art form.  I want them to decide for themselves what jewelry is to THEM.  I look forward to their designs truly reflecting who they are as a person.  This may all sound pretty outlandish
and far-fetched, but I really think the day will arrive for some of them.  Come back on Wednesday for
another look at students at work and some of their products.

"Getting to KNOW you" on a FUN FRIDAY

I have two beginning Jewelry classes with about 25 students in each class.  My advanced class only has 10 students, so I didn't go through this exercise with them.  I grouped 4 or 5 students together at the tables.
I had a student think of a number between 1 and 5.  I gave each student a number, asked the student what number she had chosen, and had THAT number be the leader of the group.  Then I had them introduce themselves and each other to the small group and go around three times.  This was so each person in that small group knows by name all the other members of the group.  My reasoning that I explained is that many times they will need help putting something together, cleaning up, or just for a little help.  Now they know a few students they can call on.

We continued with the paper designing pieces of jewelry project.  In this case I told them they could trade pieces of paper cut outs with each other in their group.  At the end of the first period I had each group choose the design they liked best, I took an picture of the grouping, and then projected the photo on the screen for them to comment on.  In the last period I had each student create 9 designs (3 geometric shape based, 3 organic shape, and 3 free form) and then glue them down to a piece of copy paper, label them and turn them in.  I took pictures of some of them and have posted them here.

The students got along quite well together and seemed to easily spend time taking through the discussions.  I plan to continue this collaborative endeavor throughout the year in these classes.  Below find some of the designs created today.  Thanks for viewing.

Jewelry design...out of paper? REALLY?

Yesterday was our second day of classes.  It's always such a relief to get through the first day, with all of the registration and enrollment forms to fill out, etc.  But on this day, after the collection of forms and roll taken, our class could begin in earnest.  We have been asked as a faculty to help our students become better writers by giving them a "bell ringer" the first 10 minutes of class.  Actually, we could choose from a couple different forms of participation, but I have chosen a writing exercise as that which would be most fitting.  I had the projector on and the new ipad2 plugged in with a Pages post.  I had the students write on what they thought was meant be the term "to care" and give 3 examples of things, places, or people they cared about and why.  They got right into it and seemed to have a lot to say.  I will take a look at the writings in a couple of weeks when I post grades.

Many of my students have not had Art 1 as a class.  They fulfilled their requirement by a dance, theater arts, or music credit.  No matter.  I'll teach them what they need to learn.  I spent about 20 minutes in each class reviewing the ELEMENTS OF ART...LINE, SHAPE, VALUE, COLOR, TEXTURE, AND SPACE.  As I told them, these concepts are present in every genre of art and particularly in jewelry.

I thought up an exercise that I figured would introduce them to the idea of creating designs easily, using construction  paper to cut out the shapes and lines and then combine them using glue into a variety of jewelry designs. I videoed my first period students beginning that process.  Then I took pictures of some of the designs after my 3rd period  was finished.  Following first is the video, then a photo of the work:

"Where shall I begin...AGAIN?"

Today our school year began for the 2011-2012 school year.  I'm still at Skyline High School and Career Development Center.  I'm still teaching on A days on a half time contract with the Dallas Independent School District. I'm still in classroom G-62.  Sounds pretty comfy, eh?  Doing the same kind of job year in and year out?  Maybe for some, but not for me.  No sir, I'm starting this 42nd year of teaching with a whole new program.  I've taken over the Jewelry classes this year.  The former teacher, Susan Embler, decided to make a move to the "burbs" over in Mesquite, leaving her three jewelry classes behind.  Always looking for new experiences and challenges, I decided to put in a bid for them and was granted my request.

So I have two beginning classes of jewelry, Art II, and one advanced class with both Art III and IV students enrolled.  The Art II classes are about 24 students each and the other has about 10 students currently enrolled.  I moved the basic tools and equipment from the former teacher's classroom and brought in some of my personal stuff as well.

I met with the classes today and only had time to cover some rudiments of their behavior and code of conduct generally in the classroom.  I did, however, tell them about my Student Directed Art Curriculum.I haven't given them any handouts or specifics yet, but I did tell them I would be teaching them the same way, generally, as I did my Art I students last year.  There will be some modifications, a little less paper work, fewer written requirements, and more concentration on skill building, but that will be necessary considering the type of classes they are.

I broached a subject with them verbally today about a concept I thought of dealing with COLLABORATIVE LEARNING . The idea is to form some "mini companies" within the class.  Students in groups of 5 or 6 that meet together and work out what kinds of things they want to learn, share research they take on, decide what raw materials they need, chip in equal amounts of money to purchase them, elect a person or persons to be responsible for keeping track of their expenditures, do their own bookkeeping, and share in any profits they might end up with when and if any of their designs/work is sold.  Not that THAT would be the impetus for the groups' endeavors, but it could be, down the line, a result.

I shared with them my personal need to stay out of any transactions they might make regarding finances so that a liability issue wouldn't be raised regarding going through proper channels and adherence to school district policies.  I also shared with them the VERY limited budget I was on, particularly in regard to consumable materials.  I will keep this blog posted on how successful this process becomes, how it is working, and the positives and negatives involved.

For those "following" this blog, I say welcome back.  I look forward to hearing your comments along the way.  Until next time....

Reviewing the 2010-11 Art Curriculum..a read and a movie

Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
Douglas MacArthur

Well, here it is June 10, 2011 and I am about to enter my final post to this blog.  I just now looked at a couple of numbers I thought were particularly significant.  The first is that today in the stats of the blog I see that to date there were exactly 4000 views of this blog since August of 2010 when I started it.  I don't know how successful that number is in relation to other blogs, but I am encouraged that so many of you have taken the time to take a look at our art work.  Each time I look at the stats, I am amazed at the wide variety of places in the world where this is viewed.  Russia, Slovenia, Australia, India, China, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Suriname, South Korea, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Brazil, Nigeria, Canada, United States, Hong Kong, and Poland to name a few.  I have told my students all year long that you have been out there seeing what they have been doing and how I have enjoyed bringing their art to you.  The other significant number I saw today is that this will be my 88th posting to the blog.  I had thought when I began that I would try to post at least once for each day I taught.  Since I am a half time teacher, I only teach 90 days out of 180.  So I aimed for 90.  But those of you who know me personally know how meaningful the number 8 is to me.  So, since we DID miss a couple of days to ice storms, I will find this post to be achieving my goal and ending on the double 8 as well.

As I think back on the experience of dreaming up and putting into place this year's curriculum, I feel as though I have benefitted greatly from the process.  I'll never know what sort of long term impact it will have had on the students I had in class.  Many of them said they enjoyed the class and the process.  I can only hope that the idea of intrinsic motivation that I harped on all year will mean something to them in years to come.  Who knows, maybe they'll contact me through facebook years from now and tell me how it helped them in their careers.  Watch me hold my breath.  For me the important thing was to see the individual effort and satisfaction of doing a good job I saw as they completed each assignment.  They would ask my opinion and I would ask them, "do you like it?"  They invariably said yes.  Then I would say, "you did a good job and should be proud to what you accomplished".  Notice how "grades" did not enter the conversation?

The doing of the blog was quite challenging.  I would usually sit down on my day off and put together my notes.  I din't get into recording the students working and their work until well into the second unit.

At first I was very bothered by the lack of comments.  I would knock myself out putting together a movie, or a slide show, or just some great art works...nothing.  Overall, there were 25 comments over the nine months and 4000 views.  My daughter, Kateri, who works for a radio station, said not to worry about it, their shows get no comments either.  So I concentrated on the number of views and stayed encouraged and motivated.  Thank all of you for being there.  

I have prepared a 10 summary/review of the year and am posting it here.  Just me talking about the year and the lessons.  It may dawn on me to add to this blog later this summer.  If I do, I hope you are a follower so you will know about it.  Until then, or until next year, so long.

  

Some student comments about their year in art

"Start with what is right rather than what  is acceptable."

Franz Kafka   June 3, 1924

I'm not sure if what I started with was "right" or not.  It certainly has had limited acceptance.  However, I asked my students to comment on the class and the year in Art 1.  Last winter I posted some of the actual comments directly from their test papers.  I'm not sure how much of that post was clear enough to read because of the quality of the scan and the readability of the handwriting.  So this time I am going to go through the tests and pick out some students comments and simply type them in.

I like how we worked with watercolor.  I disliked the india ink stuff...didn't catch my attention.

I liked the freedom.  I really didn't like the project for the last 6 weeks.  I didn't like taking this test.

This semester was a lot more satisfying.  I liked the grading process, but thought it was too complicated.  I enjoyed this class very much because you tell us what to do but give us choices at the same time.  I didn't like pressing hard with crayon on the last project and then crumpling it.

I loved the final  project though.  It was an advantage for us to grade ourselves as long as we were doing what we were supposed to.
  

Art 1 was fun.  I got to do things I had never done before.  I would have to say this was the best class I was in all year.  I couldn't wait to get to this class every day.

This semester was great.  I liked the fact that I had a steady goal I could work towards.  The grading system sounds great on paper, but giving the students too much freedom will eventually turn into a bad idea.  The use of the teacher's authority helps make the class more organized seeing as we need a leader or we become restless and can't finish our work.  You should be more strict with the students who give you problems.  I am going to take art next year.  I want to try pottery.

That last paragraph was by Juan.  I highlighted him in a short video as well as posted his work as the cover for the students website.  

Malcolm McLaren on Authenticity VS Karaoke culture

"The person who knows HOW will always have a job.
 The person who knows WHY will always be his boss."

Alanis (Nadine) Morissette   June 1, 1974

I watched a TED conference talk yesterday by Malcolm McLaren.  I tried to record a portion of the talk and post it onto this blog, but haven't figured out yet how to do that.  I ran across an interview with him, however, and am going to post some of that on the blog today.  The whole point of the talk was not only to describe himself and his life, but to discuss the (in his words) two most important words (concepts) confronting our world today...Authenticity....Karaoke...

He describes in his talk how he was first introduced to the idea of authenticity by his first art teacher.  He also discusses what he terms as our existing "Karaoke Culture".  If, after reading some of the excerpts I have posted here, you want to listen to the entire talk on TED, click on 

lMalcolm McLaren's talk and you can do so.  In the meantime, here are some thoughts of his:

Marco Siebertz: You say that you dedicated your life to being a flamboyant and magnificent failure. What is so beneficial in failing?

Malcolm McLaren: For artists from the 19th century like Blake, Byron, Shelley or maybe even Vincent van Gogh the artistic process was one long eternal struggle, which never ends and never ever succeeds. And the only great art comes out of that struggle. It’s like being on a train. There maybe a destination but you never arrive t here – because when you do, you are dead! So, in this romantic age still prevailing in the 1960s, you were taught that from day one. Today, if people were told that, they’d probably drop dead in front of that lecture because they’re such scaredy-dares now! They can’t cope with such thoughts! Those thoughts are far too deep today.

Being a failure was part of an old-fashioned, authentic, romantic way of life and vision for an artist. Today the process of creativity can be better compared to a Karaoke-like experience – an “Ersatz”-world, where the messiness, where the struggle doesn’t exist. In a Karaoke world everything is made easy, you never fail. But in an authentic world failure is something you embrace. It’s almost a noble pursuit. I come from that world – it supported me in creating the punk aesthetic.

POSITIVE/NEGATIVE INDIA INK LESSON SHARED

 POSITIVE/NEGATIVE INDIA INK LESSON

CHOOSE SUBJECT(S) AND DRAW THEM IN PENCIL COVERING THE 12 X 18 WHITE DRAWING PAPER. 

OVERLAP THE SUBJECTS AND HAVE THEM COMING FROM ALL DIRECTIONS AND HAVE PARTS OF THEM GO OFF THE PAGE

I CHOSE ROOSTERS FOR THIS EXAMPLE:

START AT A CORNER OF THE PAPER AND MARK AN X INEACH SHAPE YOU INTEND TO DARKEN.  THE OBJECT IS TO NOT HAVE ANY LINES, ONLY POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SHAPES.

BEGIN COLORING IN THE SHAPES USING INDIA INK OR FELT TIP PEN.

THIS IS THE EXAMPLE I WORKED UP FOR MY STUDENTS USING MY IPAD AND PROJECTOR.

I THOUGHT THE STUDENTS’ WORK CAME OUT QUITE WELL.

India Ink and Rebecca Penney

"You can get all A's and still flunk life."

Walker (Alexander) Percy   May 28, 1916

When I saw this quote on my daily email quoting famous people, I didn't have a clue as to who this was.  I don't really care, to tell the truth.  I just know it spoke a whole world of ideas about what actually IS important.  This blog has tried to stay centered around the idea of intrinsic motivation and its importance in the learning process.  Getting all A"s is the ultimate external motivation in education.  We place so much value on that concept that we forget (ignore) completely the value of learning for the sake and joy and worth of learning.  So, hail to you, Mr. Walker Percy, for reminding us way back at the turn of the century that we need to get our heads out of dark places and find the light of learning as life itself.

Yesterday was my LDWKTY (last day with kids this year) and it was busy and fun.  I gave them a formal test over the last semester similar to last semester's exam where I asked them to summarize the lessons they had and the projects they did and feelings they had about them.  I also asked them again how they felt about the "program" they were on, the self grading, choices, etc.  I'll share some of their thoughts about that in subsequent posts here.  We also finished, or came close to finishing, their last project, the Positive/Negative India Ink projects.

I am posting a video showing, again, some of them working along with some still shots of some of the finished works.  This time I set it to music by the artist Rebecca Penney.  I love her piano work and hoped you would enjoy it.

John Wayne on "Life and the Creative Process"

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us
 at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts
 itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from
 yesterday."

"If everything isn't black and white, I say why the hell not."

John Wayne   [Marion Michael Morrison]   May 26, 1907

Today is the "Duke's" birthday.  In looking over a couple quotes attributed to him, I decided that these two would be appropriate.  The first could be an analogy for the beginning of an art work.

The "blank canvas" that every artist faces in some shape or form.  Is is the "tomorrow" of each

piece of work we attempt.  The other quote, while being meant as a "no nonsense, no gray areas" approach to life, I merely saw it as a metaphor for the POSITIVE/NEGATIVE SPACE 

projects my students are finishing the year creating.

Here is another short video of students in the "creative process'.  Uncut and uncensored.

"Mistakes, Failure, and Being Wrong"...the creative process

"Do not fear mistakes. There are none."

Miles (Dewey) Davis (III)   May 25, 1926

I love jazz musicians.  They are the genius' of spontaneous creativity.  An old acquaintance of mine from a couple of lifetimes ago, Ken Cassover, was a psychologist by day and a jazz pianist in the likes of Dave Brubeck at night, was trained as a traditional concert pianist.  I asked him one day if he found that rigid training beneficial or a hamper to his playing jazz.  He shared that his classical training had been a benefit.  He said that it broadened his base of spontaneity.

I feel the same way about classical training in the visual arts.  Students need to be held to an accountable understanding of the elements of art and the principals of design.  I think at every level of learning those tenants hold true.  I use as an analogy with my students that at every level of football (elementary school to the pros), players practice the rudiments of blocking.

Tiger Woods practices putting.  John McEnroe his backhand.

Now, about Miles Davis' comment about mistakes.  FDR said, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself".  The only "mistake" we can make is to believe that failure is not a part of the process of creating art.  Being wrong is what makes us human.  Embrace it.

Here is short video of students while they were staining their ceramic pendants the other day.

Stained and Acrylic Glazed Clay Pendants

"And since geometry is the right foundation of all painting, I
 have decided to teach its rudiments and principles to all
 youngsters eager for art...

Albrecht Durer   May 21, 1471

A busy day today, what with demonstrating the process of staining and glazing our clay pendants, working with students finishing up their crayon/india inks stain glass projects, and getting everyone started on their positive/negative projects using the animal silhouettes and india ink.  It also included some interesting and mildly "humorous" situations dealing with student behavior.

 I'm a stickler for students paying strict attention when I am demonstrating a process.  When a student chooses to behave in a manner which distracts me or other students, I always ask that they stop what they are doing, even though it may seem minor in any other circumstance.  This morning during a class period, two of my students sitting right in front of me were fanning themselves with their folders.  I asked them to stop..they refused..again..refusal..asked them to leave the room...refused.  My patience at an end, I went to the hall and summoned the vice principal assigned to our building.  He came to my room and immediately noticed that the "leader" of this little rebellion was totally out of dress code, wearing jeans and also did not have his id badge..  The student was sent to in house suspension for those violations.

 The humor in all this is that this is the last week of the school year.  I was about to show the students a very unique process no other art teacher in this school would have taken the time to show them.  Here was a student, who got up this morning and decided he was going to dress against dress code, come into my room late, and behave in a manner that was guaranteed to draw my attention...then be belligerent enough to get me to call the authorities and draw their attention as well.  Maybe it's just me, but I thought it was funny.

Ok, then I am posting some pics of some of the pendants the students finished today.  Hope you enjoy them.

Clay Pendant (TEXTURE) project

"It is easy to sit up and take notice, What is difficult is getting
 up and taking action."

Honore de Balzac   May 20, 1799

So I went out and bought the clay, hauled it up to my room on the second floor, cut it up, demonstrated various ways to texture the clay to arrive at a pleasing composition, helped the students achieve some very nice pendants, packed them all up carefully and hauled them home where they now sit to dry.  I will then load them up in the kiln, pay for the electricity to fire them, haul them back to school on Monday, have the students paint them with watercolor, and have them cover them with gloss transparent medium.  Once they are dry, I will give each student a piece of lace to attach to the pendant so they can be worn.

Doe EVERY art teacher do stuff like this?  I don't know.  I DO know, however, that when I do things like I just described, it bothers me a WHOLE LOT when I get a text from the teacher with whom I share the classroom and who teaches air brush that one of my students crammed clay down one of his air receptacles and he had to spend a lot of time cleaning out.  Not to mention the danger of having this act possibly injure one of his students because the line is under 70 pounds of pressure.  

Here are some pictures of the pendants drying out in my studio.  I'll fire them tomorrow over night so they will be ready by Monday morning.

Paul Soldner on the "critique"

"I'm sure there are other ways to avoid playing Artistic God, but real problems arise if grades are affected by a critique. Giving grades on artisitc effort seems contradictory. On one hand we expect the students to be original, self-motivated and inventive, but then we judge their success or failure by personal feelings."

Paul Soldner

A leader is best When people barely know he exists Not so good when people obey and acclaim him, Worse when they despise him. "Fail to honor people, They fail to honor you." But of a good leader, who talks little, When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, They will say, "We did this ourselves."                    -Lao Tzu Tomorrow in my art classes I am going to do a begin a special project with my students.  We are in a "last few days of the year" mode and I want to make each day count.  Last year I had my students, during the study of texture, create a textured clay pendant that they finished in watercolor stain and glossy medium.  Even though we have already studied texture and we spent 6 weeks creating textured paintings in tempera, I decided I would allow two days of the class time to do this fun project also.  Since we will be working in clay and since the idea is texture, I used a comment by Paul Soldner, who is known for his beautiful textured sculptural works to emphasize the feelings I have come to when it comes to grading my students' work.  In his article he used the Zen master, Lao Tzu's quote to illustrate his feelings about teaching as well.  Here are a couple of Paul's works that illustrate his mastery of the clay medium.  I will be posting some video of my students working in clay and their final products when they finish next week. Pedestal Piece, 91-12, 1991, slab built, with white terra sigillata, low-temperature salt, 23 3/4 inches in height; at Louis Newman Galleries in Beverly Hills, California. Pedestal Piece, 90-26, 1990, low-fire clay with slip, salt vapor fired, 28 1/2 inches high, by Paul Soldner, Aspen, Colorado.

Stain Glass Crayon and Ink

"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not
 aiming high enough."

Alan Kay   May 17, 1940

Alan Curtis Kay (born May 17, 1940) is an American computer scientist, known for his early pioneering work on object-oriented programming and windowing graphical user interfacedesign, and for coining the phrase, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

I copied this off Wikepedia because I had no idea who this was.  I just liked the quote and wanted to use it for the blog.  I keep stressing to my students they need to push further with their art.

I'm going to post another series of paintings from this last assignment for your viewing pleasure.  We are getting ra[pidly down to the wire for time in the classroom this year.  I have three more regular class periods with each of the classes, then it's finals.  I have one more project they will work on this year unless I have them do a "special" project in clay.  We'll see.  Here are the pictures.