With Art

Stumbled across this picture today.

It's almost two years old. I found this sign while wandering with some friends in a public park with lots of art (Sculpture Garden) along the sea. I thought I might post it with a few others.
























Here are four of my students with the sign. We went down to the beach with my afterschool outdoor drawing class during spring of my first year. Looking at the picture tonight makes me sad; only the girl on the left is still at my school. The other three have moved on to other schools in other countries.

The realities of life in the expat community.

And then there is this picture from last summer. What happened to our better life and city? If only I could read the characters...I know the first two...the name of a nearby mountain.



I should go back to the park one of these days. It looks like they are almost finished constructing a crazy building at the one end of the park. I hear it's going to be an art space, but I've been hearing that for two years now...

(masterpieces) Weaving

I don't have any formal training in weaving. Many of my friends do. I've spent a few hours in the weaving studio, lived with a few people who own looms, own hand-woven items, but I've never taken a weaving/fibers class. Still, I decided fibers is one of the media I will cover yearly in my art curriculum. It is a great medium for patterning, developing fine motor skills, applying math concepts, and much more. With my early elementary focus on choice-based art education, I give many opportunities for weaving. This year, the 2nd graders could choose to explore different weaving patterns. Here is one such masterpiece...

(teacher's note) 2nd grade reviewed basic weaving skills before beginning this project. Rather than complete a basic checkerboard weave, most students chose to follow a more complicated stitching pattern. William did a great job with his herringbone pattern. Keep up the good work, 2nd grade!

(masterpieces) Self-Portrait

(teacher's note) 3rd grade reviewed facial proportions as they used a mirror to draw self-portraits---pictures of themselves! After reading a book about the different colors of everyone’s skin, they helped friends choose the best colors for their skin and hair. Using their drawing as a template, they cut and glued each piece of their self-portrait. Cindy did a great job with her facial proportions! Check out the hallway on the second floor of the Fine Arts building for more 3rd grade self-portraits. See if you can identify the artists!

Who Am I? Third Grade Self-Portraits

I still remember the day, my first year in China, when third graders used the orange and brown crayons to color the skin of their classmates. True, it was only two years ago, but I was thoroughly embarrassed to see my students coloring each other with rainbow hues. Most of the students shared four broken pieces of "apricot," creating a class full of stereotypical peach people. One student even used a black crayon to color the skin of his Asian classmate. Before Christmas rolled around, I had ordered a few boxes of Crayola multicultural crayons.

Later that year, the same class did cut paper self-portraits. I looked at my abundant supply of construction paper, and to my dismay, realized naturalistic colors just would not do. For two years now, I have taught third graders about Fauvism mainly because I do not have appropriate paper for skin tones. Correction, did not have appropriate paper.

I ordered many shades of brown construction paper at the end of my first year, but our shipment from the states did not arrive until late fall, after third grade finished the project with Fauvist hues. This year, I almost considered keeping the Fauvism aspect; the kids love the results and it is a good experience to liberate color from the natural world. But I just had to try natural colors, at least once.

As we were working on facial proportions, I stumbled upon the book The Colors of Us in the kindergarten classroom. The young artist describes all the people in her neighborhood in food words: cinnamon, honey, peanut butter, etc.. I read the book to the third graders, then gave them swatches of the colored paper. They helped their classmates identify appropriate colors for their skin and hair.

I love the results! For many of the students, it was a review of drawing portraits, as they drew portraits of teachers at the end of last year. This time, a mirror replaced a small printout of yearbook photos. Another change was switching the media from tempera paint to cut paper. I loosely base my procedure off of these step-by-step instructions for cut paper portraits (though I make the paper 9 in x 12 in, add more emphasis to the drawing details, such as shapes of the jaw-line, eyes, facial proportions, etc., draw the nose differently, and don't use any sequins or other paper---only construction paper).

To display the work, I hung every self-portrait in the hallway with a sign "Who Am I?" Under each work, I stapled a folded piece of paper. Viewers can guess, then lift the flap to reveal the identify.

It's created quite a splash at school!

(masterpieces) Autumn Tree

Here in my part of China, some of us ache for the vibrant leaves of a North-American autumn. Pennsylvania, where I grew up, might not be as nice as New England, but the leaves are still incredible. While I try to enjoy every yellow leaf of the ginkgo trees, it's hard to come by deep oranges or vibrant reds. I have a friend in the city who is hunting for a red October, primarily through her photography of beauty in our autumn and documented on her blog. Maybe this sweet painting by an even sweeter girl in 2nd grade can be a little source of red for her!

(teacher’s note)  Recently, 2nd grade began painting with the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. Despite the color limitation, the students are able to mix almost any color by combining red, yellow, and blue in various amounts! Lucy mixed greens and browns for her fall tree. Great job Lucy!