Found Art Project Reflection: "Forest Face"

I didn't think much of my found art project (for ideas), as I collected pieces for it. I was really open to what I might create once the time came and I had to put imagination into creation. I of course loved the trip to Bailley Homestead and Chellberg Farms, so taking random things on the walk was fun and easy.

When it came time to create something, I really just let the objects become something. It seemed like it was going fast but as I looked at my creation, I enjoyed everything about it. The pieces all seem to fit to make some sort of a face. That was several weeks ago, and a lot has happened both in, and out of class, since then.

Now, I find myself constantly looking at the piece on the wall in my art classroom. I look at it, and the piece that I created helps me to remember so much more about the trip that we took that day, the weather, conversations that I had, information about the location, and the class in which I created that piece. I feel a clear connection between content, emotions, and experience when I look at "Forest Face".

Illustrator Art: Dr. Who Meets Quentin Blake (as seen by me)

      This week my art project was illustrator art. It took me a while to find an iconic figure that I wanted to envision through illustrator Quentin Blake's creative lens. I ended up with Dr. Who, in one of my favorite story arcs promotional posters. I found that while I created this piece, I ended up reliving some of my fondest moments of both the television series and the works Blake's art is associated with (largely Roald Dahl). Just through creating a piece of my own, I was given this opportunity to relive experiences and remember my appreciation for them, as well as connect with why I enjoyed them both initially. This lead me thinking about the power that art integration can have in school.
      Creating our own meaning will come in a variety of mediums and forms but given the time and opportunity, the concepts covered take deeper roots. I realized during this experience that much of our learning could be improved by the creative process being added to our experience. We take the time to teach, expect them to learn, but ultimately we have to provide the opportunity to create with the knowledge we want our students to retain.

A Walk in the Woods

This week the class took a field trip to the Bailly Homestead & Chellberg Farm. It was a great experience to get a tour of such an interesting and historical site. The weather and the season made for a great photography experience. I think that my favorite part was the opportunity to walk through several of the old houses at the location. After walking through a place like this, I realized how much I wish more local cultures, sub-cultures, and eras would have allowed preservation of their homes and lifestyles. Walkthroughs like this are the best time capsules we have, I hope to integrate multidimensional learning field trips like this one into my classroom one day.

Grandparent's Week

In art we have been working on Grandparent's Day projects. I thought that this would be a difficult exercise, but as I gave it time I worked through some of the emotional difficulties attached with the grandparents project. After reflecting for a while, moving back through time (past a lot of loss), I came to a happy memory. It was an incredible motivation for creating the art project. This was the first time I had painted as an adult. I am really happy about my project.