week eight

oh my god. best day ever.

firsts:
Firsts had Collage and Drawing open. We didn't introduce any new tools or materials, but instead talked about drawing from observation. I have animal models and shape models. I demonstrated drawing from observation using a model of a turtle. I had the students watch me carefully and tell me how much time I was looking at the turtle and how much time I was looking at the paper. They told me it was about even, maybe a little more at the turtle. We talked about using eyes carefully to see the details.

During class, I met individually with several students and had them share with me the title of their work, tell me about it and talked about what else they would like to do in class. Clay is a big thing.

Here's some work:
"The Ocean"


"The Great Sky"


"Chasing the Cat"


The kids were great. I was meeting, and the rest of them were working and helping each other. There was no squabbling over materials. Students were sharing and asking each other questions. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! We *may* try opening painting again next week.


Fifths:
Fifths had Drawing, Painting, and we opened Collage today. I briefly talked with them about how I needed to meet individually with them, we talked about what was available in Collage, and they got started.

The kids were great. I had a table full of girls making beautiful collages, my group of three boys still working on their HUGE dragon drawing- and sticking with it! I was so worried that they would either abandon it or get into fights, but they are AMAZING. I hope hope hope that they stick it out and have a great drawing. I had one boy working on his own drawings from a "How to Draw" type book. A table of students working on mostly drawing, but sharing and asking opinions a lot. Two more boys are working on a collaborative project of making a huge American flag. I showed them Jasper Johns' "Flag" and they started preparing their paper together today. (I'm particularly excited about one of these boys because at the beginning, he was so "I don't know what to do." Now he's just overflowing with ideas.)

From meeting with these kids, I gathered, again, that they are excited for clay. Maybe in a couple weeks... argh. This is such a small space, I have no idea where I will put stuff for storage. Talking with this group one on one is so informative for me, because I learn so much about what their work means to them. After talking with a couple, we talked about how the stories behind the work are important information for artist statements.

Next week, I'm going to have one student demo how to make a paper chain, like paper dolls, and intro some new tools to the Collage Center.


SO PSYCHED. This is how teaching art should be. :D