Something must be in the air because I have received many contacts and inquiries in the last 10 days wondering what the summer of 2012 will hold for Backyard Art. Now that I have wrapped up the school spring art festival I can move forward with planning the 3rd summer of art in my mountain back yard. But before I go into the details of this summer, I need to take a few minutes and share what I have been teaching, and mostly learning, at the school this year. I help head up our elementary school volunteer art program called Masterpieces in Art. It is our way of making sure that the kids are not missing out in the arts since it is not considered a core subject and therefore not funded by the state. I am always heartbroken when I think that creativity, problem solving and self expression are not considered important things to be learning in public schools in Utah. Art allows kids the chance to foster self confidence and tackle new concepts. Although I work in all grades I spent most of my teaching time in the 5th and 2nd grades since that is where my own kids are. I am shocked at how different it is teaching the two grades. Although they are only three years a part and the older kids know more, most of the students by 5th grade lose all their self confidence in art by 5th grade. I wish I would have counted how many times my 5th graders would say, "I can't!" when presented with a new concept or project to produce. Second graders, thankfully, don't think that way. Although t2nd graders are aware of how their own art compares to their classmates, they haven't labeled themselves as failures yet. To put it simply, 5th graders focus too much on the outcome of their art and not the process of creating. I don't think any of them see how creating art pretains to the rest of their lives. Admittedly, most of them may not become professional full time artists, but so much of the experience of creating relates to the ability to succeed in busniness and finding happiness later in life. The ability to have confidence to create is something I have personally added to my mission in raising my own kids. Some of the ugliest words in the english language are... "I can't". So much of my personal strength somes from my confidence that, no matter what, I can find a way to accomplish what I need. THAT is what I want to teach my kids!
During the art festival we put up samples of our years worth of masterpieces for all to see. Starting with 2nd grade, here's my year recap.
I started the year off with these vibrant landscapes, focusing on warm and cool colors as well as how lines create shapes which in turn create pictures. We used liquid watercolors and jazz gloss paint to learn the correct way to use a paintbrush. These were a BIG hit!
Paul Klee's cats were the first of three projects I was inspired to create after visiting the MOMA in New York in November. The original Klee hangs in the same room as some of the most famous and mainstreem artists of all time, yet his simple child like cat absolutely capitivated me. I was a little suprised when I asked Jonas what was his favorite piece of art he created, he answered this cat. I used tan marbled paper to start and then created our cat with sharpie, oil and chalk pastel.
The MIA program feels strongly that every grade needs a self portrait and second grade did not have one in the program yet. I struggled figuring out a project that filled my expectations but in the end I loved the results. In January we create our winter potraits. We used Watercolors, oil pastels, sharpies and mod podge over the whole image to make the colors pop as well as securely glue everything.
In February we prepped for Dr. Suess's birthday with these fun fish. I read the book "If I ran the Zoo" by Dr. Suess and talked about characteristics that he adds to animals to make them suess-like. These fish use oil pastel watercolor and mod podge. Everyone loved this projected and wanted it in their classroom too.
5th grade was such a learning experience for me. Since I have never had a 5th grader before this class gave me a glimps into what I can expect in the tween and teen years coming a head......needless to say, I am nervous to raise a teen ager.
I think this project focusing on Klimt's tree of life might me my favorite of the year. It was definitely a challenge for the kids, but I LOVE how unique each image turned out. I ordered in special metallic watercolor from Fine Tech for this project. One of the great parts of working in MIA is because we raise all our own money we don't use student grade art supplies. I have turned into quite the supply snob. If you want great art you have to start with great supplies. These were created on black paper using brown oil pastel, metallic water colors, metallic pens, and jewels.
This project is called "Bending Paper". It focuses on teaching perspective and how to obtain 3D result on paper. I was initially worried this would be too easy for my 5th graders, but it was extremely challenging. It required them to be consistent and pay attention to each and every step... a very important quility to have in life! When the whole board was displayed with this project it was very eye catching.
I titled this project "Frosty Leaves" and it was a definite winner. Using rollers and speedball ink the kids rolls leaves onto black paper. We taked about negative space and filled in the leaves with at least 3 colors each to make them pop. Then we sponge painted around the leaves for the frosty look. Doing this project in late October was perfect timing!
I was truly shocked when I pulled out the Van Gogh's sunflowers and the 5th grades couldn't tell me anything about Van Gogh. I probably shouldn't be suprised because I didn't know much about him except for what Don McLean sang about him in the 5th grade either. We used jazz gloss and oil pastels to create our still life flowers. Shading was a difficult detail for some of the kids to commit to but they got it in the end.
This image shows our very first project, the self portraits, and our most recent being the African tribal masks. The self portraits are really fun and detailed. Focusing on creating patterns, the kids designed their hair to show off their personalities. If you look at each persons hair you should be able to figure out all their favorite things. This was slightly inspired by the zen tangle craze as well as Klimt's crazy quilt portrait. The African tribal masks are made of heavy gage aluminum and painted with glass paints, outlied with sharpie and embellished with feathers. We focused on symmetry as well as creating a unique face just like each African mask would be. I wanted to take a break from paper and do something different, the kids were thrilled with their results.
When I was in the gift shop at the MOMA I stumbled across a children's book titled, "Roly-Poly Egg". When teaching kindergarten and 1st grades I always love reading a book first and thought this would make the cutest kindergarten project.... and it truly was adorable! Each birdie was so different and had so much personality. So I jumped down to Kindergarten to teach this project.
At the art festival there are free arts and crafts for the kids as well as local art vendors. We also raise money through raffle drawings and silent auctions and food. We try to bring in local artists to reinforce the big picture of art. I have had a booth of my photography for two years and finally thought to take a picture of it. These images showcase the new circle frames I am now offering that are GORGEOUS!
It was a fabulous year and I have grown leaps and bounds in my involvement in art education. I am more passionate than ever that our kids need experience that foster the creativity they are born with but loose touch with so early. I realize the schools do the best they can but it is not enough and that is why I spend my summers doing Backyard Art. Several months ago I asked my own kids if they wanted me to continue with Backyard Art since they are the main reason I do it. If they would have hesitated I might have thought twice about how much energy I put into it. But their respose was overwhelmingly YES PLEASE!
So with out further ado.... bring on BACKYARD ART 2012.
Here are the details of what Backyard art IS and ISN"T. First off, Backyard Art is NOT babysitting with art supplies. It is a structured and purposeful activity that a parent comes and participates with their children. Another reason I opted to do summer art myslef is because I didn't want to drive my 3 kids to 3 different art classes since they are different ages. All ages are welcome but kids age 2-11 are really the target. Very young children by the end of the summer learn that Backyard Art means creating and getting messy and having fun. Of course, they need more help then the older kids and that's where parent involvement comes in. Everybodies hands get dirty... and that's a good thing. Usually each week starts with a book and quick into to an artists or art concept followed by creating art. There is usually a snack break before we finish our project. You can expect a class to last about 2 hours but it is always flexible depending on your needs of the day.
Backyard Art will begin on Wednesday June 13 and run each Wednesday through out the summer ending with our grand finale Garden Gallery Stroll to share our art with our friends and family. There will be a 10am class and a 4pm class. Class will be limited to 15 kids each. Cost is $15 per child/ per week and includes all supplies and snacks. (Additional fee for tie-dye) You do not need to pay for missed classes due to vacations.
Some of the projects and artists we will be focusing on this summer are: Mossaics, Jackson Pollock, Hundertwasser, paper marbling, Wayne Thiebaud, Tie-Dye, self portraits, and more.
To reserve your spot please drop me an email (englishphotography@yahoo.com) and let me know how many kids and their ages as well as if you want the morning class or evening. I may need a credit card number to hold your spot depending on demand but I will let you know.
If you have any additional question, feel free to drop me an email and ask.
Thanks again for joining me in this crazy creative journey.. here's to another fabulous summer of art and fun.
Other...: Do not copy. All images are copyright English photography.
