Exploring Grounds for Sculpture

George Segal's "Depression Breadline" continues to be one of my favorite sculptures (on a long list) at Grounds for Sculpture. The depiction of the five men standing in line conveys the era so well. Our mood this week while visiting GFS was quite to opposite. My Art Enrichment students, who just visited GFS last year, were as happy as can be exploring the Grounds once again,,,this time with a different lens.

Here are the girls in the Johnson/Kopcow Fantastic Five group interacting with Segal's sculpture. 

This sculpture has changed little since I met it 14 years ago (a bit more oxidation) but each year as my students line up and pose with this sculpture I feel as though I am seeing it for the very first time along with them.

 Segal conveys the mood so well in bronze capturing the heaviness and sadness in their clothing and faces. The brick wall and closed door rounds out the mood of the installation.

 My artsy explorers amazed me during the trip figuring out some neat angles and perspectives in their photography. 

What I love so much about GFS is how the landscape is just as intriguing as the actual sculpture.

For the Tuesday trip, the weather allowed for short sleeves. The day felt more magical because of the weather. Later in the week, the temperature was quite chilly but we were warm in spirit and didn't feel the cold in the least bit.

A special surprise for my students was a private tour of Gyuri Hollosy's studio. He is a lovely, incredibly talented man that I have met a few times. I taught his talented daughter for an honors class in middle school. She is a chip off the block... intelligent, skilled and personable.

This tour was a true gift from a friend and Bear Tavern parent who is a phenonmenal Sculptor as well, Rory Mahon. 

We toured Hollosy's studio intrigued by his works -in- progress, collection of amazing sculptures, paintings and drawings. It was the kind of space that you could sit in and do nothing but stare around at the wonders of the inspiring space.

After autographs and pictures of Hollosy, my students and his ox "Augie" or "ArtToro", we wandered off better, more inspired people.

Art Enrichment: Altering Maps post 2

 The altering of the maps is going along well. I am really impressed to see the creativity happening as the Art Enrichment students cut and paint and collage their maps for the backgrounds of their tree project with no limitations on what they can create.

Check out the first post on this journey here 

Our Art Enrichment Journey Begins with Maps and Trees

 I am really excited that a new year of fifth grade art enrichment began this week. It is through this after-school class that I get to know each student differently and explore ideas and art in general together as a class.

Our journey began this week with a drawing of a tree that we are watercolor washing. My students really seem to be enjoying the free nature of drawing a tree and adding character to the tree with texture using lines created with permanent marker. Watching the kids pull from techniques for drawing branches last year with the van Gogh 'Almond Blossoms" lesson was awesome to see. The delicate nature in which many students added branches that stretched and twisted and grew in all directions was personally fulfilling. 

I have been slowly collecting maps and atlases for a couple of years.. Tucked away in a tupperware container I have maps that were in some glove compartments well over a decade ago. As a child, I enjoyed reading maps as we took family trips. I wonder if maps are even for sale on the racks at pit stops anymore now that technology has diminished the paper versions.

Using watercolor, I painted a map of the Greater New York area. Next week, my students will alter the maps by not only adding color to their own but by cutting them in a way that can create a beautiful, mixed-media background. 

 

My main interest in maps has been the collage potential while using them and the pride that I took as a child in having a good sense of direction and being able to read maps well. A longtime colleague of mine from Grounds for Sculpture, Aylin Green, has used dress pattens in her gorgeous mixed media contemporary art that I have always admired the quality of.

Aylin Green

When I saw the work of Australian artist, Loretta Grayson, I felt the same interest in the quality of her work and the use of beautiful, collaged papers to communicate to the viewer. The colors of the maps coupled with the arrangement of the assembled portions is simply beautiful.

Loretta Grayson 

Loretta Grayson

Stay tuned....

5th Grade: Celebrity Portraits

One of my students asked me yesterday what my favorite lesson to teach is. I couldn't give him an immediate answer but realized today that this "Complete the Photo" lesson has got to be on the list of favorites since I have been doing this lesson on and off for 10 years now. Galit Breen wrote an article about the lesson and published photos of my students work from a couple years ago in All Parenting Magazine. Read Here
My 5th grade Art Enrichment class sailed through (most of) this drawing lesson. They did as good of a job as my eighth grade drawing class years back. Ultimately, patience is key.

Here are a few:

                           
                             

                

        

Thanksgiving Mumble: Feeling Especially Thankful

Today (and yesterday as well) we celebrated the completion of our ceramic lamps in Art Enrichment. It was a huge accomplishment for my students that I did not want to pass up so we celebrated with food and cheer. Have you toasted with 5th graders before? They are so spirited! And their lovely parents.... what a beautiful morning! 

When I began my art teaching career in 2004, I was a ceramics teacher at a high school. I was impressed by the level of projects that we completed back then. 

Today as I looked at the ceramic lamps that my 10 year olds made, I felt such excitement for my students and a sense of pride for them that is different than my normal level.

As an Educator, I feel extremely fortunate. I  have the best students. Children who I have watched grow beautifully over the past several years. Children who I see the world in and know that they are wonderfully smart and creative and special. Children who I believe in with all of my heart.  I have had parents at the schools I've taught in (especially at my current school) who I could talk to for hours and hours if afforded the chance. My colleagues at Bear Tavern make each day wonderful and my Principal is phenomenal. 

As an educator, the joy is always in the challenge of creating experiences that are positively memorable. In my quest to make these experiences, I have found that I, in turn, have been so blessed over so many years. In my first couple years of teaching, naturally I felt blessed because of how happy I was to have a great job with wonderful students. As that newness of being "an art teacher!" faded, I began to feel blessed beyond measure.... my heart glows in a way that can only be understood after teaching for a while and in different capacities. 

Through my journey with my students in Hopewell Valley to my experiences teaching at Grounds for Sculpture, camps and private organizations, I just love being an art teacher and am so thankful.

I hope that all of you are counting your blessings and enjoy this American holiday with the people you cherish. Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for reading this blog.

5th Grade Art Enrichment: Ceramic Lamps

Student working. Those hands are such an amazing tool!

We are nearing completion on our ceramic lamps that we have been working on in Art Enrichment. The kids have started to glaze their lamps and they are looking so vibrant and beautiful. I gave my students the challenge of creating a lamp base using clay coils. Some left the coils exposed for decorative purposes, others smoothed the coils out. We will wire our functional lamps so that they light up properly. The kids have been working so happily hard...I know they are creating a piece of art that they will cherish.
Below are pictures of our works in progress. Wait until you see the finished results!

Slowing down the drying

All so beautiful and different

Trying out the lamp shade for sizing 

Grade 5 Art Enrichment

My Art Enrichment class has been working hard all year...coming in before the normal school day for an extra period of art.
I gave them a few weeks to explore a free choice project. They are not quite done but here are a few of their works in progress

Jacquelene

Kelly

Sophie

Natalia

Justin L.