Two Days of Going in Circles

We spent Thursday and Friday painting circles in the Lubin Art Studio. Every grade, every student and teacher visited and worked for 10+ minutes creating circles, solid and colorful, dots, dashes and small connecting lines. The guidelines were simple. Our shape is the circle, all circles must touch and or connect. You can paint or add to your neighbors design but you can not wipe out or completely cover the image. No words, faces, animals or letters. Repeat patterns or colors and look for ways to build on existing elements. Silent or whisper voices. Mindfulness! Amazing results.

A visit with Kinder

Sometimes our youngest artists need just a little extra time to feel comfortable with a new teacher that is why this year I decided to visit the Kinder classes in their home rooms before they signed up to journey to  the art studio. I was able to introduce myself, talk just a little bit about art, show the print of Starry Nights and introduce our first element of art the line (a dot that went for a walk) We found lines everywhere and drew them in the air with our fingers. In the end they made pasta pictures with plates of cooked lines (spaghetti) and they could even eat their art if they wanted to! What a great way to start a New Art Year!

Community Building Circle Painting

Our first project for the the 2014-15 school year will be community based project involving the entire school. Every class is invited to the art studio for a 10-15 minute silent painting sessions to create banners filled with color and circles...Welcome to your First Art Adventure of the New School Year Circle Painting 



* " Hiep Nguyen created the first Circle Painting when he returned to his native country Vietnam in 1999. Driven by his desire to connect with neighborhood children in the mountain town of Dalat,Hiep invited them to paint circles with him in his studio. To his surprise, the children kept coming back for more,sometimes even with their friends and families. This experience inspired Hiep to continue exploring the circle theme as a way to create and connect with others.

 Circle Painting’s first breakthrough took place in 2007 when Hiep was invited by the Southeast Asian Leadership Network, a service learning organization from Stanford university, to train 100 youth leaders and to help integrating art into their community service projects."

*http://www.circlepainting.com

This project introduces vocabulary such as community, mural, concentric and balance, builds on curricular themes of Unity and connects to the work of numerous art masters such as Kandinsky and Hundertwasser.

I am so excited to see how this turns out...Let the Grand Art Adventure Begin!

Welcome to our 2014-15 Art Adventure

This year I have decided to have an art teacher mission statement. With so much emphasis being put on a Common Core/Essential Questions approach to education I feel it is important that I  have clear(er) target direction and a map to guide me-after all this year's theme is "Art Adventure". And so, to keep us all from getting lost I will post this in the art room and update it as need be, but for now here it is...

Ms. Jane’s Art Room Mission Statement

My pledge to all apprentice who enter:

“I will work hard to guide you in developing your creative voice and seek to nurture a life long love and appreciation of the arts through; discussion, observation, a variety of hands on experiences, skill building and reflection.”

·        The study of Other Artists, Cultures and Historic Periods are key to a strong foundation for creative growth.

·        Questions lead to Discovery, which can lead to Answers, which in turn often leads to more Questions.

·        Your Voice, your Vision and your Point of View are Valued.

·        Mistakes and Accidents are okay- these are signs that you are willing to try, willing to risk and there begins your great journey into Creativity.

·        Art is complex, building skills, mastering techniques- part process and part product; remember it is called an Art Work because it takes Work!