Choice Based Art Education

Choice Based Art Education

BASA Art Class, Week 3

Based on conversations that I had with the kids last week about being flexible and adapting their projects when things don't go exactly as planned, I decided to read the book Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg.  The class really enjoyed the book and we talked about how you can transform things that might seem like "mistakes".

I also brought a book about Hundertwasser for everyone to look at.  This Austrian artist made incredible use of lines and color in his paintings and architecture.  I thought this might be of particular interest to the kids that have been gravitating to the construction center.

This week I also opened the sewing center.  Several of the kids dug right in and started sewing pillows, pouches and a banner.

I am looking forward to more creative fun in 2013 - happy new year!

Choice Based Art Education

Choice Based Art Education

BASA Art Class, Week 2

For my "five minute museum" talk at the beginning of class, we had a discussion about lines.  The kids offered comments about where we see lines in two and three dimensional art.  They also listed the kinds of lines you can see: curvy, horizontal, diagonal, etc.  I brought in two books to show work by Miro and Klee.

The next forty-five minutes, all ten kids were actively engaged in art making.  There was a lot of experimentation going on in the construction center.  Some projects did not turn out as desired, but that provided a great opportunity to talk to everyone about how to salvage the parts that you like and remain flexible with your ideas.

The last ten minutes of class were reserved for cleaning up and having a sharing session.  Each student was able to say something about what they made, what their inspiration was and what they learned.  I was pleased with how attentive they were to each other and how receptive they were to talking about their work.  This may have been the first time anyone has asked them to participate in this kind of "critical thinking" in regards to visual art.  In an art class  that is product-oriented, there is little variety or creativity in the student work to be discussed.

At the end of the class one boy said, "This is the best art class ever!  You get to make anything you want!" Hooray for student-directed art!  I couldn't be happier.

Choice Based Art Education

From Cereal to Journal!

I saw a post for a beautiful hand-made journal using a cereal box for the cover. The original idea can be found here: creme de la craft

When creating my own pocket journal, I made a few changes to creme de la craft's instructions. 

1. I took half of a cereal box and cut it to 8" x 5.5".  I then scored it on the print side of the box at the 4" mark so I could easily fold it in half with the print side in.  
2. Next, I sewed a button on the cover using embroidery floss, leaving a long tail that would wrap around the outside of the journal to keep it closed. 
3. Using a hole punch, I made one hole in a pretty piece of scrapbook paper to allow for the tail-thread to come thorugh, and one hole on the opposite side of the paper to feed the tail-thread though when closing the journal.
4.  I used spray-mount adhesive to make sure the paper liner was sufficiently stuck. (You will then need to line up the hole-punch with the hole you already made to go through the cereal box.)
5.  I then took a 2" wide piece of decorative paper, and with spray-mount, fixed it to the spine of the journal.  
6. I trimmed twenty pieces of notebook paper to fit inside the journal.
7. Next, I used embroidery floss to stitch the paper together.

I sprayed the backside of the stack of paper with spray-mount and fixed it to the inside of the journal.

Happy Journaling!

Happy Yarn

 I was trying to think of some small gesture that could brighten a person's day. With the help of Liita, we decided to make some crochet amigurumi and leave them to be discovered in public places.  Our only request is that whoever finds it sends an email to let us know when and where it was found. We are hoping to spread this project  - perhaps these little "friends" can travel around the world!

Lucky Doughnut

Lucky Egg

Maybe you can think of a "guerilla art" project that would make someone happy?

Many amigurumi patterns can be found on the web.  I also love the book Amigurumi World- Seriously Cute Crochet.  This is where I found the pattern for the egg. Once you get the hang of it, have fun making your own designs!

Extreme Knit and Crochet!

For the past three weeks I have been volunteering at mini camps held at the Little Bits Workshop in River Forest.  While all of the camps have been fabulous, my favorite week was "Extreme Knit and Crochet".  The kids and instructors had a blast working collaboratively on banners that are now festooning trees on Lake Street.

Balloon Tree

Ice cream Tree

The tree that has garnered the most attention is the Wishing Tree.  Liita had the idea for the kids to make blank tags so passerby could write a wish and hang it from the tree branches.

It is so beautiful to see all of the wishes hanging from the tree!  To see more about this project, you can watch a video on the Little Bits Workshop site. http://thelittlebitsworkshop.com/thelittlebitsworkshop.com/Home.html

Garden Project

 The small shade garden in front of our house has troubled me for some time.  I can't seem to grow anything in this spot, or rather I grow it and something eats it!  I decided this year with my daughter's help to create some kind of sculpture garden.  We have been trying to figure out what to make for this space.  My husband said, "What would Howard Finster do?"  Since we both grew up in Georgia, we were fortunate enoguh to meet the legendary folk artist and to visit his Paradise Garden.

"Paradise Garden Located in Summerville, Georgia, is a maze of buildings, sculptures and displays. The Gardens were built from found objects and recycled materials ranging from bottles, bathtubs and toilets to bicycle frames and cast-off jewelry. The setting is a four-acre swampland that is drained by  numerous canals. " (http://www.paradisegardenfoundation.org/)


Well, we will have to see what we can do!  Here is a before picture of our garden:

Below are a few mosaics that we are working on for the garden:

I found some brick pavers in our yard when we moved in.  We collected random plastic toys and old tile bits and used thinset mortar to adhere them to the brick.  After 24 hours we applied the tile grout.  I bought a grout sealer to put on the mosaics - hopefully this will winterize them.

As we create more additions, I will post the pictures.  We have a few empty coffee cans laying around that are begging to be "upcycled"!