ENTRY U

Notes From Chapter 19

ENTRY T

Batik Art Project

I was not enthusiastic about this art project at first but when I was shown the process my interest was peaked. The batiks that I have seen before were a series of patterns and colors which did not interest me very much. Once the paraffin began to smoke I became excited though. I tend to lean toward landscapes and bigger pictures in my artwork so I was planning on doing that with this one as well. I didn't realize how big the picture would become though. I didn't like the idea of using the tools provided because it felt in a way like I would be borrowing the craftsmanship of another person and using their art to create mine. I decided to put my hand in the wax and begin my scenery with that. It didn't look very good because the wax stuck to my hand more than the cloth but it didn't much seem to matter because a Friend of min accidentally dumped a bunch of wax in the corner of my project. Then she suggested that I just make a map and then the light came on. What an awesome idea. I have made no secret of the fact that I am not going to become a teacher some day. I took this class because I am a father and I wanted to come and learn some art methods to share them with my young children. It doesn't take much to realize that art in primary schools isn't an area of heavy focus.

I decided to make a pirates map. My kids have really enjoyed geocaching ever since I told them that it was pirates treasure we were looking for. When I brought the map home my son was extremely excited. My kids all thought for some reason that we were actually going to go and find the treasure at the location I made up.

Process

• Wax saturation- using TJAP tools or other means put images on the cloth
• Vat Dye
• Dry outside
• Completely cover with wax
• Run under water
• Rit Dye
• Iron out wax

Integration

• My experience led to an obvious integration in geography
• Students could make maps to learn about other portions of the globe
• The history of batiking would make a very valuable lesson
• You can write with wax and also about the experience and process involved
• Students could make rain Forrest batiks for their life science classes

ENTRY S

Notes From Chapter 6

I will not be outlining this chapter. I have read it and digested the information. My notes are the highlights of what I have taken from it.

This chapter begins with the explanation of how art is pertinent to the real world. Even police officers are being trained with visual art in order to help them to develop skills to "see the big picture."

Visual imagery is how we think. People use words as a tool to describe the imagery that we have in our minds. Language was developed for the sole purpose of communicating the pictures in our heads.

The Cerebral cortex is a very fascinating part of our anatomy. We have the ability to process tremendous amounts of information, and I was not at all surprised to learn in this chapter that an extremely substantial portion is assigned to the processing of visual images. Increased exposure to thought provoking visual stimuli is positively linked to literary development.

Indeed the age old saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words" rings true. The more stimulating pictures that our students are exposed to the more words they will be forced to access or acquire to express or explain. With that 30x larger capacity to analyze images over sound the students will be effectively using a larger percentage of their brain than if they were simply lectured.

Art activates emotions. Emotion is the most underrated part of what makes all of us human. Things have no meaning to us unless we can personally relate them. That is the purpose of Emotion and a primary function of visual art.

Higher level thinking develops from exposure to art at any age. Even infants who are exposed to a high level of visual stimuli are experiencing higher level thinking.

Aesthetic development occurs in stages:

• favorites-appealing to the viewer on some level
• subject matter- the emphasis of the art.
• Emotions- the feelings that the artwork evokes in those who view it
• Style and form- the methods and rules that the artist followed when creating the work
• Autonomy- essentially the meaning that the art holds for the viewer

Artwork is inherently unique and singular. By creating art students are fostering a sense of individual self that cannot be equalled. This uniqueness and singularity is very essential for the development of a fully functioning person. Unless a person feels that they are one of a kind they will never achieve self actualization.

Producing art provides students with the challenges of focus, concentration, and discipline. To do their personal best at an art project a person has to immerse themselves in it. I believe this is the specific reason why I am so drawn to art. Each piece of artwork is a reflection of it's creator in some way. I am particularly egotistical because I quite enjoy all of the little mirrors that I have created.

My favorite part of this chapter was the single idea that art naturally integrates itself into other curricular areas. When developing my integration ideas I found that the subject of the art is the point of integration. Art is not limited to math or writing or computers. Each subject could be improved by the integration of art by simply allowing the area to be described by it.

ENTRY R

Tint/Shade Painting

This project was our first painting project with brushes that didn't utilize water color. We were randomly given a color & black and white version of one of Georgia O'keefe's flowers. Mine, like so many others which she painted, was very intricate, and focused on the detail and flow of the flower more than the overall structure. I very much liked the painting but worried somewhat about what it would look like when I brought it home to my family. In assigning this project I may use various other artworks as models, particularly if I were assigning it to a class full of young children who would be bringing it home to their unsuspecting mothers. Though, on the flip side, Georgia seemed to have an unequaled ability to bring 2d into 3D by use of colors and more particularly tinting and shading.

Process

• Given the picture
• Choose one color to paint with
• Blend white with the color and Black with the color in several different locations of the pallet to have access to a variety of tints and shades.
• Paint the artwork
• Enjoy the 3 dimensional image you have created.

Integration

• Tinting and shading has much to do with light. Students could utilize both to make images of both day and night using the same colors
• Students could compare the shades to illustrate how things that appear opposite, are actually just different versions of the same thing.
• The number line could be used as an analogy of the infinite variance between black and white
• The black and white being different versions of the same color could be used as a very powerful lesson in humanity of all people.
• The variance in color could be related to mood and feeling. The students could depict certain emotions in lighter colors and other in dark. This could be a very useful tool in the development of writing skills, vocabulary, and creativity.

ENTRY Q

Idaho Botanical Garden Art Project/Field Trip

Our trip to the botanical garden was awesome. I have been there before but never in the past decade. I was awestricken by the serenity of the garden. We were given watercolors and assigned a series of tasks to complete in the garden.

We were asked to paint flowers, scenes, non-flowering vegetation, and man made artwork. I was overwhelmed by the options and finally settled on a bench near a bridge and some yucca plants. They were especially difficult to paint because the flowers were white with just a hint of yellow and my paper was white.

Watercoloring

• Put some water in your paints to begin releasing the pigment.
• dip your brush in the paint and go to town.
• The less water you use the darker the color will become.
• Water colors volunarily blend so be careful
• Unlike other paints, water colors will show through on subsequent coats, so be sure to plan your project and paint from back to front as much as possiblle.

Integration

• Water gives life to the garden, especially in this desert. Watercolor is the life of the art. Biological ties can be made simply in this project.
• The garden features an area that contains native landscape. This could be a great opportunity for students to explore the way the valley looked before settlement.
• The botanical garden is inspiring. Students could be brought here to write about the scenerey.
• The structures in the garden could be utilized to show the students the complexity of mathematical calculations in architecture.
• The garden is located on the grounds of the former penetentary. Students could learn a lot about history from the sheer emotion that surround the buildings and walls.

ENTRY P

Meaning Portfollio

Take a Sabbath

This exercise sounded particularly fun for me because it seemed to require a whole lot of nothing. I have been extremely busy over the last couple of years, particularly with school. In just seventeen months I was able to earn my associates degree in liberal arts from CWI and earn the position of Marshal at the graduation. The last couple of months I have been attending BSU in rigorous summer classes and I have yet to settle for a B. In this process I have very seldom taken a day to myself to just relax instead of doing homework until today. I spent the entire morning just hanging out. Not minding this looming project of completing my class. I didn't watch TV or read or anything. I just sat around reflecting over my life's experiences of the past. I also found myself thinking a lot about where I am headed. It was nice and refreshing. I didn't have any epiphany about my future, and I didn't speak to a burning bush, but it was very enjoyable just the same.

ENTRY O

Play Portfolio

Step on the Humor Scale

The link in the book didn't work, but after just a couple of minutes I was able to find Dr. Thorson's humor scale test. This one I absolutely blew out of the water with a score of 63 out of 64. I have some substantial crows feet next to my eyes to prove that I am someone who loves to laugh. I strongly believe that a person with a strong sense of humor and dizzying wit makes a much better role model than someone who has marked financial success or stature. Plus, they are quite frankly more fun to be around.

ENTRIES M & N

• Noun Soft Sculpture

I really liked this project because we were assigned our sculpture ideas randomly from other people. I drew a hairbrush which not only do I not use, but I don't even own. It was fun to make one out of newspaper, but I would have liked to have done some sculpture out of something more pliable. I spent most of the time fashioning tube like bristles of the brush by rolling up newspaper. I thought that the bristles would be the most important part of the brush.

( I would have loved to include a photo of my hairbrush sculpture but sadly it was demolished by my children immediately when I arrived home).

• Environmental Art

The sculpture project that I really enjoyed was the nature sculpture. My group went to the river and build a strange looking tepee out of wood and willow branches. We were inspired by the native American music that was playing at the park across the river.

Integration

• Sculpture is a great art form for kids because it gives them a glimpse of physics. The structures they build have to be able to support themselves.
• Instead of having the children select someone else's idea for their sculpture, you could have the students select an object from the civilization they are studying.
• Early learners could be instructed to sculpt freestanding letters of the alphabet
• In a sculpture like the one I built in the river, students could be taught about the natural strength of the materials they are using.
• After completing the sculptures, students could be instructed to write about them and describe them.
• 
  

ENTRY L

Printmaking

Printmaking was a very fun day in the class. We used a variety of methods to make prints. It was really interesting to explore the different ways to create art in a way that it could be reproduced. I don't think that there was anything that I would change about the ways in which we conducted these excercises, except to adapt them to the appropriate age group of the students that I would work with in the future.

Bubble print making

• 3 containers of bubbles with paint colors dilluted in them.
• Blow bubbles in tray and then lowered the paper into the bubbles.
• The finished project held the shapes of the bubbles and was really fun.

Soft Carving

• We took a linolium block and used some etching tools to create an image.
• Then we rolled on paint and printed it onto paper

Etching on foam

• Using a stylus, we created an image on foam board by depressing the foam.
• Then we covered the foam board with paint and pressed it on our paper.
• We then burnished the foam to ensure adequate transfer of the paint.

Veggies

• using veggies cut in cross section,
• we dipped the veggies in paint
• then we transferred the image of the veggies onto paper.

Eraser

• Similarly to the soft carving, we etched an image into and eraser
• then we covered the eraser with stamp ink or with colored markers
• then we printed patterns on paper with our new stamps

Colo-graphs

• using random pieces of foam and paper we created a raised surface on a piece of cardboard.
• then we painted the raised surface
• and printed it on a sheet of paper.

Monoprint

• I hand painted generously on a piece of plexi glass
• then placed a piece of paper on top to create a single print.

Marble print

• in a large tub I squirted a large pile of shaving cream.
• then I applied some liquid watercolor paint to the cream randomly
• then stirred it in using a hair pick
• then I placed a sheet of paper on top and created some really neat looking prints.

Integration

• students could use the etching technique to create a sample of a newspaper, then they could produce several of them to distribute to friends.
• The soft carving technique could but used to recreate some ancient hieroglyphics of whatever culture the students are studying at the time.
• The students could use the veggie prints to create a larger version of whatever food item they are using. This could be related to health, science, etc.
• Students could create a template using any one the media above to print their times tables or whatever.
• Different shapes could be utilized in the colograph printing to introduce some elementary concepts about geometry.

ENTRY K

Empathy Portfolio

Spot the Fake smile

I took the test to see how many fake smiles I could correctly identify. Though I generally consider myself to be very good at reading people, I only got 8 out of the 20 correct. Apparently I go off of more than just the eyes when determining whether or not people are genuinely happy.

ENTRY J

Symphony Portfolio

Follow the Links.

I have been searching for a new atv for a while now and so I decided to begin this exercise with a web site that was already up on my browser. I began with a website advertising the new Yamaha Wolverine 4x4 atv. I followed a link to a dealership in Minnesota, then to a financing advertisement for motorcycles. From there I visited the parent company of the bank financing the bikes and then a mortgage calculator. I learned from there that I was paying too much for my current mortgage when I followed yet another link to the lender's current rate site. From there I visited a site that was giving away government money to people in a tough financial situation.

I wonder if they would help me get a new atv?

The overarching theme of my search was money. More specifically spending it. My suspicions that our society is overly consumerist and not productive were confirmed by this exercise.

ENTRY I

Boise Art Museum Field Trip

On our field trip to the Boise Art Museum we had the opportunity to meet with the person responsible for coordinating the efforts of the communities education and schools with the art museum. We received information about how the museum handles field trips and also received an example of how the people there get the students to actively think about he art that they are viewing. We toured the Circles exhibit and the Autoban exhibit. I found myself really enjoying a massive painting which featured a murder of crows blocking a path. We completed our tour with a trip to the back of the museum to create our own watercolor paintings of birds.

Integration

The integration of the BAM to everyday classroom curriculum would depend greatly on the exhibits that the museum is featuring at the time. Given the current art on display I would suggest the following for integration.

• Wanxin Zhang- these sculptures could be utilized to teach the students about the cultural meshing between the artists ancient culture and the current norms.
• The Audubon exhibit could help to bring in a lesson on wildlife with its heavy emphasis on photo-realistic birds.
• The exhibit featuring circles has valuable implications with mathematics.
• One area that I think the trip to the BAM would greatly help children is that it would help them to learn appropriate manners and etiquette in a unique setting.
• As with almost any field trip, a trip to the BAM would be easily incorporated into writing curriculum by having the students document their experience in some way.

ENTRY H

Water Shed Field Trip

This was a very interesting field trip because I never even knew that the watershed was there. I did always assume that the city had a water treatment facility, but I had in no way imagined that it was incorporated in the city's art program. We went out to the watershed and got a general feel for the place one day, and provide an art experience for visitors another day.

We had a great deal of fun interacting with the kids at the field trip. My team created a miniature version of the Boise River, complete with fish and trash. We gave the children a free gold fish from our river if they would help us to identify the items in our river that didn't belong.

Integration

• This experience would be very easily integrated into children's science curriculum. They could attend the presentation on water preservation.
• The watershed deals with a large volume of flow, so it would make a great segway into mathematical calculations.
• The trip could be integrated into the student's life science curriculum by examining all of the wildlife effected by the water in our area.
• Writing or English class could be integrated into the trip by assigning the students to write a story about the experience.
• Students could learn about social studies by exploring the way that other cultures have dealt with wastewater treatment or irrigation & such.

ENTRY G

Story Portfolio

"Play Photo Finish"

This was a very fun exercise. I have played it several times. My favorite version is to put on the television with the volume turned all of the way down and sit with my wife trying to guess what the characters are saying and what is going on in the story. This time however I played it with my kids.

I showed my kids a picture of a man in a car. He was wearing a helmet in the car and driving gloves which was slightly out of the ordinary. Most adults would have recognized the man as a race car driver, but my children had a slightly different interpretation.

They proceeded to explain to me that the man was actually a football player who was running late for practice, and that he didn't want to wash his hands after eating because he was running late and he had peanut butter all over his fingers. My son is very actively involved in the local flag football program and my daughter is a die hard PB&J fan.

ENTRY F

Design Portfolio

I selected my wedding ring.

1. When I look at my wedding ring I obviously think of my wife first. I recall specifically the events leading up to our wedding more than the wedding itself. I think of how young that Sara and I were. I must say that I use this object with exceptional skill. I have always been faithful to my wife in actions as well as thoughts. I would imagine that in this day and age this ring was made by a machine rather than hand crafted. Presumably, it was designed by an ergonomic psychologist because it is a comfort fit band.
2. The ring effects only a few of my senses. I can feel the smooth inner and outer edges. I can see a distorted reflection in the softly scorn surface. I cannot smell my ring, hear it, nor have I ever attempted to taste it.
3. The connections I have made with my sensory input from the ring are that I can always feel it, and it is always in my sight. Oh, I get it, this is some kind of analogy about my wife and how she is always with me, in person or in spirit.

I have tried other objects to test the emotive avocation against that of my ring and have found that they are left wanting. This book for example just makes me think of classes and learning. Not nearly as fun, though arguably very useful.

ENTRY E

Blind Contour Line Drawing

This was a fun exercise because it allowed all of the class to have a good laugh at themselves. I personally would have liked to have been able to see what I was drawing or at least been allowed to lift my pencil, but I suppose that would have defeated the purpose of the exercise.

Process

• We began by removing one of our shoes and placing it on the table in front of us.
• We then placed a piece of drawing paper in a paper bag to prevent us from being able to see what we were drawing.
• With our hand in the bag holding a pencil over the paper we were instructed to draw our shoe with intricate detail. This was to be done without lifting our pencil off of the paper or peeking inside the bag.
• Once we had completed the shoe drawing and had time to re-coop after a laugh, we were asked to draw the face of our neighbor. This of course proved to be equally entertaining.

Integration

This project lends itself well to integration in almost any subject, depending on what you are drawing.

• If the students are learning to write, this could be a very good exercise in motor memory to help them with their penmanship.
• In history, they could have been assigned to recreate the Mayflower without looking to excise building anticipation for the upcoming break.
• This could double as a valuable lesson in the skills that the non-sighted people in our community learn to deal with everyday life.
• In science lessons this project could serve to illustrate the complexity of the structure of proteins... Since that is what all of the art ends up looking like anyhow.
• In terms of mathematics, students may learn to develop their understanding of measurement in future attempts to more accurately draw the subject.

ENTRY D

Public Art Tour Field Trip

The class met at the city hall for an abbreviated, yet guided, tour of public art in Boise. We looked at public art in various different settings ranging from the wall of city hall to graffiti in an alleyway. The works were explained by our guide in addition to a reiteration of the importance of public art. On this trip I learned that Boise actually does have a public art program, which I had previously taken for granted.

Integration Ideas

• This tour could easily be incorporated into a social studies class lesson featuring the functioning of city government.
• Much of the art is inspired by Idaho history, making this a legitimate field trip for students studying that topic.
• Nature and wildlife is heavily emphasized in a lot of the city's public art which is very relevant to science for the children.
• The art in the city's collection is also inspired by various cultures which are prominent in the community. This could be a great opportunity to help students explore the social aspects of their society.

ENTRY C

Elements of Art

I found this image online and really liked it because it has excellent examples of the various elements of art and how they look in relative isolation from others.

• Color - Can show depth, movement, life, emotion, etc.
• Shape - 2 dimensional, can indicate sound
• Form - 3D, contains shapes in a form
• Line - Can outline objects, can be fluid, abrupt, or organic.
• Texture - The feel of something
• Space - Foreground/Background
• Value - Varying shades & Hughes

ENTRY B

Tissue paper collage

This was a very fun way to begin the course. It allowed us the opportunity to jump right in and give the room a very elementary art feel for the next couple weeks. It also served as a nice ice breaker for those of us who didn't know each other yet.

• First we were assigned a window in the classroom and partnered with a classmate.
• We were then charged with developing an idea of what to cover our window with. The instructions were very loosely defined. The only stipulation was that it needed to be something condusive to an elementary classroom environment.
• My partner and I decided to recreate the scene that was visable just outside of the window we were assigned. We stood at a specific place and traced the prominant features outside on the window with a dry erase marker.
• We then gathered tissue paper in the appropriate colors and tore it into pieces.
• We prepared a watered down glue solution and spread it on the window using a paintbrush.
• Then we placed the tissue paper in the appropriate areas on the glue to most accurately depict the scene jsut outside.

Integration

• This project could be integrated into a history lesson by instructing the students to show what the scene out the window would look like at some point in history.
• It could be used as well in writing by having the students label the objects in the scene.
• In a science lesson the students may have been asked to depict the plant and animal life outside.
• In mathematics the students could have compared the scale of objects outside and related those to multiplication.
• In a social studies lesson the students may have been asked to show a scene that could be observed out the window in another culture.

ENTRY A

My first visual arts experience that I can recall was when I was very young. My siblings and I were extremely bored during the summer without school. My mom told us to all go to the garden and pick out some rocks, then bring them back. When we all returned with our rocks she had a table set up outside with lots of different paints. We were entertained for hours painting rocks. Mine looked like a big apple so I painted a cartoonish face on it and named it Mr. Apple. This is a character that has resurfaced many times since, every time I get bored in class. My kids are now very big fans, and they often request I draw him.

I would imagine that if I were aspiring to become an elementary school teacher that my classroom would be very traditional with one very large exception. I find most classrooms to be very cluttered and chaotic. I would likely attempt to minimize the clutter in the room to avoid overstimulating the students. Structure can be a very good tool in providing children a strong sense of security.

When I attempt to picture future colleagues I automatically picture the people in this elementary art class. They are going to be there and so naturally I seem them as my colleagues.