Art One makes prints

We finally put our stencils to good use on Friday as we printed out our 5 prints, plus extras if so desired.  The students did great!

Nature Prints!

Today the photography students learned a bit about Cyanotypes and their history.  Cyanotypes are a photographic process that were originally made for creating duplicates of things such as blueprints of buildings.
This week we will be making your very own cyanotypes on fabric, but on Friday we experimented with some simple nature prints to see how it is possible to take a photograph without a camera.

Photography Students Build Camera Obscuras

Today the photography students learned about photography's very beginning - the camera obscura.  Each student sacrificed good health in the name of bringing one Pringles can each, and then turned it into their very own camera obscura.

By the end of class, everyone had their very own camera obscura that showed reflected light images that were backwards and upside down.  Up next - Cyanotypes!

Art One Students Create Stencils

This semester for Art One I'm trying something I've never tried before and we're starting out with one of my favorite art forms, Screenprinting!

I decided to do this project first because it will serve as the cover of their sketchbooks, but also can be reproduced for display.  In the past I always feel regret that their sketchbook cover projects will probably only be seen by them, but this fixes that problem.

Right now the students are hard at work creating and cutting their stencils.

After cutting out their stencil, they are also researching the serigraph artist, Peter Max.  I am excited, because I think they will be quite inspired by this artist's bright and colorful work that many of them recognized. 

8th Graders Form Ideas for 1st Project of the Quarter.

After a few snow days under our belt this week we were ready to get to work today!  I like to do something I call "idea forming" (I know, revolutionary, right?) before each project.  Basically we use this time to draw and write ideas for our next project.  Today the students wrote out phrases, or drew pictures in a chart to form these ideas.  They  highlighted important aspects of their past that have formed them into the people they are today (however large or small) and their hopes and dreams for the future (however large or small).  

They also had to guess what "Zentangle" is using my definition of "meditative doodling".  On Monday we'll actually learn what Zentangle is, but in the meantime it is interesting to see how they each interpreted this idea. 

I'm excited to see where they go next with these once we start creating.  

Happy New Year. Happy New Semester.

My empty classroom - just waiting for students to fill it up!

Today I'm in my room preparing for the students that will be arriving tomorrow.  Although it was rough getting in my cold car this morning, and kissing the winter break goodbye, I must say that now I am getting excited about meeting the next round of students.

Tomorrow I will have (almost) all new students to get to know as I begin teaching 5 new classes between the Junior High and High School.

Again I will be teaching two Introduction to Art quarter-long classes at the Junior High.  These are such fun because this is the first time many students have had a formal art class in the school setting, and we have fun learning together.

My schedule at the high school is a bit different, as I return to teaching my passion - Photography, along with a new Drawing course, and of course, 2-D art.

Can't wait to meet the next round of students and explore together!