Highway of Heroes

A couple things:
1. I'm wearing pajama pants in this video. Don't judge me.
2. This was way more fun that writing all of the assignments I have to do.
3. I make a few mistakes in the video...deal with it ;o) As such, I tried to upload this video directly to Blogger so the world wouldn't be able to see my blunders on YouTube but it wouldn't let me for some reason. So YouTube it is.
4. Cheers!

The King

Elvis Presley is the king of rock and roll. As far as I'm concerned, this is an indisputable fact. When my "art pretension" group was debating on an artist to choose to present on, someone mentioned to me that we should present on Elvis. I argued that we should try to pick an artist that would be appropriate to teach children about. Obviously, Elvis is an artist that all children should learn about (he is the king, after all), but I'm not sure Elvis is appropriate to learn about in school. You know, the whole man-whore, drug abuse, dying on the toilet thing may not fit in with current curriculum. However, whoever I was talking to argued that we could just focus on the positive aspects of Elvis. You know, his awesome sideburns and sequenced jump-suits! ;o) Just joking! Aspects such as his amazing voice and his commitment to his parents. Anyways, my question to you is is Elvis appropriate for elementary school? Thoughts, comments, concerns?

UNBC Art Show 2013

I must say, I think the art show was a huge success! I definitely wasn't the most excited person in the class about doing the art show, if I'm being honest, as I had my doubts about how many students would actually show up. This is one of those situations where I am happy that I was wrong. The turnout was huge! As I circulated around the room watching others in the cohort interact with their students I noticed a few things. First, our cohort is amazing at interacting and creating relationships with children. You didn't have to be a rocket scientist to see the strong connection that most of us had made with our students during this practicum. Second, not only were students very proud to see their own art work displayed in the art show, but they were also very excited to check out the rest of the amazing art that was on display. That is the real victory of this art show, in my opinion. We didn't just get children excited about doing art in the classroom, but to view and appreciate the art of others.

Great job everyone!

Practicum Art

Hey all,
Hope everyone had a great 3 week practicum! Just a quick post to share a picture of the art project I did with my class. It was a mad rush to get it done in time (find usable leaves after it snowed, find time in the last two days to actually do the work, you know...the usual) but I think they actually turned out really nice. The actual finished products are laminated (you'll see those at the art show) but here is a preview of how they turned out.

Choose you words carefully

Its no secret that playing music is my thing. It's how I express myself, its what I do to kill time, it cheers me up when I'm sad, it's my release when I'm feeling frustrated. I wish I was more creative and could write my own songs, but it's just not one of my strengths. I used to be able to write when I was a teenager, but as I got older I developed writers block which continues to this day. However,  playing other people's music still satisfies my creative side as I can put my own spin on things and make the songs a reflection of me. I guess this is what art really is, or possibly should be. A way in which the artist can create something (music, dance, drama, visual art) that reflects who they are and their view of the world around them. As a soon to be teacher, I struggle with having to critique or evaluate children's art. I understand providing criteria and marking based on your instructions, but who am I (or we) to say a particular child's self-expression is "wrong?" I would really struggle to get past it if my critique of a child's creativity resulted in them no longer wanting to express themselves. We must make sure to take extra care when giving feedback in the arts as what we say may impact a particular student for the rest of their lives.

Just food for thought.

This is the very first video I ever put on YouTube and it remains my most popular.

Cheers!

One man's garbage...

Hi everybody!
I chew gum like it's going out of style. I gave up smoking in 2006 and took up chewing gum instead. On an average day, I'd say I chew between 6-10 pieces of gum (that just can't be good for my teeth). What does this have to do with art, you say? I can create balloon animals out of the bubbles I blow with gum!!!!!

Ok, I lied. I can't do that. But you can imagine how cool that would be, right?

Anyways, the other day in class I moved from my normal spot to join a group for some form of activity. Before I moved, I put a fresh piece of gum in my mouth and threw the wrapper on my table. At the end of our group activity, I went back to my spot and this is what I found.

Pretty cool, right? This awesome gum wrapper origami was created by Catherine Eagles. It got me thinking of that old saying "one man's garbage is another man's treasure." So I Googled "garbage art" and came across a few interesting websites. http://www.noupe.com/inspiration/40-terrific-works-of-art-made-from-common-trash.html is a collection 40 amazing works of art created by professionals from recyclable material.

http://www.favecrafts.com/Green-Crafting/10-Ways-to-Reuse-and-Recycle-Trash-for-Crafting is one of many websites i stumbled upon that gives ideas of different art projects you can make with kids from household trash. The smashed soda can animals are my favorite! 

Cheers!
Happy thanksgiving!

From Johnny Cash to Elton John!

Ironically, this post is not about music (though I'm a big fan of both of these artists). I was having a conversation with Mike the other day telling him how I used to wear mainly all dark colours. However, over the past few years I have become a really big fan of bright colours. I still wear a lot of black and dark colours, but I also have several orange, yellow, and pink shirts, and the last golf shirt I bought is neon green! After I told Mike this he chuckled and said "you've gone from Johnny Cash to Elton John!" For some reason that stuck with me (I'm pretty sure there is a song just waiting to be written with that title. Feel free to write some lyrics and send them to me ;o) ). I've been thinking about colour a lot recently, as my visual arts lesson plans are built around introducing the colour wheel to my students. When I was thinking of projects I could do with my students based on primary and secondary colours, I immediately thought of doing something with warm colours to reflect the season (I decided on leaf printmaking). It just seems more fun to me to use warm colours. I don't know why or what has changed with me that I just enjoy seeing/using/wearing bright colours now. Seeing as how warm colours are usually associated with happiness, I guess it's a good thing.

Anyways, I don't really have anything else interesting to say (you could argue that I didn't have anything interesting to say in the first place). I mainly just wanted to share the phrase "From Johnny Cash to Elton John!" Do with it what you will.

Teacher Modeling

Someone recently told me that they really like my tag at the end of my emails that I send from my UNBC account. It is an old (I think) Chinese proverb that says "Life is an echo; what you send out comes back." When I stumbled upon this saying/proverb (are these words interchangeable?) a couple of years ago, it immediately struck a chord with me. This is how I try to live my life, although I'll admit that sometimes it is easier said than done.

During our last art class, we were required to do some basic drawing to start the class (why am I telling you this...you were there). I'm not kidding guys, I am so uncomfortable with visual arts and drawing that I LITERALLY started to sweat! I find that when I am uncomfortable with something or really lacking in skill, my default attitude is very negative and I am not one to hesitate to let my feelings be known. However, as I was racking my brain (again) to think of something to write about for my blog, for some reason that Chinese proverb popped into my head. "Life is an echo; what you send out comes back." As a teacher if I project my negative attitude about visual arts to my students, chances are that they (at least some of them) are going to start thinking negative about visual arts. That is not what I want to see happen. While I am not a huge fan of visual arts, I do see the value in it and I think it is important for us as teachers to allow and encourage our students to find their own passions in school and in life. What I need to work on as a teacher (maybe as a person?) is to not let my own insecurities and personal bias ruin things for others, especially impressionable children. It's a work in progress, but I'm trying.

That is all.

Blogging: It's Harder Than You Think

After taking a week off from blogging in order to catch up with the assignments I had due this week, I found myself ready and willing to make a post earlier today. However, I just couldn't for the life of me think of anything interesting and art related to talk about. I was talking to Jana-Rae earlier today about how it is easy for her to write blog posts because she is super creative and she has made so many art projects and crafts that she can write about. This is not the case for me. If watching movies and TV was considered an art form, then I'd be the next Picasso and I'd be able to post a blog a day at least. However, as it stands I don't spend a lot of time thinking about, looking at, or creating art (with the exception of playing my guitar. Shameless YouTube channel plug http://www.youtube.com/user/sledge624 ).

Then I remembered that as I was thinking about ideas to use for my art lesson plans for this week, I kept bouncing between two different possible themes to use: Fall and Halloween. Since the focus of my lesson plans was on Fall, why not make this blog post about Halloween (a bit early, I know). One of my favorite parts of Halloween is carving a pumpkin. This is something I look forward to doing every year and I hope it is something that I will be able to share with students once I have my own classroom. Do kids still get to carve pumpkins in school? If so, who gets to keep the seeds for roasting in the oven? Anyways, here are a few of the pumpkins I've carved over the years.

Pretty cool, right?I know these pumpkin pictures aren't likely to be placed in The Louvre any time soon, but the pumpkins were super fun to carve and looking at them in these pictures still makes me smile. And isn't that, if nothing else, the response we want our students to get from art? Whether it's visual art, music, drama, or dance, it is our job as teachers to show students how fun art can be and provide them with a project or a memory that they can look back on and smile about.

My Dad

This is my Dad.



This picture was taken a little less than a year before he passed away in 2010 after a battle with cancer. At the time this picture was taken he had lost quite a bit of weight, his hair had gotten a bit thinner and grayer (is that a word?), but he was relatively happy, all things considered. I must say, he was still  pretty good looking guy right up to the end.

In this picture he is standing in front of the Atlantic ocean in his home town of St. Augustine, Florida, at a condo that he and my Mom had rented for their 31st wedding anniversary weekend while they were on what turned out to be their last trip to Florida together (they went every two years). If you knew my Dad you would know that getting him to pose for a picture was a next to impossible thing unless you could get a few drinks into him first! But when I look at this picture I don't see the usual look of disdain that is common whenever someone "stuck a camera in his damn face," as he used to say. Rather, when I look at this picture I see peace. Peace for a man who left his family, friends, and country behind for the love of a woman who lived in the Great White North. Peace for a man who had grown up a wealthy potato farmer only to see crop disease and drought ruin the family farm, loosing everything. And peace for a man who worked twelve hour shifts at a pulp mill for 30 years only to develop cancer as a reward. It's funny/ironic to me that it can sometimes take a terminal illness for one to find peace in their life.

Anyways, to tie this back to art. I find it fascinating how one simple picture can tell such a detailed and unique story. Its crazy, really, how a picture can take you on a journey as far as you will let it take you and that each person who sees that picture is likely to be taken somewhere completely different. I know this picture of my Dad may not be the best example of different interpretations of art, but it is personal to me. When I see it I don't just see a picture but rather a life story.

In closing, this is my favorite picture that I have ever taken. I am not a photographer at all and I took this picture when I was 16 on one of those old Kodiak disposable camera's. I scanned the original copy years ago when scanners weren't s good as they are now, but I think it still holds up well. It is special to me as it captures a moment in time that I always cherished, and still do. Standing on the dock on the Saint John's river with my Dad, barely speaking a word, waiting for the fish to bite.

And So It Begins

A blog, eh?

Can't say I've ever blogged before but I guess there's a first time for everything. Not only have I never blogged before but I'm also like the least artistic person EVER!!! At least in regards to visual arts. I can draw a pretty mean Ninja Turtle head (as odd and specialized as this skill is, it still confounds me that I never took the time and learned how to draw the rest of the Ninja Turtle. Why just the head?) but that's about the only artistic skill I have in my "bag o' tricks". Performing arts is more within my comfort zone. I love to play the guitar and sing (mostly country music) and I can read just enough music to get by, at least in a typical elementary classroom. I love drama, at least I love the idea of drama. I can't say that I ever took drama classes growing up but looking back I think it is something I would have had fun with. Dancing is probably where I'm least effective in performing arts, however I did take the time to learn how to do the "Gangnam Style" dance when that was all the rage ;o) And I can do a pretty effective sprinkler dance!

I'm not really sure what else to say right now. Does this qualify as a blog post, I wonder? The bottom line is (Stone Cold Steve Austin reference for all you wrestling fans out there) I have a long way to go in becoming an effective visual arts teacher but I have high hopes of learning some new skills in our Arts class at UNBC and also from my future students. 

Cheers!