Illuminating Process and Progress:
Making Learning Visible
- Artist’s Journal introductory experience
My AJ and I first met on a very special day back in 2012, but before I tell you how we met, let me tell you how we came together. It was back in the Spring of 2012 or maybe even 2011, when destiny started to pull our threads together. A pixie-like woman was presenting at an art conference on the magic of sketchbooks and art journals in the art class. Her enthusiasm for the transformative and inspirational nature of the sketchbook couldn't help but be contagious and it consumed me with AJ fever. That very next week I ordered sketchbooks from the Blick spring sale catalog in hopes of spreading the contagion to next year's art students. I excitedly dreamt of all the possibilities and potential these blank books held inside. The next school year rolled around and a new set of future artists came through the door, taking their place in the studio and settling in. As we got to know each other, they realized I was...let's say, "enthusiastic" about lighting a creative fire in them and I wasn't above using dramatics as kindling. One day as they entered, I announced it was a very special day. A day that would be the beginning of a transformative journey in the studio. And just like the woman bouncing all over the conference room, I, too, was bubbling over with excitement. I rolled out a draped cart and donned my official artist's beret. Twirling my invisible artist's moustache I called each student up and "knighted" them with their artist names and bestowed upon them their own sketchbook with a deep bow. Each AJ was now property of the student artist and they could use it as they saw fit. Sometimes I would give them investigations (assignments) and sometimes I would just tell them to do something - anything - in the book -- To Be Brave. it was theirs to do with as they wanted. If they filled it, I gave them another one. This was their textbook and the expectation was to have it with them always. As we started to work in the AJ's, I realized I needed one too. I needed to be brave and I needed to reawaken my artist's habits. This is the book I ended with last year and the one I plan on using as we work on Illuminating Process & Progress. Perfect size to carry anywhere and take notes or do a little sketching.
- Aesthetic Inventory
- Create an aesthetic inventory uncover and make real, your Aesthetic. If you would like a challenge, try to create an anti-aesthetic inventory.
Having the most problems with blackboard this week! Sheesh.
Well, this assignment was both fun and infuriating all at the same time. I realized that a lot of what I find beautiful and what I want to emulate is hard for my hard to create. Interesting to feel that same sensation I felt as a beginning artist of frustration and disconnect between head (mind's eye) and hand. I also find that I have an eclectic aesthetic and it was difficult to record so many images in one limited defined space. ( I think that is why I am sooo addicted to and attracted to Pinterest. Infinite gigabytes!)
So, what I ended up doing as I was stumped about where to begin and pondering how to fill the blank whiteness that was glaring at me from my aj, was do what I always tell my students. just do something so that the white is no longer white. So that you have created something to alter, to change, to cover, -- just begin. So I started collecting images that speak to my three general rules about what I like. It has to connect and speak to the hand, the heart, and the mind. (And I totally stole that from another artist, Shea Hembrey, who broke down my thoughts so well.)
What you will see in my AJ is what I see as a starting point. I plan on going back into these images and finishing them up with some layering of drawing, colors, and text. What a fun place to begin!
I'm attracted to:
- color
- rawness
- a sense of time
- nostalgia
- layers
- cheeky defiance
- edginess
- delicateness without being fluffy or weak
- whimsy
- playfulness
- boldness
- subtleties
- mystery
- unusualness
And that is probably just the beginning of a very long list, but where I'm at now!
- Discussion Question:
- Tell about an assessment that you have encountered, either good or bad, and discuss what it is about the experience that makes it a “bookmark” moment.
1. Why were you assessed?
2. Was the experience positive or negative?
3. To what degree did that assessment help you? And if it did, how did it help?
I subjected myself to the National Board Certification process. Honestly, some of the best professional development I've done. Got me to focus and reflect on what makes a good art teacher and how my actions effect the learning of my students. But it was hard, stressful, and a little bit unnerving. So, both a positive and negative experience. It is a serious of 4 intensive portfolios that have you documenting and reflecting on certain parts of your teaching process and then taking a series of tests (10 I think) covering the content you should know. The one that has stuck with me the most was the performance test where they send you a bag of materials and you have to create with just what they give you. And the rules for this are SO specific and meticulous and there is zero room for a mistake or you fail. Point blank. So it was really unnerving to have to create to such specifications without them aligning to the natural way I create. There wasn't a pencil listed on the supplies, and I normally have to sketch something out before I begin, and I couldn't do that! It definitely made me think about the feelings I create in my students when I set up certain parameters to my projects. The whole process made me think about how I structure my assignments and whether they relate or build off of each other, or if students see relevance in them, and if they are worthwhile in the big picture of life. Art can be so much and I want my students to experience that and feel the power of art in themselves. I thought that before I went through this assessment, but feel I have a much better idea of how to execute my vision now.
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