For this unit, students had one limitation; incorporate a figure. The who, what and how was left entirely up to them. The works could be realistic, abstract, exaggerated or handled in any other way the student wished to approach the subject.

Oh, there was one other caveat...  get it done in 7 days... but that's easy! These works are still in progress.

Interesting composition as well as an intriguing story. Who is this lady? What's she doing there and most importantly, what about the cat?

This work continues to evolve as the artist experiments with media and concept.

What started as a black and white zentangle illustration is morphing into a full color work.

Lots of talk about how objects reflect in a mirror. She spent a long time on the composition. Excited to see the finished piece.

We need to talk about the word "figure" :)

Here's an end of the week look at some of the happenings at South B. Above, one of the final pieces from the unit Artists Collect & Synthesize. cloth parrot on stick and wooden base. How fun is that!

The following works come out of our most recent unit Artists Use Words, Letters and Text. The only limitation to each piece is that is utilize text in some manner. Let's take as look. 

This sculpture is constructed out of hot glue. It presents the text, Glus which apparently is old Latin for glue. Well, that makes sense. This photo doesn't do the piece, which is hanging in the display case, justice.  

This clay piece is still a work in progress. she is designing letters and fairies which live among the organic text.

This piece is also a work in progress. The text will be written over and around the watercolor portrait.

I'm told this piece is also still missing the text so it is a work in progress as well.

Also in progress, this image of an eye is created using newspaper.

She finished her text piece and wanted to learn how to make a stencil. This clown seems rather popular this week.

We are just about finished with our first assignment, create a black and white drawing from observation. Simple and straight forward yet challenging. Next, we move on to the figure. Stay tuned!

Our first unit is titled Artists Collect & Synthesize. It's all about... well, collecting stuff and synthesizing stuff. Artists collect all sorts of things from junk that they find on the beach to expensive things they buy.  All of it can be used for art and many artists do just that.

We looked art artists that do exactly that like Andy Goldsworthy, Tara Donovan, and Mae Chevrette to name a few. But before we did all that, the students took part in a one day challenge.

First, before they even knew what the unit was titled, I asked them to go out around the school and find stuff. They could look inside, outside, wherever, but fill a bag with stuff. After introducing the unit, I challenged them to spend one day creating something out of the stuff they collected. Here are some of the results. 

We kicked AP Art into first gear this morning, starting with some observational drawing. each student brought in an object of their choosing. we set the clock and started a new sketch every 15 minutes.

​We were exploring different angles as well as line variation, value and cross contour. Theses sketches will serve as thumbnails for a final work of art that will need to be completed by next week. Yep, we got to keep it moving. No time to dilly dally!

I've never been much for rubrics. I find they often put constraints around the very thing they are trying to bolster. However, I recently saw a rubric that addressed student expectations (as opposed to specific projects.) I thought this might be an interesting way to address what Engagement looks like at South B.

Since the class operates around the four stages of the Artwork Thinking Process, Inspiration, Design, Creation and Reflection, these were used as the foundation. Each area then addresses the top three expectations of the Engaged student. If the student is accomplishing these 12 expectations, they are truly engaged in the learning process. 

It's a rather simplistic chart, yet it's all encompassing, serving as everything from  the class syllabus to the assessment process. Are you engaged? 

When I saw Jean Barnett’s recent "Year in Review" blog post, I thought I might want to write a post like that too.  This being my first year at South B, there was Stuff that Worked, things that were like, Ugh! And things that didn’t happen this year but will happen Next Year. So let’s jump right in…

Warm ups:
​This semester we started each class period with a warm up. These warm-ups, which usually lasted between 10-20 minutes, were each designed to teach a skill or technique or introduce a concept or new medium. Previously, these types of things have either been introduced as Bootcamps or else they were tied directly to the lesson. However, these warm-ups were totally stand alone. They functioned more like the HS version of the TAB five minute demo. For that reason alone they make the “stuff that worked” list and we’ll continue this next year.

Weird Wednesdays:
​Every Wednesday we would take a look at an artist or artwork that leaned slightly away from the idea of traditional art. Students commented on how weird some of the art was and Weird Wednesday was born. Artists that made the Weird Wednesday list include Janine Antoni, The Guerilla Girls, Geoffrey Ricardo, Ron Murek, Alexa Meade and Patricia Piccinini to name a few.

Happenings:
On previous blog posts there has often been a theme or overall concept that we’ve learned about. This semester however, we tended to not be so, let’s say, concerted. So in order to demonstrate the plethora of ideas our students were working on, many of our blog posts took on the title of “happenings”. This is stuffed that worked, sure, for the blog posts but more importantly for allowing the creative freedom to reign.

Brushes:
First up on the Ugh! List, brushes. Has anyone ever found a solution for this issue? Brushes, ugh! They are expensive, they often aren’t taken care of and they are important part of painting. Honestly, we can’t’ afford to purchase new brushes every year. We just don’t have the budget.
​
So next year, we will ask that everyone bring in a small set of brushes that they can keep in their cubbies. I tend to believe that when people own the brushes, they take care of them. For those who aren’t able to get a set, we’ll have some loaner kits.

NAHS:
We started our National Art Honor Society and this was a big Ugh! Not because students weren’t interested. We had a great group. However, scheduling was an issue. First, it took a few weeks before our school schedule added smart Lunch, which was out time to meet. Later, issues occurred and Smart Lunch was discontinued so we had no time to meet. It was later decided that clubs would meet after school. By the time the dust had settled, most students had lost interest.

​Still, a small group of dedicated students persisted and we ended up have a fun induction celebration/barbeque. Hopefully next year we can maintain a consistent schedule and then things can really take off!

Technology:
First it was the iPads. We could get any app we wanted! Any app… as long as it didn’t have a community, didn’t have ads and was free. Needless to say 7 of the 8 apps I requested were denied. Scratch iPads. Next we tried blogging. But Blogger got blocked. So we tried Wordpress but halfway through the year, it was blocked. Scratch blogs.

​On the bright side, I was able to get a class set of Chromebooks and a Makerbot 3D printer and an Epson color printer through ha series of grants. So even though we got off to a rough start, I believe we have a solid foundation to work with next year.

Sketchbooks:
This year I asked students to maintain sketchbooks but it wasn’t required. Next year, sketchbooks will be required for all students. They need a place to work on warm ups, to sketch ideas and thumbnails, and a place to keep notes about art work and artists that we cover.  Maintaining a sketchbook will help students keep track of their progress and allow them to review everything we’ve covered in class.

AP Art:
Next year will be the first time AP Art is offered, not only at South B but in Brunswick County. We have a small be dedicated group of students willing to put in the time and effort to complete the required portfolio. I’m cautiously optimistic…

Curriculum:
Even though Melissa Purtee and I just finished writing a book about how to set up the curriculum for an open art room, this year’s curriculum was all over the map! Next year I plan to read my own book and roll out my class just like it says in chapter three. Beginners with themes and grouped media, intermediate with Artistic Behaviors and Advanced with full TAB and AP prep. I think that sounds about right.

As we wind down  the last few weeks of school, the assortment of different styles, media and ideas is winding up. Some students are building on an established foundation of skills while other students are experimenting with new materials. Here's a look at some of this week's art projects.

Above: Watercolor painting of Rachel

Text based self portrait

Learning to tie dye

​Learning some computer art using Pixlr

He really wanted to try his hand at pancake art. I borrowed the griddle from the foods class (thanks!). Turns out, this pancake art thing is harder than it looks. Artists solve problems.

Lots of art classes have picked up on the Geoffrey Ricardo teddy bear printing thing so we decided to give it a whirl. I'm not sure they come out as well when you run them through a printing press.. but its a lot more fun.

Parker finally finished this piece! You may remember I was trying to get him out of the sketchbook here (Is This Teen Angst?). And then he was working on it back here (Demonstrating Great Qualities). So good for him!

Danielle  got one of those blank, create a book thingys. She decide to create an alphabet book of unusual animals. She works on an illustration each day. I think she is up to the letter G.

Somewhere down the hall, in another building, far far away... a few art students are creating a mural on the aquaculture room windows. I've not really been down there to see whats going on cause its so far away. I'm sure they are fine. I mean, how much trouble can high school students get into? Anyway, they brought me back this photo. I guess the window mural looks something like this.

This is a detail from a work of art Morgan has started. Our daily conversations go something like this...

Day one:
Morgan, "I'm done."
Sands, "No, your not. Add more."

Day two: 
Morgan, "I'm done."
Sands, "No, your not. Add more."

Day three: 
Morgan, "I'm done."
Sands, "No, your not. Add more."

Day four: 
Morgan, "I'm done."
Sands, "No, your not. Add more."

Day five: 
Morgan, "I'm done."
Sands, "IDK. Maybe."

I don't even know whats happening

When I see stuff like this happening in the art room I get so absolutely.... curious.

I wonder where my students are going with it. Sure, it looks like someone took a hammer to an old VHS video. That's because that's what they did.  But then we have to wonder... where are we going with this?

Some might see this as a waste of paint. It's is a lot of paint which seems to be slapped around rather randomly without purpose or direction. But maybe not.

Where are we going with this? She saw something in the way the layers of color formed depth. She create a few more "paintings" till she had a collection of small abstract pieces.

She focused in on one abstract work and used it as a preliminary sketch to create this larger WIP on canvas. 

The bulletin board also started as an experiment. The student was playing with oil pastels and created several small stylized seascape compositions. She used these as a starting point to develop this work in progress. 

The idea for this piece went through several transition before it was finalized. All she knew was that she wanted a fish. From watercolor to wood burning to acrylic on board to this version with the board shaped to match the fish. Where was it going? She wasn't sure at first but now she knows that after shes done sanding and painting, it will probably get a coat of clear enamel and then be given to her dad as a present ;)

One origami heart.

24 origami hearts. Where are we going with this? Stay tuned.

Perhaps more important than where are we going with this is understanding where it came from. She has been working on figures and color this semester and I think she has really arrived. She has tighten up her color scheme and is starting to develop a strong style with her figures. Wherever this is going, keep going there.

So when I see something like this in my class I get curious. Where are we going with this?