Arts Explorer #10 - Community Arts Project

For our Community Arts Project our group took on the role to promote sun safety and raise skin cancer awareness.  We believe this is a social justice issue as the importance of sun safely and the dangers caused by the sun is not focused towards young children.  It is very important that children learn the facts about the dangers of the sun and begin to be sun smart from a young age.  In order to get this message across to children, we have created a "fun in the sun day" where children in local schools will have the opportunity to get outdoors and participate in activities involving lessons on how to be sun smart and learning the facts about the sun.  Stations will involve cooperative games and sports, a hydration station, a sunscreen station, and stations with puzzles and games about sun safely and skin cancer.  Parents will also be educated on the importance of teaching sun safety to their children and will be provided with information from the Canadian Cancer Society.  The Toronto District School Board will set us up with local school that will participate in the "fun in the sun day". 

Art word of the week:  shape

Shape is the physical form an enclosed 2D or 3D object represents with edges and curves.  Shape was used in these posters to help spread the message of sun safety.  Shape can be abstract or realistic.  In the first poster here, shape was used to emphasize the damage the sun can cause with a fresh grape and a dried out grape.  In the second poster, shape was used in a fun way to change the shadow of the sunscreen bottle into a dinosaur shape.

I believe that the "fun in the sun day" created by our group would be a great idea to implement into schools in order to get this message across to young children.  It would be a fun and engaging day to educate children about the dangers of the sun and teach them things they can do that will benefit them and their skin.  Sun safety should be taught early so that it can become part of the children's lifestyle.

3 days after completing Guerilla Art!

I am excited to share that 3 days after putting my Guerilla Art in the washroom of a local coffee shop, it is still there!!!!

Arts Explorer #9 - Guerilla Art

For me, thinking abstract must begin somewhere simple.  I was stumped when asked to create a piece of Guerilla Art, so I went to a Coffee Culture close to my house where I often go to do school work.  After looking through some examples of Guerilla Art that online and with the inspiration of a friend, I came to a decision. 

I created a small poster that says "Smile, you look beautiful" in bright, colourful writing with flowers and smiley faces and posted it in the female washroom at this coffee shop near my house. 

After posting my sign in the washroom, I caught another person looking at it as I waited for my friend.  This person giggled and had a huge smile on her face.  My Guerilla Art put a smile on someones face, and I left it there in hopes to brighten up the smiles of others.

Art word of the week:         S P A C E

Space is the amount of room given to arrange physical elements, or the lack of room left in between physical objects.  Guerilla Art has a big connection to space.  Artists have all the space in the world to display their art work, and it is up to them to decide how much of it to use.  Guerilla Art can be spread across the biggest space possible, posting it in different countries, or in a small space by posting it within one room.

Within the field of ECE, forms of Guerilla Art are displayed in the classroom when educators post children's art work in the classroom.  As children create art work, they are creating an image that depicts howthey are feeling or a message they are trying to send.  Educators can make more specific forms of Guerilla art and venture out into the community or onto the play ground to post childrens work.  This is a fun and easy way of sharing children's creativity with friends, family, and the community.

Art Explorer #8 - Pretend Play & Magical Thinking

This is my friend.  His name is Sun Burnt Stefano!  Stefano is from Italy and he LOVES to travel.  His first language is Italian, however he has learned to speak English as he has many family members in Canada.  Stefano has learned to speak Spanish, Portugese, and French over his time spent travelling.  He has travelled Europe, South Africa, the United States of America, and Canada.  Although he loves playing all sports, Stefano's absolute favourite sport is soccer.  Recently on his travels to Miami, he got carried away in an intense game of beach soccer.  He forgot to reapply his sunscreen and is now suffering from a bad sun burn!  Stefano is very forgetful, so he needs help from his friends and family to remember to do things.  Unfortunately, everyone was so into this soccer match that no one remembered to tell Stefano to reapply his sun screen!  He is pretty upset because his friends think that he should start travelling to places where it is not so hot and sunny.  But Stefano said that it is his passion to travel and nothing will stop him!


Art word of the week:   texture

Texture is the feel or look of the surface of an object or material.  It can be rough, smooth, bumpy, shiny rubbery, or fuzzy.  I used materials with different textures to bring my friend Sun Burnt Stefano to life.  The dish cloth used as his body is a soft material; however, I used a rougher texture to create his bathing suit.  It is important to have many different textures in the classroom for children to explore, especially at a young age when children explore most through their senses. 

In early childhood settings children are always seen using objects in ways other than what they are normally used for.  This is a great activity to bring into the classroom to teach children how to use their imagination and go farther that changing the use of an object.  Tell children to create a whole story to their object.  Notice if children bring themselves into their objects or if they tie in aspects of culture that they are noticing in their friends!

Arts Explorer #7 - Shopping with a Twist

Art word of the week:  Mass or Volume

A solid, 3D object that can be transformed and reproduced in a different way.  For example, you can take solid ice cubes, strawberries, and milk, mix it all up in a blender and these ingredients combined make a strawberry milkshake. 

Strawberries

1.  Strawberry smoothie

2.  Strawberry jam

3.  Strawberry cheesecake

4.  Chocolate covered strawberries

5.  Strawberry sauce

6.  Strawberry shortcake

7.  Strawberry candy

8.  Strawberry sorbet

9.  Strawberry daiquiri

10.  Strawberry tarts

11.  Strawberry cream cheese

12.  Strawberry pie

13.  Strawberry mousse

14.  Strawberry lemon squares

15.  Fruit pizza pie

16.  Strawberry trifle

17.  Strawberry punch

18.  Strawberry milkshake

Strawberry Cheesecake

Strawberry Milkshake

Strawberry Sorbet



Food is a creative and tastey way to tie lessons of mass and volume into the classroom.  Brainstorming different things you can make with one specific type of food is a great way to get children thinking about variety.  There are so many choices when it comes to flavours and foods and this activity can allow children to make connection between different items that use the same ingredients.

Arts Explorer #6 - Painting with Scissors

When thinking about this blog entry, I considered many possibilities of how to fill in the blank "________ with scissors".  When we think of what we can do using scissors, the first thing most people think is cutting.  Children are encouraged to pick up scissors and cut out designs and pictures, usually to glue onto something else to create some sort of picture or collage.  I considered different "art" verbs and matched them with activities using scissors. 

I decided that I wanted to use scissors in a way that I have never used them before.  For this activitiy, I chose to DRAW with scissors.  After making this decision, I found myself stuck on HOW I was supposed to draw with scissors.  I thought long and hard, and decided to make playdough.  Playdough is soft and smooth, so I figured a pair of scissors would smoothly run through it and leave a picture.  I added blue food colouring to my playdough because it is my favourite colour.  Once I had my blue playdough ready to go, I realized I had to think of something to draw.  Thinking back to my childhood and activities I did at school and camp, I knew exactly what I wanted to draw.  The one thing that I always incorporate into activities was memories from my cottage!  Having a blue sheet of playdough rolled out in front of me, I grabbed my scissors and began to run my scissors along the playdough to create waves.  This sparked an idea in my head.  On one half of my sheet, I drew out me and my sister playing in the waves at my cottage.  I continued the waves on the second half, but made them bigger.  With the recent news about the tsunami in Japan, I made a connection between my experiences playing in the waves at my cottage to these HUGE waves desroying the villages in Japan.  On the second half of my page, I illustrated (well I tried) waves crashing down on houses and wiping out cars, and a helicopter rescuing a person off the roof of a house.

Art word of the week:  L

                                     I

                                    N

                                    E

I used lines to create a picture in playdough.  A line is a marking created by a tool.  In this case, I used scissors.  Lines create shape and dimension.

Arts Explorer #5 - Art Film

Movies are a fun and entertaining way to express one's creativity and relay a message accross to a wide audience.  I chose to watch the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  I highly enjoyed this movie, although it turned out to be quite different than what I epected it to be like.  This movie requires the audience to pay close attention to small details in order to follow the story line and not get too confused.  After watching this movie, I discussed it with my classmate Melissa Edwards.

Erikka: This weekend I watched the movie called Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, it was really cool.

Melissa: Yeah I watched the movie this weekend as well, it was very interesting.

Erikka: At first, I was really confused as of what was going on.

Melissa: Yeah, after I talked to you I really took note of Clementine’s hair colour and it helped make more sense, especially because it was a very detailed movie.

Erikka: I thought that it was really clever how at the beginning of the movie when they met on the train, Clementine said you may not recognize me because my hair colour changes a lot. After the movie it turned out that they had known each other in two different times and her hair was blue during one encounter and red in the other encounter.

Melissa: I agree, I think it was very creative of the writer of the movie to think of that concept. I found as the story continued that I had to keep an open mind and allowed myself to be creative throughout the movie.

Erikka: Yeah, I agree that we had to keep an open mind. When Joel got the note saying Clementine had brainwashed him out of her life I was completely confused. Since they incorporated brainwashing into this movie I was just shocked since it is something that does not actually exist.  But as I continued watching the process of the brainwashing when Joel got it done, I thought that it added a great touch of creativity to the movie as we had to follow them through past and previous encounters and made the viewer have to be that much more attentive.

Melissa: Brainwashing definitely was a surprise in this movie. I thought it added uniqueness to the movie by creating a concept that is not real. I really think that this movie displays a great deal of creativity. I liked how Joel could hear the two lab technicians while his mind was being erased. This created an extra dramatic effect.

Erikka: Yes, I agree as well.

Melissa: Something that I wanted to mention was how the movie showed that memories can be erased but people’s feelings toward each other can never change. Even though Clementine and Joel’s memories were erased, when they saw each other their feelings stayed the same. This showed how memories are so powerful and impact you either negatively or positively.

Erikka: Yeah after the fact of both Clementine and Joel being brainwashed, they were still able to find a connection between the two of them. During Joel’s procedure, he was able to stay true to his feelings for Clementine and they were able to change his memories to prevent her from being erased.

Melissa: That is a great point Erikka. I really think this discussion proved how creative this movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is.

Erikka: Yeah, it was kind of confusing at first, but once I caught on to the twist of the movie I really enjoyed it.

Art word of the week:      COLOUR

Colour is a combination of different light waves, hues, and intensity/brightness that our vision perceives.  We tend to match colours to moods or feelings.  Blue, red, and yellow are the three primary colours, and with these three colours any colour can be made possible.

As an educator, it is important to incorporate fun, creative, and engaging lessons into your daily plan.  There are many movies that can be brought into the classroom to help teach lessons and encourage children to make connections.  Movies allow us to use work our brians by following story lines and making connections between events that are taking place.

Arts Explorer #4 - Patterns

Art word of the week:   PATTERN!

A repeated image or design seen in nature, objects, colour, and texture.

PATTERNS CAN OCCUR NATURALLY!

Patterns can be seen in nature.  This is a picture that my friends and I were able to capture at my cottage of the big dipper.  Constellations are patterns naturally formed in the sky by stars.

Patterns can be seen through genetics.  This is a picture of my kitten, Toby.  He has a very distinct pattern in his fur.  He is not one specific colour; however, his fur shows a light brown and black striped pattern.

PATTERNS CAN BE MADE!



This picture demonstrates a pattern that my friend arranged for a photography project.  We stood according to height, from shortest to tallest. 

This pattern was created during a tie-dye project.  A circular pattern created in an outward movement was created by wrapping rubber bands on a white sheet and dipping it in coloured dye.

Patterns can be seen EVERYWHERE!  Keep an eye open and patterns will pretty much jump out at you.  Whether it is in the sky, on a wall, on your clothes, or in your food, repetition and patterns can be see on a daily basis.  These pictures show how natural patterns can be found and how patterns can be created.  Just use your imagination and look at things differently and notice the patterns in your life!

Art Explorer #3 - Art Critique

Gossip

George A. Reid



Looking through all the pieces of art at the Art Gallery of Ontario really made it difficult to pick ONE piece to focus on for this blog post.  Many of the pieces displayed stood out to me as I jotted down their title so I knew where to go back to for my art critique.  However, walking into a new room and having one painting on the wall pretty much jump out at you signifies a connection to that painting. 

Art work can be made into whatever the artist desires.  It is up to the artist to create a meaning behind their art work.  A trip to the art gallery will allow children to use their imagination to interpret pieces in their own way.  This can be taken back into the classroom to get children to create their own work and depict the meaning behind it.

First off, the painting I chose for my art critique was LARGE.  It was one of the biggest paintings in the room.  I love things that are big, that stand out in a cluster.  This painting did exactly that.  After noticing the size of the painting, I took a seat in front of it and admired it.  My initial story I matched with this painting was a mother and a daughter.  The lady standing with her hand on the spinning wheel appears to have shorter hair.  I interpreted this lady as the mother.  The lady sitting in the chair has longer hair that is pulled up and has yarn in her hand.  I saw this as the daughter, learning how to use the spinning wheel from her mother.  I really liked the image in this painting and the story that I connected with it because it looks very casual and relaxed and reminded me of times with my mother.  I am very close with my mother and we do many things together.  This painting reminded me of when I would sit around with my mother as she taught me new things.

After sitting back and making connections to this painting, I noted the title and other information about this painting.  When I discovered the title of this painting was “Gossip”, it sparked more thoughts in my head.  Yes, I still believe this could be a mother and daughter talking and sharing stories.  However, I believe it could also be two friends. 

ART WORD OF THE WEEK:            DESIGN or COMPOSITION

Design or composition is anything the artist aims to achieve.  I believe George A. Reid did accomplish what he was set out to do.  He captured peoples attention with this painting and used two women in a house setting with the title "Gossip" to emphasize the gender roles in society.  The focal point of this painting is the two women with the spinning wheel, and clearly showing a smile on the one woman's face.

Art work can be made into whatever the artist desires.  It is up to the artist to create a meaning behind their art work.  A trip to the art gallery will allow children to use their imagination to interpret pieces in their own way.  This can be taken back into the classroom to get children to create their own work and depict the meaning behind it.

This painting was created using oil on canvas.  I am not familiar with this style of painting, however, thinking about the word oil and comparing it to an oil paint I would think of the paint to be very smooth and thick.  The painting did look smooth and flowing together.  From the smile on the lady’s face that is standing I got a cheerful feeling from this painting.  When I look at this painting, I can imagine them sharing stories and laughing, having a good time.  It gives a cozy, home feeling.  Both ladies in this painting appear to be happy and relaxed. 

Art work can be made into whatever the artist desires.  It is up to the artist to create a meaning behind their art work.  A trip to the art gallery will allow children to use their imagination to interpret pieces in their own way.  This can be taken back into the classroom to get children to create their own work and depict the meaning behind it.

After bringing this painting to the attention of some friends, my original thoughts of this painting did not change.  Thoughts that first came from my friends about this painting were two friends talking, a mother and daughter, and housework.  This painting sparked similar stories in all our heads.

George A. Reid was a Canadian artist born in 1860 in Wingham, Canada West, now known as Ontario.  He died in Toronto, Ontario in 1947.  After he died, in 1964, this painting was a gift of the Academy of Medicine, Toronto.  A connection I made with this painting and the time the painting was made is gender roles.  Gender roles were a great focus in the 1800’s.  In this painting we see two women in the house with a spinning wheel, relating back to a woman’s expectation to carry on everyday house hold duties.  Men had more social connections out of the house, however, women’s only social contact was with neighbours and family.  One general connection I made throughout different paintings in the room was Canadian artists.  After looking through the painting guide, I noticed George A. Reid’s name reoccurring many times, as well as some other Canadian artists.  Many of the paintings were focused on children and flowers and all the paintings in that room were oil on canvas paintings.

Art work can be made into whatever the artist desires.  It is up to the artist to create a meaning behind their art work.  A trip to the art gallery will allow children to use their imagination to interpret pieces in their own way.  This can be taken back into the classroom to get children to create their own work and depict the meaning behind it.

Art Explorer #2 - Instant Sculpture

For days, I looked around for materials that would spark an idea in my head for my instant sculpture.  For days, I remained confused and unsure about what exactly I was going to do.  Today, as I sat on the floor brushing my cat, into the recycling bin went an empty bottle of pop.  Knowing my mother would go back into the recycling and crush the bottle, I took it out and stepped on the plastic bottle to flatten it.  Instantly, an idea sparked into my head and this is what I came up with.

Art word of the week:

proportionate -- BALANCE -- harmony

|

equal

This sculpture has an asymmetrical (informal) balance.  It does not show points that are equally balanced.  I decided to place a rectangular shape on both the bottom and top of my sculpture, but in different positions, resulting in an unblanced image.  The bottom rectangle is standing vertically to depict standing tall and strong.  However, I placed the top rectangle horizontally to demonstrate finding balance through rough times.



The message that came to my mind when creating my instant sculpture was,

Life is what you make it.

I decided to create a sculpture that was abstract rather than depicting something important to me.  When I saw the crushed pop bottle, milk carton, and crumple paper bag, I thought about those times in life when you are just confused, upset, and have some things to figure out.  Just recently, I got a phone call from my sister who was a little upset that day, and I knew that I was going to be the one to cheer her up. 

The box of cheese bites is the base foundation to my sculpture.  The point in having such a large and strong base was to resemble lifes foundation; family, friends, and any other safeties in your life.  We all go through periods when our dreams are crushed, we are off balance, and things just don't feel right.  That is the time when we go back to our base foundation - the people we love, the people who care for us, and you will be able to find a balance.  The red container on top resembles being in charge of your own life.  Although the rough patches act as a barrier to our happiness, it is up to you to be able to get back on top.

Instant sculptures are a great way to teach children that materials do not always have to be used in context.  Creativity involves thinking outside the box and trying new things.  Having children bring in recyclable objects such as boxes, cartons, and toilet paper rolls allow for a wide range of creations waiting to be discovered by eager to learn children.

Art Explorer #1 - Creativity & Inspiration

What does creativity mean to me?  That is a good question, as it is not something that I would think about daily.  However, expressing my creativity is something I do daily.  After sitting back and thinking deeply about what creativity means to me I have come up with some definitions of creativity, which in fact are creative acts that I have personally experienced.

Creativity is trying something new & exciting!

As a child, I convinced my parents to let me try a horse back riding summer camp.  This has been something I continue to take part in on a recreational basis.

Creativity is changing what you do. 

Skiing is something that I have being actively involved in since I could walk!  Enjoying this winter sport lead me to trying something new.  In high school I picked up snowboarding and it is now one of my favourite winter past times.

Creativity is letting your mind explore to create your own master piece.

Creativity is taking risks.

This was such an exhilarating experience.  And yes, it was safe.  This was at a friends cottage where many people go cliff jumping.  There were signs posted and as lifeguards, my friends and I made sure to check the area for rocks, check the depth, and of course we all wore our life jackets!

And of course, creativity is having fun & bringing out your inner child.

So as I mentioned above, my creativity comes from inspiration.

Friends are inspiration.

This is a card I made for a friend who goes to school far away and only makes it home a few times a year.  I truly miss this friend.  Of course the story behind what I included on the card is based on past events that created memories never to be forgotten.

This is a birthday cake that I made with some friends.  We decided to make this as a surprise that we know would be enjoyed and remembered as one of the best birthday cakes!

Family & love are inspiration.

Relationship building is something that means a lot to me.  The friendship and trust I have built with my sister is something that I will always cherish.  Also, having a pet truly makes you realize how much caring for someone means.  These are my two cats and it is great to see they are finally getting along just like my sister and I.

Religion & culture are inspiration.

Receiving my First Holy Communion was one sacrament of my faith.  It is something that will always be a part of who I am and have an affect on my life decisions.

Music is inspiration.

This is at the Brad Paisley concert.  He is one of my favourite artists and this was by far the best and most memorable concert!  Partially because of how close we were.  Getting to reach out and shake hands of someone who has inspired my music choice and style was truly one of the greatest experiences.

I believe creativity is one of the most important pieces in working as an educator.  Creativity is important not only to engage young children, but older children creativity in their daily work as well to keep them engaged in learning.  As an educator, my inspiration to be creative in the classroom would be the children.  My goal would be to bring creativity into required curriculum for children to enjoy and engage in their learning. 

Art can be made from ANYTHING

Creativity is making something out of anything.  Explore what you have.

You never know what master piece you might end up with.

First Blog!!

Wow, my first blog?  Kinda cool.  Welcome to my blog.  Hope you enjoy all I have to share and feel free to comment!