Art Spirit

learning from drawing each day

Approaching the 50th day of  a drawing a day --- and  I expect something gold in celebration from all of you dear readers! But really -- I have been reflecting on what I have learned  so far in this process --- with the  caveat that there are 315 more days to go. 

What I have learned  is  that it does matter that  the drawing is done -- and this  is not so much about drawing each day but on greater level. That each day space is made for making and sharing of what is made --- that is human and real. 

In these days,  I have tried  so many different times of day and  approaches in these  49-ish days. I have  made  my drawings in the morning before work --- in the evening before I go to bed -- in the afternoon when I get home. I have tried to coalesce ideas and organize images. There is no exact approach.There is no  just right time. What is just right  is that I don't think about it anymore --- I simply know that I'm going to make a drawing and that's that.

I have started to think about art materials --- now this might seem odd--- but I  am in the practice of deprivation when it comes to  a lot of materials --- Its akin to walking into a 7-11 for  me  --- my work becomes all sugar and no substance  because when I have a wealth of materials to mess with I focus on that and not the image --- I think this is changing --- and I am considering more stuff  for painting and making because it would help me  and it interests me --- minor details  but important learning for one who only buys what I need and never over indulges in beautiful tubes of paint and pastels.I am meandering. And really that's the point.

Making a drawing each day has allowed the important space for meandering, for wondering and wandering. This is essential space  I have been missing  for a very long time. I am still goal oriented--- but now I am  getting to this goal each day,  each step, each hour that I spend . And each time I am without judgment. I simply approach and  commit. 

#49 Sunday August 31, 2008

In Les Jardins Toullieres  there is a huge beautiful ferris wheel. You can buy a  crepe with banana and nutella-- watch all of the people in the park---sailing little boats  in a pond , talking, picnicking. We watched Paris , Je T'Aime  last night-- such a great collection of short films in Paris. I thought  of the ferris wheel.

#48 Saturday August 30, 2008

Shoes

#47 Friday August 29, 2008

A porcupine bird-- very rare.

#46 Thursday August 28, 2008

A grasshopper-like  insect --- with hairy legs.

#45 Wednesday August 27, 2008

A chrysalis. Something transforming into something new.

2nd Grade Geometric and Organic Shape Studies

These sculptural studies the 2nd grade made the other day are so nice. Any metal sculptor would give  all their supply of acetylene for this kind of balance and volume. The  students  were exploring organic and geometric shape as they created these  beautiful sculptures. Using modeling clay and some pattern blocks the  students combined organic shapes made from oil clay  with the varied sizes of geometric shapes from the pattern blocks . The students then "recorded" their  study in their journal.

#44 Tuesday August 26, 2008

A red rooster. A tough customer...

6th grade Creative Licensing

Our aligned curriculum  for Trimester 1 -- 6th grade asks that the students have an understanding of Copyright. Without a tremendous backstory, I found this whole idea to be absurd. Given that post modernism was  about appropriation of image   and manipulation  of pop culture visual vocabulary and that we are teaching students that live in the world of internet overlay of  idea/image/sound/media--- my argument was ---- As artists , we are a world of  borrowing , using and learning  directly from the images that are  in our grasp. If it were not for the help of my boyfriend I would not have started to understand that I was not alone in this argument. There was an entire movement devoted to  the sharing and exchanging of ideas. When he told me about Creative Commons there was finally an alternative  to the shut down of exchange I felt Copyright was. Now, I  feel artists own the rights to their images --- of course!  And to own the rights  as well as  give the privilegde  to another artist to learn from what you have done is really interesting.

With the students we talked about Fair Use --- Copyright --- Creative Commons. We lined them side by side  and compared them to one another through the life of an image. I gave the example of a rabbit.  If  one student  wanted to use  the image under Copyright--- they would have to contact the artist and gain permission---if they were using the rabbit image under Fair Use they could only use it for teaching and learning. Lastly we discussed the  life and I mean LIFE of the image under Creative Commons. The license  would give direction to how and how much the rabbit image would be used. It was an interesting discussion. As the students understood  the variety of ways to licensing creative works they began to see the differences in learning and sharing ideas.

6th grade rhino drawings

Having had such a great time drawing the rhino the other day, I thought I would teach my 6th graders to draw one. They loved it and created some next contexts  for the rhino like the example on the left is "made out of metal". Very nice.