Meeting Students at my Studio

Months ago I came across an advertisement for a weekly PBS Digital Studios production hosted by curator Sarah Green that would be run on Youtube.  It is called The Art Assignment.  I subscribed and had been waiting for the first program to be aired.  In February my gr. 11 art class and I decided to do a variation of the suggested assignment called Meeting in the Middle which was suggested by Christopher Robbins and Douglas Paulson.

Rather than meeting in the middle, we decided to meet at my studio.  I had not had a group of my students there for quite some time.  There was no sense in visiting it when there was no work being made.  As suggested, we set a time, the place, and developed an idea of how to document the journey and/or visit.  The students were excited because they had asked about visiting my studio before.  I was happy to try out using The Art Assignment.

I decided to take photos of the students in the studio and to add their documentations to this blog.  The snap shots are very quick and simple but a record of the event.  The students seemed to also use photos and videos to record their journey.

The students got there pretty much on time and I had coffee, sodas, and chocolate waiting for them.  They wandered around a bit and were keen to know the meanings of particular paintings and different techniques used.  I was surprised at a few of the students' reactions when they saw my work.  One student said it was discouraging to think that her work was not as good and two other students wanted to try to figure out a way to make me famous, which I am very interested in of course!  I began this school year by letting this group know that I would try to make work in line with their deadlines and they have been supportive in my creative efforts, so it was nice to have them over to see the new and old work at my studio. 

Preparing for the "Optimaler Schnitt" Exhibition

Soon after completing my masters and moving back to Leipzig, Germany , I was fortunate to stumble across an amazing event one evening in the summer of 2001.  It was a GallerieRieRiemann 24-Hour-Exhibition titled "Sieben" (Seven) due to it being the seventh event.  Artists were invited to exhibit artwork that explored the topic "Sieben."  There were so many people and different types of art.  A collection of video projections, paintings, installations, films, and performances were on display in and around an empty building, that was formally a printing company, from 0:00 to 23:59.  I was so excited that I could not wait to find out if there would be another one and how I could take part.

Last Sunday I attended the introductory meeting of the  16th edition of the 24-Hour-Exhibition.  I was so excited to hear there was another one planned because the last one was 4 years ago and I was not able to take part.  While at the meeting, which was actually sort of a pot luck breakfast that went from noon to evening, I was asked by one of the organizers how many times I participated in the exhibitions.  I was surprised to recall that I was actually in 6 of the 8 that I could have possibly signed up for.

The title of the next exhibition is "Optimaler Schnitt" (Optimal Cut).  I must propose my idea for work to exhibit.  It should be new work that goes along with the titling theme.  I have had several discussions with my students in gr.11, my family, and friends about how I could interpret this theme.  It is amazing how some things just come together.  I immediately felt that the current transition of art teacher to artist-teacher and establishing myself as an artist was metaphor that truly expressed the theme.  This blog and the series of posts since October seemed to be screaming "Optimaler Schnitt!"  Therefore this 24 hour exhibition should become the first exhibition of new work produced under this new mindset.  It will be the first exhibition since attending the Artist-Teacher Workshop in Pisa.  It has given me a deadline.  April 12th at 0:00 a collection of work needs to be completed and on display!

The  "Optimaler Schnitt" seems to be a break or a change in the flow of a normal event; where a surprise or something unexpected takes place.  The paintings that I am planning are of frozen moments where the viewer is visually invited to become part of the scene or situation.

I am trying to set the elements in the paintings' compositions in a series of three.  The paintings should have one main narrative but three possible separate parts.  Each part represents a different perspective in the events taking place.  Some paintings will allow the viewer to experience the third point of perspective, encouraging the viewer to then become an integral part of the narrative and forced to not only view a set of optimal cuts, but be forced to contemplate their own.

All five canvases have a maximum length of 160 cm.

All five are stretched with canvas and primed with gesso.

Here two of the five with similar colours have been completed with the first coat of oil paint.

Steve Lewis WOOLOO Exhibition

Joining Art Classes

One day a month ago, I decided to check out if there were any evening art classes that I could join.  I was really not wanting to be taught something but to have the opportunity to attend a class where I could just create, with a group, at a set time.  It seemed to be a good idea to schedule some time where I would make art.  I am finding it difficult to start making art on a regular basis.  Although I have produced more work in the past few months than I have over the past few years, I will not get a serious body of work without dedicating more time on a steady basis.  So I searched for print making classes, drawing circles, and nude model sessions.

Leipzig has several options that sounded interesting.  Two of my grade 12 students were interested in working from a model and so we tried an hour and a half drawing circle at the Kreative-Spinner in Halle 14 at the Leipziger Spinnerei.  We had a good time and made drawings of each other with coloured pencils.  Although we had expected to have a model, we enjoyed the session.

During the following two weeks a student and I tried a two hour figure drawing class at MÜHLSTRASSE 14 e.V..  It was great!  It was the first time drawing a nude model for my student.  I told her of my experience having a nude model at a summer arts camp when I was 14 years old.  I had not drawn from a model since being in graduate school 15 years ago.  It was such a fun challenge.  I am really looking forward to next weeks' session.

Attending these two sessions just happened to precede the drawing trip we had planned before Christmas.  We took the three grade 7 classes to Leipzig's natural history museum.  My colleague and I took the students to do drawings of the stuffed wildlife.  It was so nice to sit among the seventh graders and sketch the images of different animal types.  The task of recording form, pattern, and texture was so rewarding and having the drawings to use as demonstrations for the students worked really well.  It was a very relaxing hour with the students and a good time to get some practice in myself.

Being Active Now

While searching sites on hyper- and meta-modernism, I came across a quote from Marina Abramovic, who recently had a retrospective in the MOMA.  She was urging artists to work in the present, to just do something, take part in any event, to be active.  I had just heard about a small 3 hour Christmas market at a local cultural centre near where I live.  So I signed up to have a table for €5.00.  I thought I would sit and draw holiday cards at customers' requests.

This led to ordering card blanks and thinking about ideas to illustrate.  When a person from the centre contacted me to inform me about being allowed to take part on the event, I was informed that the card idea may compete with the production of cards as a children's activity at the event.  I had the idea of creating cards with snowmen on them and actually had a few practice versions completed.  The blank cards were set aside for a future event and the snowman idea had to be developed off of the card and onto something different.

I wanted to have something that children could create as well, but at the same time being able to sell a product.  One that had something to do with snowmen.  I came up with the snowman kit.  The children could create the face of a snowman with chestnuts and pieces of sticks on a blank drawing of a snowman head and then store them in bag for use when it snows!

It was a great creative kick!  I didn't make a lot of sales but it was fun painting the 19 Snowman Bags and participating at the market.  With a bit of thought and early planning, I think it may be worth trying again next year at a weekend long arts and crafts Christmas market in an art's centre in Leipzig.

Making Art Alongside Students

Finding the time to produce art while being a teacher is tricky.  Working alongside students during the lesson once they are working on their own art has been an interesting solution to the issue.  I try to sit and join in with students at their table.  Sometimes sitting with students who may be having difficulties with the task or with those who are not able to stay focused on their work.  The students get a kick out of seeing the work and value the fact that their teacher enjoys making art and may perhaps even be good at it.  It gives opportunities for conversations with students that would not otherwise happen and gives them a bit of insight into the teacher's own artistic interests.  Teachers are actually people too!  

This year I have also scheduled studio evenings with grades 9-12.  Once a month on a Friday, we meet after school in the art room and work on our art until nine at night.  It gives students a chance to catch up on their coursework or try something new.  It gives me a chance to complete some work too.  It is nice when students give me advice or share ideas of what I could do next.  The students who attend these evenings have greater respect for the lessons and me as their teacher.  I could also try to occasionally bring this atmosphere into the actual lesson by announcing to the class that the next lesson will be run as a studio where students may continue their class work or come prepared to try something new.  This would be good at the end of a unit when most students are finished but some need extra time.  It may help get some of those who are less engaged motivated by seeing me and their peers working as artists.  This could help them realize that the joy of focusing and making art is better than fooling around during the lesson.  I will have to give it a try.

 

 This is a watercolour I did with a grade nine class out in our school garden.

 This is a lino cut I did to trade with the grade nine students after they completed their own lino cuts.

 This is the lino print portrait I did of our former director who moved on to another school.

This is a drawing of  a dream that may be developed into a painting.

Being a Visitor at Home

Allowing myself to enjoy being a visitor was one of the tasks I set myself after the artist teacher workshop.  I am proud to say that I took the time to sit and do some sketches and watercolours even while I was visiting my parents in New Jersey, USA over the summer.  This is something that I had never done before.  It was quite fun.

The first trip I made was down to Fortescue.  I sat on the edge of the road and sketched a house up on stilts while my son explored the beach with my old metal detector.  It was not easy.  I can not get over how difficult it is to get the placement of the house fixtures correct.  I gave up trying to fit in everything correctly after a while.  I knew my son would get bored sooner or later and I wanted to try to get some colour in the drawing.

On the 4th of July I was able to get away and drove, with my old Chevy pick-up, to Landis Ave. in Vineland.  I parked and sat across the street from a set of three buildings that were fixed up quite nicely.  The colours and moulding were attractive.  I struggled with the same issues as in Fortescue but it seemed to work out a bit better.  If only I did not have to get back in time for the fireworks, I could have finished the piece.  I think I will work on it again from the photos I took.

It was a great summer to ride around in my 1965 Chevy Pick-up Truck.  A highlight of the trip was putting it into an antique car show.  There were amazing cars and a bit of time to start a sketch!  I tried some conte crayons and pastels.  I was quite pleased with the result of this drawing of the back corner of my truck.

There were some hot days in August and my son loves to swim.  Looking into Parvin State Park was a pleasant surprise.  We had a really good time biking and swimming in the lake.  This building near the lake had recently been renovated and housed the snack shop.  As my son was swimming I was busy with pastels trying to capture the likeness of this building.

 

 The drawings are not great but the experience was wonderful.  Taking time to just sit and draw was so rewarding.  It didn't matter how accomplished they were because I was just happy to be doing them.  I need to get out and do sketches of Leipzig now.  The weather will soon be getting cold so I better hurry up!

Finding Time to Explore a Familiar Source of Inspiration

Being an art teacher is sort of like working in an ice cream shop.  You quickly lose the desire for your favourite treat!  After spending all day working with the students and helping them sort out their ideas and artistic issues, the last thing you want to do is go home and start working on your own.

Discussions about this at the Artist Teacher Workshop made me realise that the students and I would both benefit from me making art in school.  I could take on a role of residential artist and work even in the classroom at times when the students were busy completing their projects.  Some non-teaching periods could be allocated for my own studio work or even studio evenings could be scheduled where I would work along side the students.  This would be an active step that I could initiate in order to make more of my own art.  Making more art and allowing the students to experience the process of an artist creating seems like a good idea.

I thoroughly enjoy brainstorming with engaged students; trying to figure out new ways of solving their artistic dilemmas and helping them when they are struggling to come up with ways of developing their own work further.  In my mind, they initiate sparks of fresh thoughts and trigger all kinds of exciting ideas that I can picture ever so clearly.  The work is created in my mind and ready to then be developed even further.  Then once it is out there ready for the taking, the bell rings and the students is rushing off to face a whole new set of obstacles that some other teacher must shed light onto.  I have often thought how tragic it is that these ideas seldom get explored or even considered.

Exploring the notion of making art in school then led me to contemplating the fact that I exert so much of my creative energy into potential art pieces for the students, which may simply be ignored.  This brought me to the conclusion of embracing those ideas and setting out to create the work myself.  Why not?  While I am at it, why not try to meet the students deadlines as well?  Why shouldn't I present work during their scheduled critiques?  Why not try to keep up a sketchbook with the ideas generated during discussions with students?

This seems to give some new purpose to teaching a subject that can feel so draining at times.  I am exploring the thought of accepting the collaborative work with the students as a source of inspiration for a new body of work.   I have just started to put this plan into effect.  So far the first piece made started with discussions I had with a grade ten student who wished to create some eerie image of some person or creature.  The keep a long story short, the result was him wearing a mask, that was still around the art room after being made years ago, while standing in the dark sink room holding a desk lamp toward his face during which time I snapped some photos at different angles and distances.  We looked at the shots and decided that some definitely had potential.  So I asked him if he would mind me also creating a piece from the photos.

Here is my first piece, "Boy in Mask":

Artist Teacher HERE: Finding Time to Explore a Familiar Source of Inspiration