A few quick photos of som artistic fun! 2015

All-county artist: Matt 11th grade

All county artist: Christina,12th grade

All county artist: Carly, 10th grade

 Just taking a moment to acknowledge my amazing ceramicists. All three were exhibited in our Art Supervisor's Association All- County Exhibit. So proud of my fabulously talented craft students!

the caption was changed for departmental humor!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Halloween is a great time for teaching! I love that we are encouraged to dress up at our middle school! This year my entire department came dressed as an art gallery. Extra credit was given to students who "guessed" (or googled) the artwork we embodied.

Living art!

 Professionally developing at an art league with my co worker. We were lucky to get into the subtractive plaster sculpture class, despite being SO SORE the next day from all of the labor! PHEW! Here are some images of us hard at work, and our abstract sculptures, in progress.

Me, and my block.

A form being born!

Organic carving at it's best!

Matisse and Music

Concert decoration was in full swing here at our middle school. In our club, this year, we decided to focus on Matisse, since there was a huge retrospective right here in Manhattan at the MOMA. After taking a field trip to view the famous cut outs, we chose a famous Matisse to seek inspiration from. Students spent hours and hours (and hours) transferring drawings, painting them and hanging them in time to serve as the backdrop for our school's choral, band, and orchestral concerts. Our club members learned an invaluable amount about art history, collage, mural and public artwork as well as getting hands on experience in time management!

Visiting MOMA for research!

our finished product!

lots and lots of coats!

The result was a breath-taking combination of the fine arts in our district....at their FINEST! Take a moment to enjoy the photos from our ART-EDventure!

Creating a sculpture from an unlikely source:

This year, on the SmArties blog, I am formally welcoming myself to the high school in my district. When I heard there was an opportunity to have both a high school, secondary experience and still retain my 6th and 7th grade primary and secondary positions, I jumped on it. I am now teaching

ceramics, sculpture and 3D design in addition to my work at the Middle School. This is an exciting change on both a creative and professional level, and I am honored to take it.

I was quickly faced with a question I have never had to answer....What does a teacher do with a multi-level sculpture class for the first two weeks of school??? I needed to find something that could give me a good baseline assessment of the skills present within the classroom, as well as have a strong, important message about art, structure and aesthetics. No problem, right?

I began to think about change. The change in my teaching position, the change in the level and the change, for me, from a mostly 2D lesson repertoire to a 3D set. I decided to take my own roots as a painter, and mix things up. For both the sake of my students, as well as myself. 

We all know what a stretched canvas is used for. We paint on them. We mush our brushes into spectacular colors and apply them, adding layer upon layer of glorious goop until we have something that "wows" our audience. But what if we used a canvas for something different? What if we changed its purpose? Created a new approach to making art? Suppose we used a pre -stretched canvas as a sculpture!


Sculpture students in my high school class (mixed level and grades) were asked to come up with a "Mod" pattern, the type we're seeing regain popularity in textiles and home goods. The pattern was then transferred into a template on cardboard, so it could be replicated. With great care, each student began to cut away the canvas, to expose small holes in the material. The patterns that remained were a true example of both relief sculpture AND subtractive sculpture. 

Students really responded well to the idea of patterning, and even took some existing images that they researched, and transformed them into new and improved designs.

We discussed the idea of taking an item and transferring its purpose. The class, as
a whole admitted to never thinking of using a canvas for anything but painting. This lesson worked out well for several reasons. The first being an awesome

transition (for all of us) from 2D to 3D. The second being a fantastic way to assess my new students in a practical, and creative way (not necessarily through testing). I was really lucky to be able to get to know my students while watching them open doors for themselves to new and innovative ways to create!

Creative moments

 The other day, while my kids were cleaning up after painting, I saw a group congregating by the sink. They were making all sorts of noises, and in my experience a crowd of 12 year olds by a sink can't be good news. As I went over, prepared to reprimand them, I saw this:

Probably the coolest thing I have ever seen....and a testament to the fact that they were surely learning to appreciate aesthetics and experiment with a variety of media. I declare a teaching victory!

eye see you.....

 Painting is my favorite. Teaching painting puts a twinkle in my eye. It is special to be able to share your passion with anyone, let alone, 100+ pre-teens. The biggest issue with teaching painting to 12 year old children, is having them create something that can hold their interest for the duration (3-5 weeks) of the project. In the past I had taught pop art, pointillism, portraits, symbols, graffiti, and I was at a loss for something fresh and new. I started goggling images, looking at trees, and flowers and all the "norm" for painting projects. Then I stumbled upon a close up of a lizard's eye. Perfect! Simple geometric and organic shapes, and a dynamic composition. I gave the project a twist, asking the children to creat "fantastic" animals. We talked about what "fantastic" meant....not great, but from a fantasy. We looked at creatures from dragons to Harry Potter and Narnia. We discussed "fiction" and "surrealism". The kid's were hooked! "Mrs. Rummenie, can I make a dragon?" "NO!", I replied. Not quite fantastic in my opinion. I offered the children books, and web searches and packets I photocopied of all different animals....geckos, zebras, humans, fish, cheetah. I asked that the kids create a new "species" of animal or beast for their work. Something that lived only in their imaginations. The end sketches and paintings were truly fantastic....as in great:

We used tempera paint, and the kids got to choose from 7 color schemes....analogous, complementary, split complementary, triadic, warm, cool, or monochromatic. They were allowed to add neutrals as well. I listed the color schemes with a description of each on the board, and a few color wheels. The children were constantly referring to them, which strengthened their ability to pull information from a chart. They were able to pick a painterly or tight style, and because of the choice, felt really good about painting. One of the things I always set as a goal for myself, is to help each student feel good about what they can create. I think that at the middle school, offering choices and chances for individuality accomplish this in ways nothing else can. The kids who have issues with fine motor skills might be really successful at a loose style of painting, while meticulous students thrive with hard-edged work. I love hearing the kid's talk about the differences in their peers work. Inevitably, they love the opposite of what they had made. It is awe inspiring to see them offer each other complements and praise. Some of the children had difficulty delving into the realm of fantasy. I never forced them to comply with my imagination, and I am glad that I bent on the issue. Some of the more realistic work was extremely strong, and allowing the lieniency in subject matter definately helped with keeping each child on task. We finished them with Mod Podge for a glossy, oil-like finish. My seventh graders were thrilled. I am certain they had no idea they were capable of such FANTASTIC work ;)

Spring is here! Wet your plants...

As the end of the year approaches, I, along with my colleague and friend, Lynn are charged with decorating the stage for the spring music performances. This year we've taken a traditional approach, but the kids in concert decoration club were intent on blasting out of the realm of two dimensional painting and into the three dimensional world of sculpture. This was extremely convenient, since the five canvas panels we usually paint had cracked with layered paint to the point of no return. We brainstormed with the children, mostly about practicality. How would we make 3D decorations? What problems might arise? What will we make them out of?

I particularly enjoy advising concert decoration club. I get to watch kids think. Really think. They think about creation, not just what color comes next, or what step they are up to, like in the classroom. We decided together, that these flowers needed to be light, so the kids took a club period to research ideas for paper sculpture on Pinterest. They printed several ideas from various blogs and project based sites. They decided on a rolled paper sculpture. The site they originally visited had the instructions for a small wreath. Challenge accepted!

Students began by rolling a myriad of paper cones of all different sizes. We decided to back these on heavy corrugated cardboard in order to provide stability. We walked to CVS and asked for some old hanging signs, to use as this material and they were more than happy to oblige. Students then hot glued each of the cones in a circular, random pattern. We wanted an organic look, so the random pattern worked well. Flowers made with a more regular pattern came out mechanical looking.

 After creating a variety of flowers (and running out of room to store them) we began to think about color. The logical answer was spray paint. We sprayed each flower with two or three colors, at a great distance, which created a tie dye effect.

For the centers, we added crumbled tissue. Next, we had to hang them....We tried wire, and they fell. We tried more wire, and they fell once again. Finally we added some t-pins to the mix and were successful! We got an awful lot of complements on these, and the kids felt super successful. There is something to be said for making artwork intended for community enjoyment.

Creativity Quiz!

Spring has sprung! The air is light, the flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, and the substitutes are being booked. If you are a teacher like myself, spring is a huge jumble of deadlines, art shows, and meetings. Many of these require absences from the classroom, and the problem of meaningful, yet simple, one day projects begins to eat at you. What could possibly be beneficial in art that realistically takes ONE DAY?!? My answer is...anything that fosters creativity.
We are stuck in the middle of an educational era fixated on standardized tests, when in fact, our children's success depends on their ability to solve issues in a unique manor. Nothing that forces children to think outside of the box is frivolous. Creativity is a life skill.

I was thinking of ways to get my students thinking creatively, in one class period. Of course there is writing, and there is sketching, and there are puzzles. All very inside of the box answers to a very outside of the box issue. So, I began to use my noodle. I was looking around on my desk, and saw my stapler. Now, normally a stapler would not serve as a trigger for such an exercise, however I happened to have purchased funny eyeball stickers one year. Being a woman who enjoys humor, i decorated almost every inanimate object in my room with them. So, there was my stapler, staring back at me (with angry eyes, no less). I thought the kids might like to change the stapler, to morph it into something or someone else, so I quickly ran down to the copy machine and put my angry stapler under the cover. ( I wish you could have seen the look on the ELA teacher's face, as she waited to use the machine next.) The only instructions I left were to use colored pencils to build a drawing using the stapler, a found object. I also asked that they not label anything they drew, to provide enough details, so that words were unnecessary. I suppose in the future I might leave an article on Surrealism, and ask for an artist's statement or creative story to go along with the activity.

I'm pretty happy with the results. I have to admit, I chuckled out loud on a few occasions, which I consider a major plus. Nothing is worse than grading 150 drawings of the same exact thing. I am already thinking of our next morph! A spatula? A whisk? A remote control? Hmmmm......I'll be back, my creative juices are running wild. :)