Thank you for visiting Art is Messy! Here you will find art lesson plan ideas, listings of online art-related resources, student work, as well as ramblings about being an art teacher in China. For any questions, comments or suggestions email ksajan@yahoo.com
My Art2 kids just finished their first assignment! I decided to start the year off with a paper relief project. Using only white drawing paper, scissors, blades and glue students were asked to create an abstract paper relief that represents their personal style of working on an assignment or coming up with an idea. You may click here to see their amazing work.
My graphic design students have just finished their project of the year. They did an AMAZING job!
We began the year by creating CD jackets. You can view the process that they followed, as well as the forms and rubrics that they used for this lesson by visiting the CD section of our class website. Be sure to check out the CD gallery to see their incredible CD Jacket designs.
It’s been a REALLY long time since I have posted to this site. I found out in January that I would be transferring up to the high school to teach Art 2, Graphic Design and Yearbook. Because I am a perfectionist, I have spent most of the time that I would normally use posting to this site, doing research for my classes.
Speaking of research, here’s a nice site that I came across while working on a project for my design class. It lists many of the major artists and movements that have influenced design starting from 1450. It a great quick resource for artist names and design styles.
My fifth graders completed their Doodle Box projects a few weeks ago. The project had mixed reviews. Two of my classes loved it, my third felt kind of luke warm about it. It’s amazing how the difference really showed up in their work!
Overall, the kids had a fun time using their imaginations to turn an ordinary box into something unexpected. My students had great difficulty, excuse the bad pun, thinking out of the box. (Yes, I really did say that.) Once they began the think creatively, their projects took off!
This post, and the ones that follow it, are a long time coming. I have finally decided to listen to my husband’s advice and not worry so much about preparing for my new high school classes so far in advance. This break from preparations has given me time to work on other fun things, like this blog!
So here we go…..
My first graders have been working so hard on the project below. For this project students looked at patterned still life images by Matisse. They then took a piece of cardboard and used acrylic paint to create their own patterned backgrounds. After, they used Crayola’s Model Magic to create flowers, leaves, bugs, stems and of course a vase. Finally they used a combination of tempera cakes and water colors to paint their three dimensional forms. The hardest part for them was to cover the white spaces. We talked a lot about how sometimes when you view art from the top, bottom and sides, you might notice something that you didn’t see while working on the front. For the finishing touches, a piece of yarn was hot glued to the back so that it could easily hang.
I found out a few weeks ago that my transfer request to move up to the high school has been approved! I will be teaching Graphic Design, Yearbook and what other courses the current teachers in the department decide to give me. I’m hoping for a Foundations class. The best part about it is that I will be working along side some amazing teachers, one of them being my husband!
Since then I have been scouring the internet looking at graphic design related resources, creating lessons, and designing my class website. (Yes I do realize that I am planning for my classes 6 months in advance. I just like to be prepared.) So if you know of any good sites related to design, yearbook, or high school studio art, send them my way. Once my website comes together a bit more, I will share all the resources I have been finding.
Andrew Mundi has put together an *amazing* site about the Principles of Graphic Design. This site is definitely one to add to your bookmarks!!!
Over the years, many people have asked me how they can go about becoming an overseas teacher. I figured it is about time I write a post about it!
My husband and I were completely clueless before we got this job. We always thought that if we wanted to live overseas, we would have to teach English. Shortly after I started teaching a friend of ours found a job teaching art in Taipei and introduced us to the world over overseas teaching. I am so thankful he did! Thanks Ces!
In order to teach overseas you must first sign up with a recruiting agency. The major ones are Search Associates, International School Services, and the European Council of International Schools. These three agencies have job fairs all over the world. They are usually in Cambridge, Mass., San Francisco, and Bangkok, among other ones. My husband and I found our job through Search Associates. We attended the Cambridge fair. The University of Northern Iowa also has a job fair. I think they were one of the first ones to hold fairs in the US, but don’t quote me on that.
Now be wary, not all schools are the same. There are tier 1 schools, that are the most well established, and lower tier ones, that can be a bit sketchy. In order to learn more about these schools you can read more about them on International Schools Review.com. Now, take this site with a grain of salt. There are many negative comments about good schools, posted by disgruntled teachers.
The amount of money that you can save overseas varies from country to country. Generally, it is hard to save money while working at the European schools (with the exception of some Eastern European ones), and easier at the schools in Asia. Overseas teachers can save anywhere from a few thousand dollars a year to $20,000 or more. Many schools also provide housing and medical benefits. The best part is, the first $85,000 you make overseas is tax free!
Unfortunately, I am only back in the States for a very brief period. If I had the luxury of time, I would definitely head down to DC to see the National Portraits Gallery’s show Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture.
The prologue of the show reads as such….“This is the first Major museum exhibition to focus on sexual difference in the making of modern American portraiture. “Hide/Seek” considers such themes as the role of sexual difference in depicting modern America; how artists explored the fluidity of sexuality and gender; how major themes in modern art—especially abstraction—were influenced by social marginalization; and how art reflected society’s evolving and changing attitudes towards sexuality, desire and romantic attachment.”
I applaud the museum for curating a show such as this, but am really disappointed to learn that they caved into pressure and removed David Wojnarowicz’s controversial video. Why does art have to please everyone?
