"A Light in the Desert of the Unknown"

Statement

A lantern is a guiding light at night held by the operator to light their path and help them avoid obstacles.  I knew for this piece that I didn’t want the lantern to be the focal point, but rather something you had to look for but once you found it, it would be there to guide you.  I chose to use a rather desolate landscape which many students may view the school year as.  I chose to use this mechanical robot as a metaphor of the overbearing pressures on students and teachers alike from outside the classroom.  

Brainstorming

Sketching

“Exploration, Travel, & Discovery” - Seth Weddle

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Seth Weddle - Artist Statement

“Exploration, Travel, & Discovery”

I am continually fascinated by the ocean and the skies, and anything that may exist in it. I have always enjoyed the idea of old boats, and I find myself going nuts over hot air balloons. I wanted to create a piece of art that would give a feeling of discovery, exploration, and adventure. The contrast between the earth and the sky tells the story perfectly: What does the term “teaching” mean to me?

The concept of teaching gives me a sense of determination and adventure. I imagine myself traveling long distances to achieve goals, exploring new territories along the way. It’s hard to keep my idea of teaching to a limited idea or word, so I play with the idea of a story, as it can contain an entire collection of concepts. Teaching is invention: old, modern, and future. Teaching is soaring through the skies and all over the earth. Teaching is discovering new places. Teaching is, like art, a process where the progression and evolution are just as important as the final product.

If I find myself stuck on a particular artwork, I try and explore different ways of expressing the ideas at hand. If I cannot paint an idea, I’ll write about it, or play music based around it. I knew that, to achieve this feeling of travel and a sense of discovery, I should use narrative devices and attempt to attain an almost cinematic-feel. I found myself stuck, and so I began to write…

We’ve toiled and soiled for ages

To conquer the land and the sea

And these clouds were designed

With me solely in mind

To build castles from Make-Believe.

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Brainstorms

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Sketches

Guardian of Knowledge

Art Statement

As a teacher one is a guardian of knowledge and wisdom. It is the job of teachers to inspire and impart the wisdom that they have been entrusted with to their students and to the next generation. It is also the duty of teachers to protect their students from misinformation, so that they can continue on their path of discovery so that with each new step they have the tools to reinvent themselves and to grow as students and also as people. Because of the power that a teacher wield they must learn to temper themselves, over time through the experiences that they have lived through, allowing them to begin anew each day. Most any question can be answered by allowing for either a little more time or space, and as teachers we must learn to balance our existence in a harmonious manner so that we are able to fulfill our role as guardians, as paragons, as counselors, and as mentors.

Christian Doctor Metaphorical Self Portrait: The leader

The leader 

Metaphorical Self Portrait Statement 

“A good teacher is like a candle – it consumes itself to light the way for others.”  --Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

            When hearing the words “teacher” and “teaching” some people envision a captain, an elevator, a map, children, a magician, or, as Mustafa envisioned, a candle.  Most people, even your future students, colleagues, and administers, will envision different images, people, and notions that metaphorically represent an effective teacher and teaching philosophy.  To have an effective teaching philosophy one must understand their role and responsibility as a teacher.  “The Leader” attempts to convey a story of this understanding.  This digital collage should be view as a story.  This metaphorical self-portrait contains images of a lighthouse, boats, pollutants and the contrast of light and dark.  All of the images represent and portray a specific character in the story.  The lighthouse and light is representing a strong, knowledgeable teacher, whereas the boats represent wondering students.  The lighthouse is guiding the boats, students, away from harm and despair towards a meaningful future.  The lighthouse is responsible for the safety and future of the boats, and at times the lighthouse must withstand unbelievable pressure to maintain its role.  

Brainstorming Ideas

Sketches 

Imagination Alive

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Metaphoric Self Portrait Statement

Ihave always envisioned myself as a teacher. Throughout my life, teachers have nurtured and inspired alove and appreciation for art. Asa young impressionable student, some teachers have shown me compassion andcaring as some other teachers have not. Learning and imagination walk hand in hand with teaching. One cannot teach effectively withoutconveying some type of image that students can visualize and understand. The metaphors that I used in my selfportrait focus on the ability of a child’s imagination to literally jump offthe pages in a book. Teachers usewords in books as tools for interpreting images. From these words, we learn meaning and create our ownspecial images from personal experiences. We all bring our thoughts, pasts, memories and experience to the tableand we all learn in a communal way. I believe the old method of teaching as lecture is outdated and the wayI approach teaching is by seeing, reading, looking and most of all experiencingthe world.

Brainstorming Ideas

New Communities by Matthew Koegler

NEW COMMUNITIES: A METAPHORIC SELF

PORTRAIT

ARTIST STATEMENT

           Art is a reflection of human nature and experience. Through the exploration of art we can learn about ourselves and others. Through the exploration of art from diverse cultures students can discover different perspectives on life.

          Through art education students can symbolically travel to communities throughout history and across cultures. As students symbolical travel to these communities, gain knowledge, and perhaps even be exposed to new values, ways of looking at the world, and ways of living. With this knowledge they can live healthier lives. Art Education has the ability to teach an appreciation and tolerance of diversity.

          The art classroom is a community of learning. As a community of learning the art classroom has the ability to model collaborative decision making and teamwork. Because of the nature of art there are no hard and fast answers. Because of this fact students will develop a tolerance of differing views.

Brainstorming and Sketches

Allison Moise Metaphoric Self-Portrait of Families

Allison Moise

ARTE360

Metaphoric self Portrait

Statement

The metaphoric Self-Portrait is acollage of printed images that educators emphasize on what they interpretteaching. This self-portrait is a collage of images that represents family andparenting. As an educator, parenting was one of most enormous teachinginspiration. Growing up, parents taught children how to take care ofthemselves. For example, parents have taught their children how to cook, clean,read, talk, and walk. Without a cognitive development assisted by parents,children would not have developed at a proper level in a certain amount of time.Children would have no sense of manners or feelings towards other individual,as well as, building character. Parentshave taught children a certain level of common sense which helps studentsachieve in the future. The portrait image consists of photos of parents withchildren, working at the farm, and images of children learning. The images areused for demonstrating social, mental, and physical development towardsteaching to children.

The Deep Blue

Metaphoric Self Portrait Statement
Georgina Rutherford

My decision to become a teacher is stemmed from my faith in art. Art is integrated into every facet of modern day life from which children are the foundation. Youth today are bombarded by images and media that make advertisement hard to distinguish from fine art. It is a teacher’s job to clarify truths in a world of exaggerations and half-truths.

My self-portrait speaks of my love for art history as a medium of story telling. The ocean in this work is the most important aspect. I think of water as a symbol for teaching. It is an essence of human life and it surrounds us in a very literal way. The sea here is from a classic Turner painting that depicts water as turbulent and ominous. In water we can float, drown, swim or frolic and I get the same feeling from teaching. It is a job that comes with different results for every child. All the elements of this portrait are working together to build my presence as an art educator.

Brainstorm for Portrait

Metamorphosis by Henry Bogle

 

Metaphoric Self-Portrait by Henry Bogle

My self-portrait uses M.C. Escher’s Metamorphosis II as a background to covey the idea of the teacher as an instrument of change. I knew I wanted to use an Escher image as a backdrop, for both aesthetic and metaphoric reasons, and chose Metamorphosis II. The motif of a rose is used as a symbol that shows both the flowering of intellect and teaching as an act oflove. The wise man shows the profession as a scholarly pursuit, the dragonslayer as a foe of ignorance, and the diviner as a seeker of truth. The falling man expresses the both the challenges and exhilaration of the profession.

Aesthetically, I wanted to contrast and complement the Escher print, graphic intermediaries, and tromp l’oeil images. The whole idea of popping out conveyed in much of Escher’s work is expressed in an illusionistic matter with dropped shadows and more realistic images. I did little fading, hoping that a continuity in graphic sensibility, composition, and color wouldgive the collage a pictorial and spatial cohesion. I decided that given the busiest of the background, I would be selective in the quantity and quality of images used.

Concepts

1. Change and metamorphosis

2. Love

3. Blooming rose

4. Knight and Dragon

5. Butterflies

6. The scholar

7. Falling man

8. The deviner

9. The ship

Sketches

Digital Sojourn

Metaphoric Self-Portrait

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Statement

Several concepts emerged for this work and I found that I liked aspects from each a good deal. Ultimately I decided that this version was the strongest and decided to elaborate on the piece. I wanted to incorporate principles of design (line, direction, leading the eye) into the picture, but the underlying idea was to craft a portrait of imagination and color, of creativity and a journey through concept and creative thought. The USB devices are meant to be symbolic of "plugging in" to one's creative concepts and transferring them, as if drawing forth a portal of sorts and bringing your concept to life.

Electronic devices, such as the "flipod" (an I-Pod with wings) the USB creature, and the varied rings of color speak of digital creativity and tools of imagination. Dante Alighieri acted as a muse, of sorts, and so his portrait acts as the dreamer within the lower portion of the piece. The spectral silhouette of a female figure claiming the space directly across from him and seemingly connected to the USB plug sparks the image above. The colored rings, mirroring the pencils that weave color among the darkness of inactivity, speak to the physical act of bringing the color to light. Through education perception activates the imagination and reality can blend with fantasy. A journey takes place in drafting the vision into the an aesthetic reality on the digital page.

Brainstorming

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Sketches

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Stairway to art

Metaphoric Self-Portrait

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Statement

In art and in life, you cannot reach the top automatically; there are many steps that you must take. You have to learn through practice, and once you have the concept down, you can move on to the next step. Often times students may try and skip steps, rushing to get to a particular goal, only to realize that what they have missed along the way was important. All stairs have a destination point, whether you are going up or down. With each flight of stairs you gain on your goal, but there will always be another flight ahead. Even though there are many different staircases (and arts) students will find that they all are connected and intertwined. While one stair may be old and worn, another modern and new, they both serve the same purpose. They both act as paths to get you to the point where you want to be.

Brainstorm

Sketches

The Art Room is Like a Rich Soil

Metaphoric Self-Portrait

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Statement

Art is seen by many as less academic than other school subjects, but without art instruction we do not provide students with the necessary environment for optimal growth and change.

Art instruction, like properly prepared soil, provides conditions favorable for students’ metamorphosis. When teachers, administrators, board members, parents, citizens, and business come together to fortify the soil of a quality art program, they forge a path toward students’ self-expression.

Community support, teacher training, and funds work to support the curriculum, like the rain and sun sustain trees and flowers.

Trees and flowers prevent erosion, provide shelter and nourishment for cicadas. Cicadas, like our students, need perfect conditions to reach their full potential. Art history, art materials, and knowledge of art processes nourish the creative soul.

The art room, a rich composite soil of contributors, provides an environment that is used and consumed by our children so, like the cicadas, they may grow, develop, and transform into better versions of themselves; individuals who are eager to bring flight, song, art, and joy to our world.

Brainstorm

Sketches

The weaver

Metaphoric Self-portrait

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Artist Statement

Artists are not born artists; they are developed. Through a weaving of experiences, influences and opportunities a child’s innate natural curiosity and creative gifts can be nurtured. A good teacher can and should act as a guide through this growth process. A master teacher understands this delicate balance between support, guidance and freedom. Using their own personal experiences and expertise to structure the learning environment the art teacher weaves together history, design, materials and processes to motivate and engage their students. Like a collection of brightly colored yarn each student responds and develops in their own unique way. Through choices and exploration the students construct their own knowledge and apply new meaning in their creative expressions. It is the ultimate goal of each art teacher to enrich a child’s future through opening doors of opportunity allowing their students to explore their own paths as creative individuals.

Brainstorming and Sketches

Original Sketches

Envision the Vision

Metaphoric Self-Portrait

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Statement

Education is a journey. It takes a long time to reach to the goal or accomplishment. No matter whom the individual, learners take many different paths like a rivers current going through education. Learners search for the goals using tools like people hunt. To go through the path is not easy. Like a river, it has a number of characteristics to go from one spot to the others. Sometimes, a river current can move fast to pass through an obstacle, and at others it flows slowly and takes its time. As becoming an art teacher, students need to go through the path of education, so they need guidance to help them on there journey. Like finding a star though a telescope, a teacher assists students using various tools and techniques as well as keeps them looking ahead to seek positive life results. All of these details are shaped and developed as well as viewed from ones own cultural background.

Brainstorm

Sketches

Art as a Treasure Hunt

Metaphoric Self-Portrait

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Artist Statement

Art class is like a treasure hunt. The students are the adventurers and the teacher is the map. The map guides the adventurers to the treasure and has information and tools, like a compass rose, the adventurers can use to help them on their journey. The map does not force the adventurers to use the tools; they must choose to use these themselves. On their quest for treasure, the adventurers will encounter many different things, have many new experiences, and acquire new skills. By the end of their journey, they will have changed. They will have grown as a class and as individuals. Treasure maps do not usually reveal what the treasure is, only that there is treasure to be found. Each journey is slightly different for each student and each class. Some journeys are more difficult than others and some are more enlightening. The treasure a student finds at the end of the journey depends upon the student: that is why this treasure map ends with a question mark. The student’s effort to work and willingness to learn determine the treasure he or she finds.

Sketches

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Brainstorming

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Apple Slices

Metaphoric Self-Portrait

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Statement

As the core subject for developing creativity, art enables students to develop the originality they will use throughout their life. Art helps students analyze the multiple aspects, perspectives, and possibilities of a piece of art.

An art educator is a giving facilitator, who works with all of the students and addresses the different needs and ideas of every student in the class. Just as an apple may be sliced and put back together to become a whole, art education becomes a whole when a fusion of creativity, production, history, and evaluation occurs. To have a successful art experience the art educator must be flexible, and continue to reflect on the various outcomes of each lesson. Through high expectations the art educator pushes students so they can fulfill their creative potential.

Art education, like athletics, is also a continuing learning process that demonstrates the importance of accomplishing skills to expand on new ones. Gymnastics is the art of strength and flexibility that requires dedication. This combination of dedication through flexibility and dynamic leadership strength is vital for an art educator to ensure a successful learning experience for the students.

Brainstorming

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Sketches

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