Expanding Thoughts

Metaphoric Self-Portrait

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Artist Statement

My metaphoric self-portrait is based on the idea of the universe. This is done because it also relates to my art philosophy. The idea of using the universe came about from always furthering our knowledge as teachers. We need to be up to date on artists, movements, styles, methodology, and materials. This relates to the scientific theory that the universe is expanding, well at least our knowledge about the universe is still expanding. The images in the foreground also relate back to my teaching philosophy and who I want to be as a teacher. The male figure represents all of my students he is looking into a galaxy, and the information that he is seeing is being produced on the left side of the image. These are images from art history both western and non-western cultures are being represented. Global art images are used because I believe that through art we can create a global community by interoperating and understanding the art of other cultures. This is visually who I am and who I want to be as a teacher.

My BrainstormClick on the image to see an enlarged view.
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SketchesClick on image to see an enlarged view.Click on image to see an enlarged view.

Nathan Detroit: Art as History, History as Art

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Metaphoric Self-Portrait

I’m a strong proponent of the idea that in order to know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been. History has always been my favorite subject in school, and I believe in a strong relationship between the production and history of art.

My metaphoric self-portrait reflects this as the gallery at the bottom represents the contemporary art culture, while the books and ivy represent history. I have chosen a few of my favorite artists to act as “ghosts” of the art past: Jean Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Auguste Rodin. Historically speaking, these four artists have played the most important role in my development as an artist, and I wish to share their history with others. The blue figure has always been a representation of myself in my artwork. His brain is exposed to the viewer, presenting the idea that the knowledge contained inside is accessible, as it will be to my students. The Warhol Banana halo represents my idea that studying Pop Art provides the best training and preparation for contemporary artists to reflect on the society in which they live.

My Kid Pix Sketches

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My Brainstorm Ideas

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Untouched

Metaphoric Self-Portrait

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Statement: The Untouchable

One of the most important factors in the portrait is the abundant connection to nature. Nature is the original art form, always in change. This is why there is snow, ice, rocks, leaves, sun, grass, sand, and fire incorporated into the portrait. These items are free to design themselves; artists can manipulate nature but cannot create it. This will be the message to the student’s; no matter what type of art they might produce, the reference comes back to nature. Nature is ever-changing, unique, and original. Also included in the portrait are some of my ceramic works. It is important to express to student’s what I have achieved, and incorporate that as an example of what I see in nature in my own works. In addition, the setting in which the portrait takes place, is a place of comfort. A true sense of security is what a classroom should demonstrate. Student’s can learn so much from nature and the environment around them, in a comfortable setting where we are a community.

My Brainstorming Ideas

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My Sketches

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Admiral Ahu and the Airship Astounding: Art as Adventure

Metaphoric Self-Portrait

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Statement: Art Education as Adventure

More than any other subject area, art education is an adventure into the fantastic. In today’s highly structured and concrete educational system, learning is frequently a bleak and passive experience where students are not given the freedom to think outside the limits of a standardized test. However, once they travel from their cold gray world to the vibrant sphere of the arts, everything changes. Suddenly, learners are encouraged to imagine, to create, and to consider realities outside of their own. Like sailors of old seeing mermaids in sea cows, it instills a sense of wonder in the world, the ability to suspend belief and truly feel that anything is possible. An luminous airship that takes us to legendary places existing only in our imaginations - where mythical beasts run free, a giant pufferfish acts as a balloon, and Ganesha is your co-pilot – the art classroom is a vessel of discovery. The thrill of innovation, the joy of charting the uncharted – this is what drives us to learn, experience, and grow.

Brainstorming

Concealing to Revealing

Metaphoric Self-Portrait

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Metaphoric Self-Portrait Statement

This metaphoric self-portrait is meant to be a reflection of my thoughts on art and, more precisely, art education. The basic idea is that art for me is an expression my feelings and thoughts, the bare roots of who I really am as an individual. This is represented by the naked crouching figures with the skeletons inside of them. The naked figures crouch as if they are hiding something, something deep inside and very important to them, the skeletal roots that make them who they are. The circle and sign in the middle of the portrait represent school and art education. Art classes sometimes have tight parameters and seem limiting and constricting, but when one is willing to work within certain restrictions and learn the methods taught there, the sky becomes the limit for the art they will be able create. The muscle sculptures thus represent the artistic strength one will gain after completing school. No longer crouched and concealing like the foreground figures, the muscle figures are not afraid to express to anyone who and what they are under the skin. This statement holds true for an artist as well.

Sketches

Brainstorm

Metaphoric Self-Portrait Brainstorming

Initially, both of my ideas were stuck on incorporating music into the work. Whenever I do art I have to be listening to music, my ideas just flow better and I'm more patient when I have music playing. However, after sitting down and thinking for some time, I decided that although music is very helpful to have around when I am create art, it didn't really deal with my thoughts on art education and development as an artist (unless one's a musician obviously!). Instead, the final portrait only included elements which dealt with my philosophies about the role school and teaching plays in the development of an artist. I decided to go with the more organic background from the second brainstorm idea, due to the fact that the earth is what has created us, and more importantly has given to us our organic nature. In my opinion, this organic nature is what drives us to be creative and artistic as we continuously attempt to adapt to and then manipulate our surroundings, leaving our footprints as we go. It thus seems not only appropriate, but actually necessary to use the organic background upon which the rest of the portrait sits.

The Way of Art

Metaphoric Self-portrait

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Metaphoric Self-portrait Artist Statement

Children need scaffolding and ways to reach higher levels of learning. Art education is the perfect platform for this process. Building on the knowledge through sequential classes where students learn skills, become meaning makers and eventually achieve a sense of self is represented by the stairs of the Detroit Institute of Arts. The higher one gets in the museum the higher the cognition is required.

Art Education has the unique ability to consistently make connections for their students. This aids students in achieving through critical thinking and problem solving and broadens their scope of possibilities. By providing students a base, represented by the tree of knowledge, students will see that there are many choices. After the age of 12, students prune their trees' to make a sense of self and develop to the next level. Making art a necessary tool since one creates oneself.

In order for this to happen Art Educators have to foster kindness and support in a safe and peaceful environment for students. Art Education needs to help our students become not only skillful and critical thinkers but visually literate of other cultures and the global community we live in today.

Brainstorming

Sketches

Journey

Metaphoric Self-portrait

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Metaphoric Self-Portrait: Artist’s Statement

A Journey (expedition, excursion, tour, trek, voyage, cruise, ride, drive, jaunt, crossing, passage, flight; travels, wandering, odyssey, pilgrimage) ...
A journey is movement from one place to another traveling to a world of the unknown. A journey requires risk. A journey calls us out from our comfort zones. The creation of art calls us to say what we cannot say or experience in any other way. It requires some much of who we are and what we have experienced.
Each journey is diverse in experience. Individually or collaboratively traveling one distance to another, guided by the information a map gives. An art classroom is a space in which individual journeys collide into a collaborative experience. Within an art classroom the map is the teacher and the information shared is the foundation for the journey’s direction. Each student’s journey is different because of the diverse knowledge and life experiences received. The exploration of a new journey takes into consideration previous journeys. An art teacher encourages the reflection of self and environment. As well as personal reflection, the art classroom must foster the investigation of other famous artists’ journeys.

Ideas


Sketches

Art Quilt

Metaphoric Self-portrait

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Artist Statement

Art is like a quilt that is made with patches of culture, people, experiences and nature. As artists, everything we create is formed from an impression of something we did or saw in our past. As we go through life we are building our collection of “patches”. When we enter the art classroom we are putting together the patches we have collected over the years through our experiences with nature, people and culture to create a beautiful quilt for everyone to see. In the art classroom we can work together and draw from each other's experiences in order to build upon our quilt. At the end of the day the art classroom should be a place where students can build display their unique and beautiful quilts for everyone to see!

Brain Storming

Rough Drafts

Bridge

Metaphoric Self-Portrait

Statement

Bridges serve many purposes; one in particular, is to connect people and places. Bridges promote integration and interaction among people. Educators function in a similar way: to connect students’ daily lives to the process of teaching and learning that takes place in the classroom. When educators authentically integrate students’ experiences into the classroom, it automatically gives students a voice. Students are empowered through the acknowledgement of their knowledge gained from their lived experiences. The benefit of respecting and incorporating students’ knowledge into the classroom is that it builds community and trust. In addition, the inclusion of students’ knowledge and experiences brings life to the curriculum.

Similar to the role of a bridge, to connect people from one place to the other, connections should be made both to and from the classroom. Connections should be made between students’ lives outside of school and the classroom, and between the classroom and the outside world. In order to effectively connect the classroom to the outside world, students need to understand all types of knowledge. Essentially, while incorporating the students’ personal knowledge and experiences in the classroom, teachers should help students reach beyond their own cultural boundaries.

Brainstorm 1

Brainstorm 2

Sketch 1

Sketch 2

Space Designer

Art Teacher as a Space

When looking at a work of art, for a moment you are able to experience another type of space: a new range of colors, different shapes, or an inspiring line of thought. These spaces become experiences that can ask us to question, provoke curiosity, and tell a story. As an art educator we become a sort of space ourselves. When students walk into the classroom they are being exposed to a wide range of not just visual images, but to thoughts, feelings, and different ways of seeing. Although we often attribute these individual experiences to the artists, artworks, readings, or other students: ultimately it is the teacher providing the experience as a whole. The teacher chooses where to take his or her students, what to expose them to, how to present material, and how to link it all together. A classroom is not just a physical space, but a metal space and an experience built by the teacher. A teacher can be like stunning room where students are drawn into and inspired to explore.

Brainstorming and Sketches:

Conductor

Metaphoric Self-Portrait

Artist Statement

Art education is like a composition being played by a symphony orchestra. All the sounds of an orchestra come together at the direction of a conductor, who is like a teacher. The musicians practice and learn to play their instruments in the same way art students practice and learn techniques. With practice comes the ability to intrinsically develop a style of playing an instrument that conveys the emotion of the sound. The same intrinsic values can be found when art students can demonstrate the aesthetics of their work and the message it conveys.

This collage uses instruments to represent the orchestra. The energy of the piece is found at the center with the sense of movement given by the conductor. From that energy is an explosion of art that is expressed in the swirling of notes through Picasso’s Guernica and continuing up through the composition. The flowing of the musical staffs can be followed through some artworks that were considered both revolutionary and sometimes abrasive in their unveiling. However, art students and musicians alike can find through the process of practice and learning aesthetics, a thoughtful composition can be made.

KidSpiration Brainstorming Idea




KidPix Sketch

Alternative Ideas from KidSpiration and KidPix