Reflections on NAEA Convention: Classes

As part of my convention experience, I decided to try two classes for a small fee. Overall I had a good experience. My first choice was a class on Sumi-e Painting. Although it was a challenge to teach this technique in one class, I did learn a lot, and was given lots opportunity to practice. Here are some of my attempts at various subject matter. I know, I know, I need practice! But I do think I would be better equipped to give a lesson to the kids having had this experience.

The second class I chose was Creating with Beautiful Stuff. It was based on a book by the same name. This is something I have already done with my students in various ways and thought I might get a bit more insight by taking the class. I was mistaken, but I did take this class with a friend, and did have a good experience overall. Below you can see some works in progress, my abstract collage, and a beautiful figurine created by my friend and fellow teacher Paula.

Louise Nevelson Assemblage

One of my favorite artists is Louise Nevelson, so I decided to try a lesson using recycled materials to create Nevelson inspired assemblages. We talked about the artist's use of discarded materials and giving them a new life. Our pieces started with a 12x12 inch piece of corrugated cardboard as a base. We then took paper egg cartons, cardboard paper tubes, popsicle sticks, and extra pieces of corrugated cardboard to create our forms. I suggested repetition of elements, variation of texture, and utilizing as much of the space as possible. We generously glued our pieces onto the supporting structure. When dry, each student chose a single acrylic color to paint their pieces, trying to cover all of the viewable areas. Although the materials used for construction were practically free, these did require a lot of paint to get good coverage. So worth it though!