‘Room 13’ art studio in Fort William, Scotland, was set up by a group of young artists in 1994. They ran the studio as a business, with a dedicated studio bank account and elected office bearers. They began this venture in an empty, disused space located within their primary school and this was the beginning of their journey of expression through art.
This project provided me with many ideas that I could use to engage my future pupils for them to express their creativity. Room 13 is entirely pupil-led and enables them with the freedom to create whatever they want to without any input from a teacher. This is important as children must have the opportunity to be creative and express themselves.
“the training that Room 13 provides motivates individuals and develops their creativity in a way that outstrips anything that schools, or even art colleges, can currently offer” (Gibb C, 2012).
References
Gibb, C. (2012) Room 13: The movement and international network. International Journal of Art & Design Education. Vol.31 (3), pp.237–244.
Creative skills developed through the arts are critical in allowing for a creative process. This module enabled us to experience this by taking into account the questions prompted by the Rod Taylor model of assessment. This model is used to describe diverse pieces of artwork.
This mood and creative process provided an opportunity to evaluate the artwork, not just on first appearances, but consider aspects such as process and mood together with the ability to engage the imagination in order to explore new prospects (Eisner, 2002).
Below is the image I was provided with and beneath that is the evaluation sheet I followed.
I believe that this woman conveys the emotion of happiness and has confidence within herself. Although, her hair is dark her facial features are bright and colourful suggesting she has great confidence to wear such bright colours. Also, the bright yellow circle in the middle of her chest, to me, conveys the emotion of happiness within her heart. The colour yellow creates the impression of sunshine and joyful thoughts. From following Rod Taylor’s model of assessment, it provides us with the chance to evaluate this piece of artwork, and look beyond the picture and instead consider the emotion or story within it.
Print Making
Printmaking is an activity which many teachers avoid due to the ‘mess’ that can occur. However, it is a fun and engaging way of teaching children a new skill.
The class as a whole were given the same stimulus, a painting of an old Glasgow townhouse. The painting was extremely detailed, in every window of the house there was a story behind it. the idea was to focus on a particular part of the house for our print instead of the image as a whole. The painting is known as “Windows in the West” and was created by Glaswegian Avril Paton. The video below is Avril explaining more about her painting and how the inspiration for the painting arose.
At first, we used polystyrene boards and carefully sketched an outline of our chosen area of the painting using a ball-point pen. Children may find this difficult as if they make a mistake they can not rub it out but must continue on with their piece of artwork. This teaches children that in life everything can not be perfect but we can still make something beautiful out of it. The polystyrene board became our print template which we covered in paint to create our final print. This task highlighted the importance of creativity, and that just because several people will have a print that may have different colours from you or look different does not mean theirs is right and yours is wrong.
During the session, we were fortunate enough to be joined by guest speaker Isobel Laird who works for South Lanarkshire Council. Isobel brought with her several pieces of children’s artwork to show us from various age groups in primary schools. We then as a year group discussed each image in depth to see what everyone took from the picture. After all, art is a way of expressing our individual creativity, therefore, one person might take a very different vibe/meaning from the piece of artwork than their peers and that’s ok. Furthermore, Isobel discussed why art and design are critical within the Curriculum for Excellence.
Encouragement of representation and ones’ ability to express their personal creativity is an essential part of a child’s mental growth, as discussed by Duffy (2006) as playing a pivotal role in cognitive development. Furthermore, Duffy states that “it is through symbolic representation that children acquire the facility for abstract thought.” (Duffy, 2006, p.10)
The practical aspect of this session was implemented by Isobel. She explained to us what we were to do in a step by step formation. This means that a stimulus or idea was provided and we used our own creativity to create a piece of artwork. This step by step formation, I believe is an excellent way of relaying instructions to children as they are provided with clear, simple instructions instead of a vast amount of information in one go. Also, this type of relaying information to the children allows for less ‘copying’ of the teacher and more room for allowing for a creative process and the development of the individual learner.
The whole class was given the same materials and we had a variety of watercolours and acrylic paint to complete our artwork. This lesson was valuable for us as future teachers, as we all felt that it provided us with great insight into how we can engage pupils during art while allowing for them to express themselves creatively.
Continuous Line Drawing In Order To Create A Washing Line
The Paint We Used To Fill In Our Washing Lines
After completing our washing lines, we were then each given a picture of a wall to use as a stimulus. All of the pictures which were given were different, some were red, some were black and white and some were wooden which reinforced the importance of all of our images being completely different based on our own personal creativity. The class was very engaged throughout this task and focused on making their own wall ‘just right’. This highlighted to me to fear some children may feel when it comes to art and design.
When children do not fully engage with the Arts due to the fear of making mistakes and being ridiculed, further barriers can be created which the teacher must address. According to McAuliffe (2007, p.27), “as children become more aware of others’ art they can be particularly self-conscious about their work and their own ability in art and design.” This, therefore, makes it essential that teachers have a high level of confidence in both the child’s ability and their own with reference to the subject area of Expressive Arts. When a teacher has confidence in their own art knowledge and abilities, it will ensure that the children will receive a more satisfactory means of support.
My Own Wall Using A Stimulus
We then created a collage by combining our washing line, wall and another piece of paper which we used watercolours to cover in order to make a background. We were not given any instructions when it came to completing our background. This allowed for us to use our creativity to produce an expressive piece. It was interesting to witness how many people went with the classic ‘rainbow’ look or simple vertical stripes for their background. This may have come from many years at primary school being told that that was looked the nicest. This lesson was very useful as it was delivered through a child learner approach which enabled us to understand the art class from a child’s perspective.
Background
My Finished Piece Of Artwork
References
Duffy, B. (2006) Supporting Creativity and Imagination in the Early Years. United Kingdom: Open University Press.
McAuliffe, D. (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In: Cox, S., Watts, R., Grahame, J., Herne, S. & McAuliffe, D. (2007) Teaching Art and Design 3-11. London: Continuum.
In today’s society, especially within the classroom, it is essential to use stimulus for inspiration, for creativity and to ensure a child-centred approach.
The challenge that teachers face nowadays, is that children are more interested in the content contained in their phones instead of their surroundings. It is crucially important that when teaching children art, we use a living artist, as well as known artists from centuries before, as a stimulus to ensure that the teaching points are relevant to the children. This aspect is important as the Curriculum for Excellence ensures that every teaching point is relatable to the children and leave a meaningful experience.
‘the underlying assumption is that all works of art can be approached from each of the following four perspectives: Form; Content; Process; Mood.’ (Rod Taylor)
Having received information on the importance of using a stimulus while teaching art, we then proceeded to create our own expression of an image that was only verbally described to us. Using the Rod Taylor model of assessment allowed us to evaluate the artwork, not just on first appearances, but consider aspects such as process and mood together with the ability to engage the imagination in order to explore new prospects (Eisner, 2002).
I believe that children will find this particular activity engaging and will help them to develop their own creativity. By having the children complete a practical task such as this, it is an efficient method of teaching art. As stated by Abrahams and Millar (2009): “many say that they believe it leads to better learning: we are more likely to understand and remember things we have done than things we have just been told.”
Below are some pictures that were taken during myself and fellow students undertaking this task. As you can see, we were not allowed ‘typical’ paint brushes, instead, we used hand-made ones from sticks, cotton wool, thread and many other objects used to convey the different textures that can be created using various drawing instruments. This aspect also adhered to every person’s painting being unique.
This was the paint brush I used to create my painting. It was created by wrapping felt around a stick and securing it with a piece of thread.
The piece of paper which I used as a mixing station in order to create a variety of colours.
The beginningThis was my final product.
This is an image of a fellow student’s painting. As you can see, having received the same description the outcome and final image is very different as we used our own creativity and imagination.
If you ask many people, including myself, if they can draw they will automatically say no. However in today’s workshop, I learned that you do not have to be exceptional at drawing or be able to draw a clear object to be able to draw. In fact, by making a simple mark or dot on a piece of paper you have started a fantastic expression through drawing.
Throughout today, I learned that ‘arts integration is an approach to teaching in which students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form. Students engage in a creative process which connects an art form and another subject area and meets evolving objectives in both.’ (Lynne B. Silverstein and Sean Layne, 2010).
During the workshop, Diarmuid reinforced how significant a child making a simple dot on a piece of paper can be. It is the starting point to something creative, and as the child adds to that one dot a picture starts to form. A drawing does not have to consist of lines or scribbles.
We watched a short presentation on the book, ‘The Dot’ by Peter H.Reynolds. The Dot is a picture book about a girl named Vashti who thinks she can’t draw. However, with a little encouragement from her teacher and self-belief, Vashti is able to create a piece of artwork which she is proud of and the lesson of everyone can draw is instilled in her which she can then pass on to younger children. Below is a clip of the book being read aloud.
Below is a variety of pictures showcasing that small simple marks can be interpreted into objects, animals and many other things. For this task, we were given a large piece of paper, black paint and a paint roller. The aim of this task was to use our hands to create a drawing or expression using different parts of our hand. The key aspect of learning was to realize that no two drawings would be the same, as by using different parts of my hand it made the drawing unique.
References
‘Defining Arts Integration’ by Lynne B. Silverstein and Sean Layne 2010, The John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts.
It is essential that as a teacher we ‘interact with individual children who are finding their own identity, their own means of understanding and communicating and their own powers of creativity’. (McAuliffe, D 2007).
Today was our first insight into the module and we spent some time going over what we were to expect from the module and the different areas that we will be covering. The following passage gives a summary of the module and details how important integrated arts in education is for a child.
This module will provide time to allow immersion in each of the four arts areas (visual arts, music, drama and dance) as well as provide an overview of the concepts, principles, and theoretical perspectives that underpin the expressive arts in education. It will examine a range of practices labeled as ‘interdisciplinary’, ‘arts-infused’, ‘cross-disciplinary’ and ‘arts-based’ and examines its implications for the school environment and arts practice.
In general this module will give expression to our understanding of the role of the arts in education and will adopt a critical pedagogical approach to its application. Through this integrated arts module learners intellectual, personal and social development will be enhanced. Learners will also be provided with opportunities to experience group and partnership working in variety of expressive arts areas.
In today’s workshop with Diarmuid, we studied numerous paintings and drawings from a wide range of age groups and also, we discussed the importance of a child’s expression through the different art forms. Some of the drawings were done in paint, chalk, pencil and some even made up of entirely tissue paper to create texture. We compared the different paintings from different age groups, which varied from age 3 up till age 11. Diarmuid then proceeded to ask us which age group we found to be the best and most effective in a child’s learning and creative expression.
I chose the youngest stage which ranged between 3 and 6 years old. I chose this stage as I found it to be very significant in a child’s way of expressing themselves as at this point in their development they may not be able to read and write. Their drawings were more markings using colour, but to them, the drawing meant a great deal to them and contained a story which they used their imagination and creativity to portray onto the paper for us as teachers to enjoy. One aspect of an arts lesson which a child can control is the choice of paper they draw or paint on. Giving a child a large A3 piece of paper allows them to have lots of space to explode their inner feelings and creativity onto, also this means that they do not feel restricted to a small area. This can be further development by allowing the children to use the colour of paper they wanted, as if the paintings were completed on white paper they would not have had the same effect or be as bold.
Something which I observed was that when we carried on going up the age range, the drawings and paintings become more careful and similar. Instead of it being an expression of their creativity and imagination, it became more of a manufactured piece of work that every other child had produced. this is probably due to the teacher presenting the child with a model or object to simply copy instead of producing their own interpretation of it. I found that these painting lacked any personal story or meaning to them because the expression did not come from the child but instead what the teacher wanted them to achieve.
Below are some photographs of the pictures we studied at various levels.
Another expression of colour through the use of various paint colours and a black paper background.In this painting, a young child has drawn what seems to be their own personal teddy bear. The child has used small paint strokes to give the bear a fluffy effect for its fur.In this drawing, a young child has drawn herself and her mother through her eyes. By the characteristics of the human figure this child understands all of the features that a human has, however, not all are drawn “correctly”.
References
McAuliffe, D (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In Teaching Art and Design 3-11 (Edited by Sue Cox, Robert Watts, Judy Grahame, Steve Herne and Diarmuid McAuliffe) London: Continuum.
Fleming, M. (2012) The arts in education: An introduction to aesthetics, theory and pedagogy. London, United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.
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