Good art is not what it looks like, but what it does to us.
~ Roy Adzak
There is a lot that I love about casual teaching: the pay is great, the flexibility of working or not working on any given day is excellent, the students are enjoyable but mostly I love the variety.
On Friday I was called in to teach Art. I so love art and almost became an Art teacher. In fact, I was enrolled in a Bachelor of Art/Education before I changed my mind and became an English/Drama teacher. The choice was awful! I really wanted to teach English and Art but the combination was not offered, so I went with the practical choice of English/Drama thinking I would always be assured of a job as an English teacher. It was a hard decision to make. Knowing this you can begin to imagine how happy I was to spend a day in the Art classroom on Friday.
With encouragement from the head of Art to join in as the students worked I found myself drawn to a small off cut of lino. It was a little square, about 5cms x 5cms. Perfect for a little botanical, I thought, just the right size for a frog to land on. And so I sketched out a little frog. Remembering my school days and numerous incidents with slipping blades I carefully approached the task of cutting out my little shape and then mixed up my colour and printed him out.
The frog is still a work in progress. I have done the first colour and must now keep cutting away and then print the next colour over the top.
The day's activity left me feeling refreshed and inspired. I hadn't done a lino cut for a very long time and I quite like the feeling of cutting away, the smell of the lino, the pleasure of seeing an image take shape, and the precision needed to capture the form, shape and detail of an image in this medium. My frog is not outstanding as a work of art but I like it because it is mine and because I enjoyed working alongside students in a creative way. It was a great day.
One day I think I will add Art teaching to my teaching methods. I'd so love to. For now, I'm going out to buy my own cutters, lino, and roller.
In keeping with Rebecca's month of Thanksgiving, today I am thankful for casual teaching: for the joy of working creatively with children; for flexibility and variety; for the oportunity to get my hands dirty; for frogs; for lino cutting; for a day off to buy art supplies; and for the anticipation of creating!
I am also thankful that this post pushes the last one down the page a little so I don't have to look at that disturbing picture anymore.
~ Roy Adzak
There is a lot that I love about casual teaching: the pay is great, the flexibility of working or not working on any given day is excellent, the students are enjoyable but mostly I love the variety.
On Friday I was called in to teach Art. I so love art and almost became an Art teacher. In fact, I was enrolled in a Bachelor of Art/Education before I changed my mind and became an English/Drama teacher. The choice was awful! I really wanted to teach English and Art but the combination was not offered, so I went with the practical choice of English/Drama thinking I would always be assured of a job as an English teacher. It was a hard decision to make. Knowing this you can begin to imagine how happy I was to spend a day in the Art classroom on Friday.
With encouragement from the head of Art to join in as the students worked I found myself drawn to a small off cut of lino. It was a little square, about 5cms x 5cms. Perfect for a little botanical, I thought, just the right size for a frog to land on. And so I sketched out a little frog. Remembering my school days and numerous incidents with slipping blades I carefully approached the task of cutting out my little shape and then mixed up my colour and printed him out.The frog is still a work in progress. I have done the first colour and must now keep cutting away and then print the next colour over the top.
The day's activity left me feeling refreshed and inspired. I hadn't done a lino cut for a very long time and I quite like the feeling of cutting away, the smell of the lino, the pleasure of seeing an image take shape, and the precision needed to capture the form, shape and detail of an image in this medium. My frog is not outstanding as a work of art but I like it because it is mine and because I enjoyed working alongside students in a creative way. It was a great day.
One day I think I will add Art teaching to my teaching methods. I'd so love to. For now, I'm going out to buy my own cutters, lino, and roller.
In keeping with Rebecca's month of Thanksgiving, today I am thankful for casual teaching: for the joy of working creatively with children; for flexibility and variety; for the oportunity to get my hands dirty; for frogs; for lino cutting; for a day off to buy art supplies; and for the anticipation of creating!
I am also thankful that this post pushes the last one down the page a little so I don't have to look at that disturbing picture anymore.
posted by missmellifluous at 9:38 am
4 Comments:
He's a gorgeous little frog! What a nice thing to be thankful for, too.
I love, love, love your frog.
Will you post up more pictures of him?
And I think you must be an inspired teacher. What lucky students!
May I copy the photo of your frog and use him as my desktop in the springtime? I'll only use it as my desktop. I promise.
I am glad you both like my frog. Frogs are great!
You certainly may use the image, Kim. I promise not to go to the paper about it.
I might post more pictures when he is finished but I am having trouble buying the right tools to finish the job. I don't want to take the cutters from school because they need them for class. But, yes, if I finish him, I'll remember that you would like to see more pictures.
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