Project: Paper bag mask

What can you do with a paper grocery bag? 

Hmmmm....

There are a plethora of possibilities: use it for putting out the recycling; tinder to start a fire (in the fireplace!); re-use it for groceries; as one little kid told me, "Put stuff in it!" Yes, that is usually what a bag is for. ;) But today I have a use that you've probably never thought of:

A mask! Party time!

Yup, a mask. My sisters and I made many of these when we were kids. This example is far less elaborate than I used to create. I made a lion face once, using orange, yellow and brown construction paper for the mane--taping the pieces to the bag, because glue doesn't work super well. 

Materials:

-Paper grocery bag
-Markers
-Scissors
-Tape

-Construction paper

Optional:

-Paint
-Pipe cleaners

-Tissue paper
-Fabric (you can staple it to the bag)

You can tell that I didn't mark where my eyes would be before I started cutting. If you actually want to be able to see, use a marker to plot out where your eyes and mouth are at the beginning. 

It's kind of hard to find a bag without any markings on it, so you can cover it with paint or construction paper. Or you can work it into your design--I turned the red logo on my bag into a mouth.

For smaller children cut arm holes in the side of the bag, and it can become a whole costume if they're small enough. Being a grown up, I had to cut out quite a bit on the sides to get my shoulders to fit. 

If you're curious, I made the eyelashes by cutting long, thin triangles, bending them in two different spots, then taping each one down. 

For the pipe cleaners, you can just poke them through the bag and twist them to stay in place. They can become antennae, hair, jewelry, eyebrows....there's a lot you can do. 

This was one of my favorite crafts to make when I was a kid, because there's so many different possibilities. And there's so much to decorate if you feel so inclined--don't forget you have the sides and back! 

Video: Burger Grease Art

Well, that's definitely an unconventional art medium!

My artist statement

I just finished my application for graduate school yesterday. There was much essay writing and re-writing that went into it. I applied for a full ride fellowship, had to say why I want to pursue a Masters in Fine Arts, what my art means. And I re-wrote my artist statement yet again. I've been doing that at least once a year since college anyways, but this was impetus to really do a good, thoughtful job. 

An artist statement is supposed to sum up in a page or less what your work means, why you make art and what you want viewers to take away from experiencing it. My goal is that everyone can read my statement and understand my art. I don't want it be overly academic and jargon filled. So for your reading pleasure, here's the latest rendition of what I want to say about my art (and yes, it is less than a page, it just looks like a lot): 

Evoking idealized childhood memories, I focus on the happiest moments, remixing those bright emotions into a shining daydream.  I don’t recreate a specific instance, more reference a romanticized feeling about the memory. I’m not interested in reality—real life is full of complications, sadness and disappointment. I choose to be easily pleased and enraptured, retaining a childlike enjoyment of the little things: a shiny jewel, a pretty bird, fluttering butterflies, a colorful button, bright colors, flowers, glitter, costume jewelry in all its sparkling glory. 

I pluck out the glorious moments of my childhood: the summer days of being a little girl when the world is exciting and full of adventure; the quiet contentment of eating a melting fudgesicle while sitting in lush green grass; the exhilaration of discovering the joys of reading as a young child; the sense of safety when my Dad would sing me to sleep at bedtime; the excitement of learning to ride a bicycle; feeling beautiful playing “dress-up” as scarves and old dresses get turned into a queen’s royal robes; the deep pleasure of learning to make beautiful things with my own hands; the surreptitious thrill of touching a sculpture in an art museum.

I still like to explore the world through touch—if I can’t hold something, discover its tactile qualities with my hands not just my eyes, it doesn’t feel real to me.  I want people to have that same pull when they look at my work. I’m portraying ephemeral and intangible concepts, yet the pieces themselves are weighty and substantial, catching the eye and inviting the viewer closer. I want sensible people to feel the urge to run their fingers across the surface, just to know if it actually feels like it looks. It’s that instinct to engage the world with all our senses that I want to evoke. You know you shouldn’t…but you just want to trace the curve of that jewel, the undulating hills of paint and varnish, the path of a twisting necklace.

In the studio, a sense of youthful playfulness and exploration pervades my art making process, though the more pragmatic side of me knows full well that those rosy memories are past and in fact, never actually were as I portray them. As much as I want to hold onto that idealized time of my life, reality intrudes.

In my recent work, I’ve been mulling over the turmoil that is adult life, the need to let go, and exodus: birds in migration, paint trails meandering aimlessly through the picture plane, jewelry in seeming disintegration, thread unraveling, materials actually hanging off the work as if caught in mid-dissolution. My paintings blur to various degrees over time, contributing to the sense of a dream dissolving as you wake up. The cheap jewelry I use tarnishes and discolors easily, bringing a touch of imperfection and decay to my idyllic daydream. The more layers I add the more blurred out the initial images become, sometimes ending up only as blobs of vague color. This is so much like our own minds in regards to memory: The further back you try to recall, looking through all the layers of time that have passed since, the less details you can remember--only a hazy general outline remains that you can project upon. The present can easily bestow a glossy veneer over the past. It’s mental flotsam building up to cover over the dark parts and leave the shining moments to glimmer through. 

 Can you understand what I'm trying to say? Does it make sense to you? Does it mesh with what you think or feel when you look at my paintings? 

Lesson Plan: Making Peace

One of the featured works,
The Fighter of the Spirit

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) has a plethora of resources for teachers. I've written about the museum before, but not their online presence. The MIA loves teachers and creates so much content for educators to use for free. Each month, they post a short lesson plan about a particular subject or work of art. The current feature is Making Peace; it highlights five pieces from the MIA's collection, and has a activities to go along with the lesson. It's like getting a one-on-one tour and discussion.

Perfect for your self-motivated, tech savy students. You could go through the whole lesson at once, or look at one piece each day for a themed week. The cool part about this, if you're local to Minnesota, is that your kids can read about the art and then actually go see it in person! You can stand in front of this statue, realizing how huge it is, noticing the little details that you can't see in a small image on a computer screen. You could make a scavenger hunt out of finding all five works in the museum, or call ahead for a tour related to the subject.

If you want to get the MIA's Teaching the Arts e-mail newsletter, you can sign up here. (scroll down a bit and you'll see the different newsletters you can subscribe to)

Article: As Enduring (and as fleeting) as the gods

Over on deviantart where I've had an artist page for many years, I came across a short essay about the history of sculpture that I thought you might find interesting. "As enduring (and as fleeting) as the gods" is a nice intro for an investigation into sculpture. The questions at the end are good discussion starters for curious students.

Blogs: A Faithful Attempt and That Artist Woman

I just discovered two art blogs this week: A Faithful Attempt and That Artist Woman, both of which are chockful of art projects and lesson ideas.

A friend clued me in to A Faithful Attempt, which is written by a K-12 art teacher who has taught all around the world. She provides background information for each project, step-by-step instructions and lots of pictures of students' work. Since the author is a school teacher, she uses simple easy-to-get materials that are used in new ways.

A Faithful Attempt had a link to That Artist Woman, which is also an art projects blog. I find the crafts to be a little more detailed and time consuming, which works well for homeschoolers who aren't beholden to 50 minute class times. As on the first blog, That Artist Woman provides clear instructions and lots of pictures. I like the layout of the posts better on this site, because there's more step-by-step images that walk you through the project. She also reviews books and has occasional contests and giveaways for her readers.

I think both of these blogs provide ample artistic inspiration, and I'm positive you can find at least one project your kids will enjoy. Go make some art!

Website: Art 21

I've written about the tv show Art 21 previously, but thought it was worth mentioning again as they recently launched their own website, Art21.org. Before they had a sub-site within PBS' monolithic website, now they've got an independent page with more resources. It's incredibly simple to navigate with four main sections. You can look through content by artist, browse through the numerous videos and educational resources. 

Season 5 is coming out 2012!

My favorite thing about the website is all the videos you can watch (there's over 100 as of this writing!). Some of them are just clips from episodes, but there's a lot of original content that never saw airtime on tv.
The educational section has many resources I think you'll find helpful, especially a glossary of art terms. There's also accompanying educators' guides to give background information on the artists and art spotlighted in the show. It takes very little time to browse around and find information as they've laid it out so nicely.

I recommend Art 21 in general for older teens, as there can be mature themes discussed. Some artists like to be shocking and disgusting simply because they can. Personally, I don't find any artistic merit or educational value in a piece of work titled "Captain Ballsack." It's not edifying or enlightening to me. I suggest just skipping artists like that. Most of the artist interviews that I've watched are entertaining and educational with little objectionable content. Art 21 has helped me learn how to talk about art in an educated and understandable way. I've learned there is no one "right way" to discuss art; what matters is engaging the mind and asking questions and seeking answers.

Art 21 also has blog full of depth and insight, though I find the language tends to be fairly scholarly and the discussions pretty academic in nature. The posts tend to not be very understandable to the reader who isn't well versed in art history.