Art is Not Sequential

It's like being a juggler - choice-based art. As the teacher/mentor/artist-in-residence/lackey in our studio-classroom, I have a lot of balls in the air. I love this part of the job.

Flip book artist's scrap pile, discovered by me after the class exited the room

 My favorite thing is when students are off and running in pursuit of their own ideas, directions, interests, needs and talents. That's when I can really go to work.

My response to finding the above flip book scrap pile - get down my flip book collection and make a note to either share these resources with the one or two students who initiated flip book art yesterday or design a "Five Minute Demo" for the whole class. This topic introduced in a whole class demo will bump what I had originally planned to introduce Monday. Is flip book art "whole-class-worthy?"

The one problem is, while observing and interacting with students helps me to generate ideas in my mind for what to introduce or what to respond to, it can be difficult to decide which of these to address "next."

Given the web-like, rhizomic nature of our lively learner-directed program, there are many "things" (directions, ideas, concepts, materials, opportunities) competing for "next." 

As I jot down notes and start to make plans for next week, I rely a bit on an old Vermont expression: "let's see how it all sugars out."

Inside Out

The forecast this week is for: SUMMER! A week of warm sunny days is forecast, so we are moving outside, while it lasts.

 I lived in Colorado for a while, where one sunny day follows the next, but here in north central Vermont, it is rare to get two sunny days in a row, let alone a whole week! Wow!

 The Picnic table we added last spring from a gift from Across Roads Center for the Arts is our new favorite work space. 



The little pond built by students in our CBMS Sustainability program is offering inspiration to artists who practice drawing from observation. There are even waterlilies there, and a frog. 


In a scene reminiscent of Wyeth's Christina's World, one student sits alone in the damp morning grass, taking in the distant ridge line and composing a drawing.

...

 Here (photo right) is how our outside studio looked today: 2 drawing, 1 weaving and 3 splatter painting.

 Meanwhile, inside the studio we had two clay artists practicing at the potter's wheels -

 One fiber artist teaching another how to braid -

 Only one student working in the Sculpture Center today (unusual for this class) -

Two more students are exploring a 3-D design program (our Digital-Art Center finally opened for the first time today) -

 while two others are working on a collaborative painting they started yesterday. These artists left this painting with a sign inviting those who come next to: "Please add to this painting!"

Don't you just love a sunny day?