The Right Side of the Brain

I would like to share the resource that I have used to plan my lessons. The book is called Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. It provides way to teach children and adults how to make realistic drawings. I have tried and really like the introductory activites of drawing without looking at the paper, drawing an image when it is upside down, and drawing the negative spaces. There are lots more ideas too. I would appreciate it if anyone else in the class has a good how-to book for other "arts" that could provide scaffolding lessons for me as a teacher and artist. Willow has shared with me another book about drawing; "Drawing with Children" by Mona Brookes.

Writers, philosophers and scientists meet in the forest

This is an article I received recently that linked my different career paths. One of those ah-hah moments! The article is from the US Pacific Northwest Research Station and shares their gatherings of ecosystem researchers, creative writers and environmental philosophers. The gatherings are trying to incorporate different ways of knowing to look at long-term change and to ultimately increase public understanding of the roles of the natural world and science in our lives. I like the idea of sharing the complexity and longevity of ecosystems by getting other experts to help. Instead of focusing on the little details the way I have done as an operational researcher, the writers looked at ecosystems holistically but also captured the texture of the complexity. Can you see how this blog links with my blog on Annerose Georgeson who looks at the forest from another way of knowing. When I am in the forest it also exists wholly and I have always felt revitalized when I have quiet time in nature. I will be sharing this whole vision of nature in my teaching.
Part of a poem that was shared in the article:

"The owl doesn't make a sound.... She is still.
She watches us. What is the consciousness of a
spotted owl? There she perches perceiving us, and
here we sit perceiving her. We exchange the long,
slow, interspecies stare - no fear, no threat, only
the confusing mystery of the other. Perhaps she
thinks we are owls. We do not look like owls. But we
do, briefly, behave like owls, catching and offering
prey, being still, and turning our eyes to the forest"

From: The Owl, Spotted (2006, On Earth) A. Deming

local artist

Today I am sharing the web page of Annerose Georgeson a local artist whose work I really enjoy. (click on her name for the hyperlink) She paints a lot of nature images but in different ways: fun, deconstructed, nature patterns... This image is from her webpage and shows a detail of one of her paintings. I have bought one of her paintings from her sunflower series and enjoy it every morning over my breakfast table. Annerose Georgeson lives in Vanderhoof and often shows at Artspace or you can find some of her work in the picture loan section of the Two Rivers Gallery.

Sewing Design

Judy's beautiful sewing projects reminded me that I enjoy sewing creatively too. I like to sew things for my family that are hard to find. My daughter wanted a sports bra in her size, with a strap to keep her heart rate monitor from irritating her skin. Here is a picture of the sports bra I created starting from a sports top. This picture is my third version. I really enjoyed finding design solutions with my daughter to match her requirements of a functional garment. My daughter choose the fun material! Why not enjoy what you wear.

Challenge on the "welcome song"

So I did get caught up in a challenge, I looked at the PLO's that were met by the welcome song. The song can meet PLO's for Drama in the exploration and imagination and drama skills themes for grades K to 5. It can also meet PLO's for Music in the structure theme, mostly grades k to 3 but can fit the PLO of "use singing skills to reproduce melodies" that goes to grade 5. For Dance the motions can meet PLO's in Elements of Movement and Presentation and Performance themes for grades K to 3. For kinders the song can meet language arts PLO's for oral language A11 and A12 which are speaking clearly enough to be understood by peers and adults; and demonstrate auditory discrimination. Of course as we are learning in assessment it can only meet those PLO's if we assess for them.

Thoughts on Eggbert

When I watched Eggbert I was thinking about how he was traveling to find himself. By the end he completed his circle by returning home with his self-acceptance. The same circle we have been talking about in our Aborginal Epistomology course. The travelling analogy for me fits well with the expectations of this art course. I understand the course to be a journey to increased awareness and appreciation of art that even though we are not planning to be great artists (other than as teachers) we can accept ourselves for the artistic talents we have. This is a journey that will continue into our teaching and how we can incorporate art in the classroom to enrich and enhance our students learning and their self-acceptance.