A place to see what is happening in Fine Arts at Rocky Mountain School for the Gifted and Creative

Monday, August 01, 2005

summer reflections

Today is August 1st. Still deep in summer.
I attended ArtSource Colorado in June, as part of the Content and Organization team. For a week in the mountains I renewed friendships, learned from other artists and professionals in art education, and made time to be an artist myself. I went prepared to further explore Pinhole Photography, having become interested in this technique while learning about it with my students last year, but to my surprise, I ended up crafting a small sculpture instead, which illustrated my transition over the passed year from teaching traditional art to teaching choice-based art. The ArtSource experience is a profound one, enriching me as an artist/art teacher on many levels.
Also in June, I taught a week long children’s watercolor camp for the city of Boulder Parks and Rec program, learning a great deal about various techniques and approaches in the process..
In July I spent hours at the Boulder Pottery Lab, as a teacher and a student. I participated in a class about firing, using different types of kilns and different types of clays, and I taught a children’s class. There is never enough time to sit at the wheel and make pots, but that is how I have spent any that I find.
Now it is August, and I find I am reflecting on the previous school year, evaluating successes and examining ways to make improvements. I have been reading a book called The Art of Teaching Art by George Szekely, who I met last March at the National Art Education convention in Boston. His book Encouraging Creativity in Art Lessons is a favorite of mine, and I am finding this new one inspiring as well.
I have been in and out of the art room at school all summer. Sometimes I just stand in the middle of the room and look about, considering the space and the possibilities. I’m not yet ready to return to school, but I look forward with pleasant anticipation to the start of a brand new school year.


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