Class Notes for 3-13-10

In John’s class, we saw the beginning of an art exhibit for the visual art teachers. We had discussions for possible dates and sites for the show. Several people brought in examples of their work, which enabled us to have some idea of the nature of what will be exhibited, and determine the best way to display all the pieces. Because there will be many different types of work, we could find it difficult to make all the artworks fit as a cohesive unit.

In Lisa’s class, it was a relief to get an understanding of the research project. The group I am in chose to study how technology can impact student achievement. We decided to try to determine how lessons can be impacted with the use of videos. We will select two classes to teach a lesson to. One group of students will experience a lesson with the help of a movie, and the other group will not. The comparison of the two groups should be interesting.

Gardner Chapter One

Gardner makes the point that it takes time for the disciplined mind to master even one way of thinking, and notes that it took him a decade to hone his psychology thinking skills. For some reason, this message caused me to remember the old saying, “Those that can do, do, and those that can’t do, teach.”

Of course, teaching is a profession that requires doing, where there are skills that need to be mastered, and I believe it takes a great deal longer than ten years to do so. In fact, it’s a never-ending process.

But the old saying holds some truth for me in that I am no master of any one art medium. If your course of study to become an art teacher was anything like mine, you were required to study all the art mediums in order to be able to expose students to every form of art. This type of education doesn’t allow one to master any one medium very well, and as a teacher, it is hard to find the time to do so. I have tried to concentrate solely on watercolors for about twenty years, and I still feel as if I haven’t truly mastered this medium. To master it to my satisfaction would take my total devotion for at least a decade.

Research for My Artwork

In an earlier blog, I stated that my present artwork has been influenced by the dilapidated rural farmhouses and barns of Georgia. When researching for my graduate thesis to learn how such structures have been used by previous artists, I discovered that ruins from antiquity were incorporated into paintings as early as the 15^th century. Here you can observe how Far Filippo Lippi used such ruins, in this case, of a stable, for the birthplace of Christ, in Nativity,

1465-70.

In the artworks of this time period, ruins played supporting roles for Christian themes. Later, ruins from antiquity became the main subjects, such as in Harbor Scene with Classical Ruins, by Antonio Zucchi.

Even later, around the 17^th century, artists residing outside the areas of Greece and Rome began looking for dilapidated structures for subjects to use in their works. The buildings they most often used were abandoned castles and cathedrals. Jacob van Rosedale’s, The Jewish Cemetery, 1655-60, is such an example.

But even these artworks didn’t express what I wished to convey in my work. I wanted to produce images of objects that would be considered less important which have been abandoned and left to deteriorate. The following photos that I have taken are examples of the type of structures I look for to use as subjects:

Artists who have used such subjects include Andrew Fisher Bunner and Paul Strand. Bunner did a drawing of a collapsing shed, and Strand photographed ghost town buildings in New Mexico.

During the development of this theme of artwork for a series, I set an arbitrary goal of about fifty paintings to exhaust the subject matter. When asked why I wanted to do so many works, my reply has been that artists often create many images in a series, and that there seem to be an endless number of dilapidated buildings that I would like to use as subjects.

I also want to be sure this theme will be developed to its fullest, because in the past I have prematurely ended a theme to my regret. What direction I will take with my work is uncertain, but it seem certain that I will always be looking for new directions. In the future, my direction may change to incorporate dilapidated structures other than those found in rural areas, but the direction should not be forced, but left to evolve.