• Feb292012
    um, ms. roy-gadbois... your blog needs to be updated...

    POSTED AT 10:08 AM

    Yes! It does! So here goes...
    I came across some art that I thought you all might enjoy. Tell me what you think!
    Clothespin by Mehmet Ali Uysal

    Louise Bourgeois' ''Maman''

     

    The Spider is an ode to my mother. She was my best friend. Like a spider, my mother was a weaver. My family was in the business of tapestry restoration, and my mother was in charge of the workshop. Like spiders, my mother was very clever. Spiders are friendly presences that eat mosquitoes. We know that mosquitoes spread diseases and are therefore unwanted. So, spiders are helpful and protective, just like my mother.

    — Louise Bourgeois




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    Sep012010
    Ms. Roy's summer vacation

    POSTED AT 08:50 AM

    It is great to be back at Clarke for another school year. I love summer vacation, sleeping in, and days at the beach! I always get excited at the start of a new school year, too! Ahh... the smell of freshly sharpened pencils! :D

    Many students have asked me what I did this summer so I thought I would post some pictures of a few highlights.
    I went to San Francisco for a few days and had a great time! I stayed in a neighborhood called Japantown that had tons of great Japanese restaurants and shops. Here is a picture of the Peace Pagoda which was a gift from the people of Osaka, Japan. It was designed by architect Yoshiro Taniguchi and is a popular site for tourists to visit. 

    In San Francisco I visited the SFMOMA, or the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
    Here I am in front of a painting by Frida Kahlo, those of you who had me as a teacher in 6th grade may remember that she is one of my favorite artists.
    I also Visited Boston's Historic Chinatown. Check out this dragon that was on display. Cool, huh?
    I took a class on East Asian History and culture and I got to play one of these Korean drums. Guess what?
    I am a terrible drummer!  :P

    I also met Grace Lin, she is a FANTASTIC illustrator and writer and she is local- she lives in Somerville! 

    I hope you all had as much fun as I did this summer!

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    Apr062010
    93 Art Workshop Ideas!

    POSTED AT 01:15 PM


    Sometimes kids struggle with ideas as to what to do in Artist Workshop, so here are 93 ideas for pieces of art:

    1. Come up with 5 fantastical beasts, sculpt them from clay
    2. using corrugated cardboard, make a piece of art. use the textured part and the smooth part as elements in your piece
    3. do a drawing inspired by a song or poem
    4. draw, paint, or sculpt a character from your favorite book. Do not choose a character that has been portrayed in a film unless your vision of them is different than the actor...
    5. make an article of clothing out of paper bags, doing your best to make it not paper bag-y looking.
    6. remake a piece of art you did in the past but better.
    7. make your own version of a historical piece of art (mona lisa listening to ipod, keith haring's figures making a statement about a current political/social issue you are concerned about
    8. make puppets
    9. look up alexander calder, make a mobile.
    10. draw and then sculpt your fantasy car
    11. do a "day in the life" comic about yourself
    12. make a poster about issues that teens have to deal with
    13. using bits and pieces of faces cut from magazines, construct a face (like an art frankenstein's monster!) try to make it pretty... or pretty ugly. strive for accuracy or make it wild.
    14. do a self portrait in a specific comic book artist's style
    15. try printmaking! make a rubber stamp!
    16. make a vessel out of clay
    17. imagine you are trying to get investors for your indy film you are making, storyboard your movie ideas and pick a cast of actors you want in your film.
    18. draw screenshots from the videogame you would like to invent
    19. make a flip book
    20. make an architectural model using board
    21. design a mandala
    22. using old socks or tights make a monster soft sculpture
    23. using plaster cast strips make a mask
    24. make a wire sculpture
    25. build a wire and newspaper armature and make a HUGE "mask" or helmet
    26. recreate a prop or costume piece from a film or historical era (liiike a Spartan helmet)
    27. make a political cartoon or satirize someone famous
    28. make an advertisement for a toy that shows how toy and advertising agencies capitalize on reinforcing gender stereotypes
    29. make a flying machine out of paper, wire, tape, glue, etc. look up leonardo da vinci's for inspiration
    30. make a musical instrument
    31. make a dance routine and perform it for the class
    32. paint one of the wooden chairs in the class to make it a functional piece of art
    33. take a large rock and paint it to look like an animal
    34. look up the cave paintings of Lascaux, do one on a large board or piece of paper with a modern twist...
    35. imagine you are in charge of creating a colony on another planet. with unlimited resources what would it look like? who would be there? what animals? what plants? Create a brochure to convince other earthlings to move there, complete with illustrations.
    36. using just folded, curled, and crumpled paper make the most wild hat you can.
    37. make a diorama
    38. make a snowglobe
    39. look up joseph cornell, make your own art box
    40. look up traditional paper cutting, design your own (think of positive and negative space carefully here) and cut it using an exactoknife and cutting board or just scissors.
    41. do some origami
    42. using a ballpoint pen and a sheet of lined paper, doodle. Just doodle all over the whole thing, no editing, don't think too much, just mindlessly doodle from one side to the next.
    43. make a pop up book or card.
    44. remember the baby book, Pat the Bunny? Make your own version maybe featuring vicious monsters or rabid dogs.
    45. make shadow puppets and put on a puppet show.
    46. make paper dolls of yourself or a friend. Include a full wardrobe and accessories that suit the doll... ipod? field hockey gear? framed picture of zac efron?
    47. make garbage pail kid cards of you and your 4 closest friends.
    48. draw the other kids in class as they work
    49. make a catalogue of your fashion designs
    50. make a sculpture out of junk
    51. use the digital camera and take a photo of yourself. print it out 15 copies and then draw on them using sharpie making each one different and each one expressing a different facet of your personality
    52. use the digital camera and take pictures of different things around the school, ooking at them in a different way. take pictures from low points of view, zoom in and take close up shots, photograph things people ordinarily don't notice.
    53. do a highly detailed contour drawing of a shoe, take an entire class to do this
    54. play exquisite corpse with a friend
    55. use the stencil paper and cut out a design you want to paint on a tshirt... like a superhero emblem or your bands logo or even just cool random stuff. Bring in a tshirt (or denim jacket or scrap cloth to make a patch) from home and you can paint your designs on using acrylic paint
    56. practice drawing in the style of manga artists
    57. think of a life changing event in your life, make a piece of art inspired by it
    58. use photoshop elements in a "free draw"
    59. do a "grid drawing" 
    60. look up Latin American Nichos, make a nicho that pays tribute to a family member or someone you admire
    61. do a Chinese brush painting
    62. Look at Japanese ghost story woodcuts, make your own ghost story inspired by the style of the Japanese woodcuts
    63. draw, paint, or sculpt a "portrait" of your favorite childhood stuffed toy.
    64.  Think of a favorite video game and depict the main character or a setting in a drawing or a sculpture. (thanks W!)
    65.  Learn how to write graffiti style.  Do some research online and look for things you like. Start Writing in basic block letters and then begin exaggerating, distorting, overlapping, using perspective. Copy things you see online to help practice your style but come up with something ORIGINAL. Don't bother with the cheesy "learn how to writegraffiti" websites... 
    66. make a flip book.
    67. make a stop motion animation.
    68. do a painting (or comic strip) of the weirdest dream you can remember. If you can't remember any weird dreams, make one up.
    69. paint an underwater scene using watercolor and the following techniques: wax resist, salt, and masking.
    70. design your own personal logo.
    71. My student G suggested, "make a personal expression tea pot!" Prior to this class turning "open studio" one of the past teachers used to make teapots with the kids that visually told a personal story or was to be a personal expression. I told the students about this as I explained the evolution of the class to them in the beginning of the year and I guess the idea made an impression. 
    72. make decorative paper. Use stamps, paste paper techniques, or marbleize paper. Then use this paper in a bookmaking project.
    73. use wire to build a human-ish armature, then use paper pulp (you can make this by blending shredded paper and water in a blender) mixed with glue to "flesh out" your wire sculpture... make a human or monster figure. When its dry paint it with acrylic paint.
    74. draw technical drawings for some invention you come up with... the spork didn't invent itself! Someone thought it up and drew it out and made a model. What will your invention be?
    75. Carnival is celebrated around the world. Look up Carnival masks and make your own. 
    76. Make a kinetic piece of art
    77. Design your own font, it can just be cool looking lettering or it could be fantastically detailed and themed... like an entomologists alphabet or a sports themed one.
    78. Think of as many monuments as you can. Who do they pay tribute to? Why were the designed to look as they do? Look up Maya Lin's work. Come up with a monument you would like to see built, sketch it and then build a scale model.
    79. Weave a basket.
    80. Make a rag braided rug. 
    81. Before there were pixels there were MOSAICS! Look them up! Make one!
    82. use an old pair of shorts, jeans or skirt to make a purse
    83. quilt a pillow
    84. make a patchwork stuffed animal
    cut shapes using old greeting cards to make magnets, holiday ornaments, napkin rings, bookmarks, etc
    85. bead yourself a bracelet
    86. teach yourself origami
    87. make a clay "cake"
    88. make a memory board
    89. carry a camera at waist height. see what candid moments you capture and how the perspective is different. try shooting the same thing from different angles.
    90. press and dry flowers. laminate them to make bookmarks, magnets, etc. you can use clear packing tape to laminate them
    91. dye Ukrainian style eggs
    92. make collage thank you notes( and use them!)
    93. paint an interpretation of your favorite poem
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    Apr062010
    Classroom Rules according to Confucius and Ms. Roy

    POSTED AT 12:44 PM

    Who Is Confucius?


    Confucius said: Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.

    Art Class Translation: Arrive prepared for class, always bring a wooden #2 pencil

     

    Confucius said: The expectations of life depend upon diligence; the mechanic that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.

    Art Class Translation: Oh, and sharpen it ;)

     

    Confucius said: He with whom neither slander that gradually soaks into the mind, nor statements that startle like a wound in the flesh, are successful, may be called intelligent indeed.

    Art Class Translation: No gossiping in the Art Room. You are smarter and better than that.

     

    Confucius said: Without feelings of respect, what is there to distinguish men from beasts?

    Art Class Translation: Be respectful to the Art Room and our materials! Clean up after yourself and help keep the room clean, we aren’t pigs!

     

     

    Confucius said: What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.

    Art Class Translation: Be respectful to one another. Be kind with your words and your actions. We all take risks making art and this must be a safe space to do that.

     

    Confucius said: Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.

    And he also said: Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.

    Art Class Translation: Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, sometimes that’s how we learn. Oh and nothing ventured, nothing gained.

     

     

    Confucius said: It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

    Art Class Translation: Stay focused, work slowly and carefully…

     

    Confucius said: If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand.

    Art Class Translation: …but remember we DO have deadlines, and if you don’t finish your work you won’t be pleased with your grade.

     

    Confucius said: Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart.

    And ms. roy agrees

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