Educating Students in the 21st Century
| Educator and Artist | |
 I am an art educator/artist in Western New York. I'm passionate about bringing creativity to the forefront of our lives. My brain is always churning with new ideas for the classroom and the studio. I love sharing my joy about art because it can be transformative in this highly competitive and fast paced world. It forces us to slow down, to enjoy the moment, to take risks, to not give up, to see mistakes as opportunities, and to keep moving forward. I teach many artistic techniques in the classroom but the most important concepts I nurture in students is self-expression. Students need to trust their own ideas because that encompasses true freedom and success. As a working artist, I understand the necessary struggle to achieve that freedom and by sharing my own personal journey I hope to strengthen the student/teacher relationships. This blog is a place where I post some of my art lessons to share with the art community, student accomplishments, personal artworks, and exhibition information. It's like a modern day journal because though personal reflection I continue to grow. If you have any questions/suggestions please post a comment or email me. Thanks for coming!  |
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| Topic(s): bio about | |
| By Heather on November 13, 2011 at 2:26pm EST | Add Comment |
| Expression Paintings | |
 After learning about Kandinsky’s emotional and improvisational paintings, my middle school students create their own works of abstraction. This is their first project of the year and they learn a lot about the art elements in order to make a successful composition. This project has evolved over the years which keeps it fresh and fun. The first year teaching this lesson, the composition was all about the textures, colors, and shapes contained in squares. Then classes experimented with cutting their paintings into interlocking shapes and this year made backgrounds more active with white/metallic colored pencils. The students learn a lot from manipulating their painting. Experimentation is extremely important to develop creative thinking and this sets the tone for the whole year. Please click on the image gallery below to see how the Expression Paintings have changed over the years. 
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| Topic(s): acrylic painting mixed media 2011 middle school lessons | |
| By Heather on November 15, 2011 at 1:20pm EST | Add Comment |
| Studio Art – Historical Figure Sculptures | |
I like to end the year with this sculpture lesson because kids love learning clay techniques. With end-of-the-year excitement, I can always reel them in with this one. Since some of my Studio Art students have never worked with clay before, we start with basic hand building techniques like pinch pots, coils, and slabs. After the students build confidence from playing with the clay, they brainstorm, sketch, and then sculpt a historical figure.  |
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| Topic(s): high school class 2010 3d sculpture clay | |
| By Heather on November 15, 2011 at 11:02am EST | Add Comment |
| Studio Art – Wire Self-Portraits | |
 After teaching the proportions of the human face, students practice drawing themselves. Then students transform those drawings into expressionistic wire sculptures. I love the way these look with the cast shadows. This is a nice project that introduces working three dimensionally with just line. |
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| Topic(s): high school lessons 2010 3d self-portraits sculpture | |
| By Heather on November 15, 2011 at 8:46am EST | Add Comment |
| Look What I Found! | |
Creature Discovery My 8th graders created small creature sculptures from an explorer, scientist, or an environmentalist point of view. This 3D sculpey project is introduced at the emergence of spring. The class share lots of stories about childhood fascination with frogs, tadpoles, turtles, crayfish, fireflies, etc. That wonderful curiosity should be remembered and harnessed.  Sometimes we create an environment inside a recycled container and write stories about this new discovery. The end product is heavy in Science and English concepts that strengthen the artist's message. We have so much fun with this project!  |
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| Topic(s): middle school lessons 2010 sculpture 3d | |
| By Heather on November 14, 2011 at 8:49pm EST | Add Comment |
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