Purpose:
The purpose of this project is to help you understand the role of the visual arts in your life, identify your strengths as a visual artist and arts educator, set goals for yourself as a visual artist and visual arts educator, and to select three artifacts that reflect your engagement in the visual arts. This is also a great way to get to know more about each other. This project, like all other projects in our course, can be modified for your elementary students and will help your students begin to view themselves as artists too!
Who Am I as an Artist?
Each person has his or her own experiences as an artist. My interest in art started at a really young age and I have no one better to thank than my very passionate teachers in elementary school. From as early as first grade, I can remember doing several different art projects that helped to shape my skills and creativity. In third grade, I got the pleasure of painting with a local artist who came to teach us the art of water coloring. In fifth grade I learned how to draw things in perspective. From then on, I was allowed to choose electives in middle school and naturally, I had fallen in love with art even more for the next three years. Middle school taught me a lot about the more fine types of art. I learned a lot of things, from quilt making, to ceramics, to even creating a dream catcher. I learned a lot more about drawing, texture and all about the principals and elements of art. I knew the color wheel by heart and got to paint a new one every year, getting to blend my own colors and see the magic of color mixing. As I got older, I got more interested in photography, seeing the beauty in nature and taking photos of the world around me.
Although I have a lot of experiences with art, I wouldn’t say that I’m the best artist. Art was always something that I really enjoyed doing but I was often intimidated by my peers’ works that seemed much more extravagant than my own. I think my strengths in art are being able to use creativity in anything I do. Although what I visualize might not come out of the final product, I am always determined to make a quality product that reflects my creativity.
One goal I have as an artist is to find my passion for art again. I intend on doing this by looking through all of my old artworks and remembering how much fun I had doing this. I believe this will help me to be a better arts educator because I will remember my own passion and be able to share it with my students. Another goal for myself as an artist is to invest in a DSLR to pursue more photography projects. I would really like to practice taking photos that way, rather than just using a digital camera. I can use this skill as an arts educator by teaching my students how to take photos and have them do a photography project in the future and I can achieve this by saving money or even asking friends to teach me how to use their DSLR’s. One last goal that I have is to start being crafty again. I want to expand my horizons on different crafts that I can use as an arts educator as well as someone who just enjoys art. I intend on achieving this goal by spending more time looking up crafts and trying them out as often as I can.
Although I have a lot of experiences with art, I wouldn’t say that I’m the best artist. Art was always something that I really enjoyed doing but I was often intimidated by my peers’ works that seemed much more extravagant than my own. I think my strengths in art are being able to use creativity in anything I do. Although what I visualize might not come out of the final product, I am always determined to make a quality product that reflects my creativity.
One goal I have as an artist is to find my passion for art again. I intend on doing this by looking through all of my old artworks and remembering how much fun I had doing this. I believe this will help me to be a better arts educator because I will remember my own passion and be able to share it with my students. Another goal for myself as an artist is to invest in a DSLR to pursue more photography projects. I would really like to practice taking photos that way, rather than just using a digital camera. I can use this skill as an arts educator by teaching my students how to take photos and have them do a photography project in the future and I can achieve this by saving money or even asking friends to teach me how to use their DSLR’s. One last goal that I have is to start being crafty again. I want to expand my horizons on different crafts that I can use as an arts educator as well as someone who just enjoys art. I intend on achieving this goal by spending more time looking up crafts and trying them out as often as I can.
Artifact #1
· · This is a clay moon coin bank that I painted in 2002 at a clay factory. I chose to share this item because it is not related to any of my school assignments in art and it shows that I was really passionate about art, even outside of the classroom and what was mandatory to do. This moon and coin bank shows that I am willing to go out of my way to do more things like an artist. This clay piece could have stayed plain but I chose to add more designs and color to it. This artifact means a lot to me because I got to spend time with my older sister this day and show her how much I loved doing art.
Artifact #2
· To the right is a dream catcher that I made in 2003 in my art class at Mililani Middle School. Everything from the outside weaves on the ring, to the dream catcher pattern in the ring, the handmade clay beads and feathers were things I had to do for my project. I chose to share this artifact because it depicts how much hard work I can put into something when I really enjoy it. I got one of the highest grades in class for this piece and it still hangs in my room in the same spot it was in years ago. (Sorry, it’s a little dusty.) This also shows that I care about my art enough to use it in my every day life. I feel that too often, art students may overlook their artwork and just dispose of it over time. This shows that I cherish my artwork.
Artifact #3
On the left is the last artifact that I am going to share. This is an animation screen that I did in 8th grade at Mililani Middle School. The background is done entirely with oil pastels and the animation (the seal) is done with acrylic paint. I chose to share this because I feel that I worked really hard on this piece and feel that it is one of my best ones. This artifact shows my diverse experiences in art that I can hopefully rekindle in the future when I become an arts educator.