At Beattie, not this last Friday, but the Friday before, we had students look at our work to get to know us better. We did a guessing game where they had to guess which one was each of ours. We then had them discuss why they thought this piece was Miss Jen's or Miss Sienna's. During this event, I was amazed by the answers of students, they were intuitive, they all had reasons that were meaningful, they were thinking about why artists make art, and what artists make art about. This was one of the first times I experienced this for myself, and it allowed for me to better understand the way students think, and their ideas. For my work of art (which I have also included a picture of) students noticed the colors of my clothes in relation to the piece. I was wearing a light green/tan skirt and a Moab orange sweater. Students noticed the fact that those are Earthy colors, and my piece was Earthy colors, so they guessed it was my piece. For my work of art this week I used the colors that I was wearing for the fabric and the paint to represent the connection of color in my work of art. They thought about how artists are representing themselves in a way through their making process, so they thought I would use colors that are connected to me. Another observation that students made was that my hair is curly and my piece is made up of curls. Again, students talked about how art can be a representation of the artist, and so they thought the connection of my hair and the piece made it seem like it was mine. Students also discussed the size of my hands in comparison to Jen's. They said that I had smaller hands, and my piece seemed to require small hands in order to create. This was interesting to me, because students were thinking about process, they were thinking about how this piece was made. They were thinking about how artists work with their hands, and that is a big part of their process. I have always thought about how artists hands are truly a representation of the art that they make. Painters have paint in their finger nails, potters have dry hands because clay dries them out, etc. It was interesting to me that students were paying attention to this, and thinking about the art that I might make because of the way my hands look. In representation of all of these ideas I made my piece this week about hands, colors, and curls. I covered my hands in fabric paint and put them on my fabric, I used the same colors I was wearing that day, and I drew a curly yellow/blonde strand of hair, which is a representation of these intuitive thoughts that students had about the artworks that artists make. Each of these students were making connections from what they saw in the artwork, and what they observed about me. This is important because artists are always in some way connected with their artwork, there is a reason they made it, and these students were trying to figure out what that reason was for each of us. 

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During this class in particular we have talked about interpretive strategies for having students discuss works of art. Jen and I didn't ask specific questions, we asked why the students thought it was ours, and they interpreted the artwork based on their observations. Olga Hubard in "Three Modes of Dialogue about Works of Art," discusses interpretive dialogue in which is "enabl[ing] students to construct their own meaning in response to an artwork" (Hubard 2010). Students were given the opportunity to construct meaning based on what they saw from the artwork, and what they thought about the artist that created it. This is something that makes me excited for BRAINY because students this age have so many ideas that allow for them to understand a work of art in their own way, which is inspiring to see. This also makes me think about my future as an art educator, it makes me want to always ask questions instead of giving information. The students learned so much more from this experience then they would have if each of us stood in front of the class and told them about our artwork. Also this way of having students think about artwork is much more engaging, they want to get it right, so they are thinking hard about which one might be mine, it helps them to think through why artists make art, which is something they can apply to their future art-making practice. 

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For my personally, this experience was eye opening, it makes me want to teach students in a way that they are engaged, they are excited, and they are learning themselves instead of being told. I think a way I can work to do this is always ask questions instead of giving information. This will get students thinking, and instead of frantically writing notes, they are engaged with what they are learning because they are thinking about it. This will help students to retain the information better, and it will help them to get everything they can out of the class I teach. Like I said earlier this was one of the first times I got to experience this first hand, which helped me apply what I have learned in class to an actual situation. This is important because it is no longer hypothetical, it is something that I have seen and experienced, which helps me connect with what I'm learning. 

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Works Cited 

Hubard, O. (2010, May). Three Modes of Dialogue about Works of Art. National Art Education Association, 41–45.