Here is some more information about the Movement, Rhythm and Art Camp happening on the 14th to the 18th of July at the Bothwell Center, Livermore:
- The time is from 2-5pm each day (Friday is one hour shorter). The cost is $195.00 for the 5 day camp.
- The camp is for both boys and girls aged 7 - 18 years.
- Please contact me for further information, or to sign your child / children up for the camp.
The camp is made up of three components:
1. Movement or creative dance, where students will learn about using their bodies to express creative ideas.
- Students
will think about various ways in which they can use their limbs, torso,
head etc. (stretching, bending, moving through space, using props such
as fabric, hoops etc.). They will think about rhythm and repetition and also how a dance can tell a story just like an artwork can.
- Students will go on to choreograph their own dance as a group, devising a beginning, middle and end (i.e. making a story), which will be developed and then rehearsed and finally performed on Friday, the 18th of July, for parents, family and friends.
2. Rhythm, where students make the music for the dance they will perform.
- Students will use drums, rhythm sticks and other simple rhythm-making instruments to learn about making various beats.
- Students will learn to perform together as a group using different beats.
- Students will create their own beats and compose a piece of music that will accompany the dance during the performance on the 18th.
- Some
/ all of the students can play during the performance, and we will
record the drumming as well, to play during the performance.
3. Art, where students will learn about Rhythm in Art.
- Students will learn about rhythm and how it is used in art. We will look at various examples of artwork throughout the ages, and from various parts of the world, that use strong rhythmical images.
- Students will explore rhythm in their own artwork on the first day, and then go on to make costumes and sets / props for the dance performance on the 18th of July.
- Students will use their own ideas
in making their costumes. We will use fabric sheets, card, paper, rope
or string and other recycled or found objects, which the students can
paint on and make into costumes and props.
Students will be encouraged to use their own ideas in their creations during the camp. The dance component is very exploratory, with
the aim of helping the students aware of the space around themselves,
and how their bodies interact with it, as well as how their bodies can be tools in artistic expression.
There is no need for students to be elaborate in their movements unless
they want to be; students can be as vigorously expressive or minimally
expressive as they like.
I have been
thinking about, and planning for, the rest of the school year for the
art classes, and wanted to communicate my ideas for teaching art to
children in general and also specifically for the rest of this year's
classes.
Your children are great to work with! They are
enthusiastic and full of exciting ideas and I love to see the artwork
they come up with!
One of the main things I try to encourage is for the student to spend a lot of time developing their skills of artistic observation:
- Really looking at basic shapes of things, and also a combination of shapes that make up larger shapes
- Looking at contrasts of light and shade - i.e. a light is not light without a contrasting dark next to it. Here is a great (and fun) example of what shade contrast can achieve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Sen1HTu5o
- Exploring the endless variety of tones in a seemingly single-colored object - for example, a folded sheet of white fabric has blues, yellows, oranges, greys, purples, pinks and lots more subtle colors if you look really carefully.
I
encourage students to really explore their mediums (paint, charcoal
etc.) to find out what kinds of marks they can make and how to make
marks light, dark, strong, gentle, large, small, broken, flowing etc.
This helps them develop their own personal language (style of making
art) to express their own vision (both observational vision, and
imaginative vision - or what they see in real life objects and how to
make it into original art).
There
is a lot more to art than is first thought by new art-makers. There is
the coming-to-terms with the different mediums. For very young
students, mixing paint together to make different colors is an activity
all in itself. Understanding the different texture and consistency
of different paints, working with paint on brushes and even just
putting the paint down on paper or canvas is a meaningful challenge and a
discovery in itself. Paint does unexpected things and young children
do and should take a long time to really explore the physical properties
of paint. To rush them through this stage of development belittles and
cuts short an essential part of their creative growth.
I try to avoid too much of showing the students how to draw an object by drawing it for them, but try rather to help them see objects for themselves, in their own individual ways. If I draw for students to demonstrate to them how to paint or draw a thing tells students that their own methods are incorrect.
This is often what the student already thinks of their own efforts, and
to show them a way to draw an object in a "better" way further
undermines their confidence in themselves. Giving students my solutions to their creative problems also discourages
problem-solving skills and removes an essential personal struggle that is necessary for creative growth in that student.
Even
more destructive is the fact that their own developing and very
personal vision is questioned. Because my way of drawing a dog or cat
or house looks to the student more like a "real" dog / cat / house etc.,
my way of drawing seems to be the right way, and the student ends up
merely imitating my way of drawing something. But a dog, for example, can be many things. It can be:
There
is no correct way to draw or paint a thing. The hard work and struggle
the student goes through (which ends in achievements far better than
they expected) develops their own vision and helps them to trust their
own judgement and to have confidence and belief in their own ideas.
I
hope that in my classes I create an environment for students to explore
and develop their own interests as well as being introduced to many new
ideas and ways of seeing and creating. I do like to challenge students
to try new things and to push themselves beyond the level that is easy
for them, and to help them make their art more than they expect it can
be. I like to encourage observation, with realism being a part, but not
the essence of well-observed objects. I hope to encourage imaginative
visual problem-solving rather than using ideas from others, although
seeing lots of art from many difference artists is wonderful for opening
a students mind to so many possibilities.
One
last thought: Famous art from the History of Art comes consistently
from artists who break away from set and traditional ideas and who were
determined to make art that was new and particular to their own personality and beliefs.
16 year old student
14 year old student
14 year old student
9 year old student
4 year old student
6 year old student
6 year old student
14 year old student
9 year old student
14 year old student
16 year old student
Self-Portrait
Oil in Canvas
