Edmonton, Alberta, Canada was wonderful. The conference was exciting and filled with individuals doing good work. The idea/ideal of Community Engagement vs. Service Learning is a layered and challenging concept. How do we as teachers/professors literally engage members from the community along with our students? How do we make an impact that is self sustaining and viable?
How do we learn to listen to what is needed vs what we think is needed or what we can "offer"? How do we step out of our safe little boxes called school to the real world of life? These are just a few of the questions I came back with.
Jayson and I had the honor of being on a panel with a professor from U of Alabama along with a parent of one the kids in their Saturday Leadership Program. Yes, a parent that shared her fears/concerns/doubt about having to also read the assigned text...to interact with her child over the text and to contribute more than snacks or rides. It was so moving to listen to and feel the new respect this mother had for her child, for learning, for new concepts, for herself. This experience was totally aligned with our keynote speaker who reminded us that true growth is not measured in semesters or years but in life times. That we need to stop focusing on the little date that fills the forms we have to complete and begin to see how communities and families are changed or how they change us. Beautiful message.
We also had the opportunity to visit the Alberta Gallery of Art. I would call this a museum, not a gallery for profit because it was a museum in all senses of the world. They had one of the best selections of shows I have ever experienced. The main show was on Toulouse-Latrate and the community of artist during his time . I learned of the Cate Noir (you may know the famous and often reproduced image of a black cat with the words Cate Noir) but this exhibit explained how it was first a night club or cabaret that was part circus, part theater, part wild part. The posters were wonderful and almost scary....a "no rules" place to be. They housed the Solon of the Incoherent Art (love that title and that thought) ad the put on Shadow Plays, a fore runner to Kara Walker's incredible work.
In the very next gallery there was an installation by Cree artist Amy Malbeuf using tufting as an art form. Tufting is stitching moose hair onto a cloth surface. In her work she uses words to challenge us and our preconceived ideas. One example was " We may be oppressed but at least we aren't depressed". Really moving.
There were a series of art films by artist from the Middle East and a wonderful books store where I found the 3 cataloges on Lyndal Osborne. Look her up. Trained as a printmaker now she works with found materials in large scale installations and walls. Amazing.
So, lots of inspiration and lots of thinking about my work and what I really want to do. I am not sure . Or maybe I am just hesitating because it awkward to begin again, to change my mind or even to just continue on the path I have been following. Art is a tricky lover.
I am impressed by your continued growth and questions.
For this week...what do you need from me. What is missing from this class for you?
I'm leaving town this weekend for a wedding and I have decided to try something out on myself that I want to try with my students. I'm going to come up with 100 concepts/ideas of things I want to make. I'll post the results when I get back! Since I'm losing valuable sculpting time, I thought this might be a good way to be productive in another way.
ReplyDeleteBe safe.
DeleteThis experiment went very well! I didn't quite get 100, but what I did get was invaluable. It was just a brainstorming session that kept spinning off new ideas when I put my mind to it.
DeleteI'm going to use this in my classroom by having my AP students do this over the summer. That was when they get back we can pick out the good ideas and they can just go with their ideas.
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DeleteWow Future! It sounds like you had such a stimulating trip! Take time with all of the information you have soaked in.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I often have too many hands in too many ideas and I can't give my all to just one project. I just want to learn everything, but then I never become an expert at any of them.
How can we stay focused as artists? How do we know which path is the right one? How can I learn everything at once and be an expert on everything at once? (just kidding on that last one...) I realize I probably set unrealistic expectations for myself, and I probably just need to enjoy the journey and the classes and the process and not worry so much about the destination.
You are still learning and growing...do not worry...too many ideas is better than no ideas and artist block!
DeleteDo not judge yourself at this point. I sew you sew a very large work in 3 weeks. You do complete work when you want...just keep following your art heart. Do not worry about be an expert....the best expert I have ever met would tell you they are still learning and have more questions than answers.
Carleen, I feel like the more I jump in and learn, the less i know. I too set unrealistic expectations for myself. I see so much in the world I want to know and learn. Art takes time, learning takes time, all while balancing a life.
DeleteI do have to say I feel drawn to specific art forms more than others and that's how I decide which to study further. I have to weigh how much it will impact my work and current direction. Will it benefit me to use my time learning this? For example, when I took glass this summer I knew it could be a tremendous benefit to my work. It could open up worlds of new ideas to me. The others I have to put on the back burner.
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DeleteThis week I have continued my readings "Daring Greatly" by Brene Brown.
ReplyDeleteI have found myself very vulnerable this week, at school, at home, with my son, and especially with my artwork. It was very hard to post those 2 artworks for fear of rejection and what feedback I may or may not get. So in the chapter I am reading now it talks about when you feel vulnerable to say out loud the things you are grateful for... she says
"I'm feeling vulnerable and I'm so grateful for........"
So here are the things I am grateful for...
My son and his openness and unconditional love, his bright smile and always trying to look at new things in a new way
My Savior, who always welcomes me back in with open arms and forgiveness
My Artistic talent that I am able to express myself with
My parents and their willingness to allow us back into their home as we get back up on our feet
My few true friends that are always there for me no matter what
My Career - I absolutely love my job and waking up each day to go to
My students and their willingness to learn and absorb all that I share with them
My church and how they opened their arms to us and made us feel so right at home.
The opportunities I have been given and the future opportunities that I know are yet to come.
I'm really loving the attitude of gratitude you have! This is something I know I need to do more often, especially on weeks and days when I am feeling vulnerable. Thank you for the reminder!!
DeleteAt this point you all know I might through in a crazy source for your resource. According to Brain research, gratitude actually makes your brain glow on scans.
DeleteI love to honor the sunrise and sunset, the beauty of a falling leaf and the song of a bird. Sometimes for me it is little things that make my day a new beginning.
DeleteYou might also look at the book by 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I never finished it, but many of my friends have had their lives changed by the idea of finding things to be grateful for in the way she presents. She's a Christian and bases it on her faith. You might enjoy it!
DeleteThanks Martha! I will look into it!
DeleteThank you for sharing those wonderful thoughts of yours.We have so many things to be grateful for, and oftentimes I miss out by not realizing this is my own life!
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DeleteAs you all might know: I am grappling with the concept of home and safe. What makes a home? What does that look like? Is a home bricks and mortar or people? Where is your safe place? Is it a home? Is it in nature? What are symbols of home? Do we have heroic journeys which bring us home?
ReplyDeleteSome of you may also know that the first line of Dante's(Commedia) Inferno is very meaningful to me. Dante himself had to leave his home, exiled never to return. And yet, he writes the most important work in the Italian language. His poem rivals Homer's poems and is the basis of many of concepts of hell. Dante influenced people like Milton to Dan Brown.
To me Dante was exploring home--in a Dante way. Each circle was filled with people he knew from home. He was saved by his childhood sweetheart and great love, Beatrice. (people can even make hell feel like home)
DeleteI am still reading my demographic studies as I figure out the iconography and psychology of home. Notice the our (not a my)--we are journeying together.
Here is the first line of Dante. It brings tears to my eyes as a tender and universal truth.
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
ché la diritta via era smarrita.
Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.
For the straightway path had been lost.
DeleteBeautiful
DeleteHome is seen new from afar. I know that from childhood I was a "nester" making little homes in my side of the bedroom, little areas for my stuffed toys to live safely, making motel room home like and always willing to paint a wall to make it feel like home. The home of my heart/ of acceptance/ of safety , the home I seek.
Home to me is people and experiences. Making waffles on Christmas Eve is home to me. Watching my mom make homemade toffee is home. Obviously food plays a big part of that! I've talked about it before, but I have so many food memories that revolve around home. Even though I can't eat most of it any more due to health reasons, I love to be around my family with those memories and moments.
DeleteThose are the best memories Martha!
DeleteI am also a nester. Wherever I have lived, it has always been of great import to make my space - however small - "mine". For those of you who were my class with Ed, I discussed the year I spent in my own "hell" when I had no choice but to live at my dad and stepmom's home. I was not allowed to nest at all and the ramifications of that year took what seemed like eons to recover from.
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ReplyDeleteThis past weekend I drove to Houston again to attend my second book making class. I was planning on driving down Thursday night, spending the day at the beach on Friday and then attend the workshop on Saturday, but I decided I needed to stay home. I was more interested in getting two good nights sleep (as well as less expensive) even if I did miss the beach! I woke up very early Saturday and drove there and back in one day, so SUnday I was pretty tired and just hung out around my home trying to review all the information I learned on Saturday! This workshop encompassed to additional types of book binding using Long Stitch and Tacket Binding. The instructor had only four hours in which to teach these two bindings and we did not have the use of the big room in which to spread out. The two books we made in the class do not look as "professional" as the books I bound in my first class, mainly because the materials we used were not as good quality, but with practice and more time I think that these two techniques will make some beautifully creative bound books. On Sunday I practiced the tacket stitch technique making a tiny red leather bound book. I will post pictaures later as I am still at school now. I have ordered the "500 books" and am waiting eagerly for it to arrive.
ReplyDeleteAlso, here is a link to a personal interview with some photos of my artwork and my first three bound books.
http://udallasnews.com/2014/10/14/the-maker-at-the-meyerson-symphonic-sketches/
What a beautiful tribute to you in that article. Your drawing is lovely. I appreciated your comments about making. I get very lost in not living up to my own expectations in how much I should be working. Just an hour or two a night feels miniscule. However, it adds up over the years to show a lifetime of work and new found appreciation for creating.
DeleteWhat a great article. How cool is it that the author happened upon you working on your Art?!? What a wonderful coming together of the minds of two people who value the Arts yet come from different backgrounds. I really like you sketch, how loose it is, how you can feel the movement and the mood. It reminds me of Degas work in someways.
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