...on my day off from teaching art...I teach art. Yep, can't get enough apparently! I got a chance to sub for Mrs. Tina at Muzart and it was so much fun! The kiddos were working on coffee-themed pieces for an upcoming show at Starbucks...and I know a thing or two about coffee and I love to paint so it was a perfect match! Can't wait to see their work hanging up! After my class I had a BIG early birthday surprise waiting downstairs...literally, it was a large box! John ordered a dress form for my birthday and, well, it arrived early! I wanted a dress form to work on a project that I have...kind of under wraps for now but...I think it could be awesome and I am so excited...can't wait to share more...but that's for later! Back to the dress form...I have actually wanted one for a long time. I think that I first realized I wanted one back in 2011 when I attended SDA Confluence...that was what jump started this here blog and laid the foundation for me to rekindle my artistic inspiration...then later join up with the whole Creative Every Day movement...and I have been making art everyday since January 2012...but truly, I owe it all to attending that workshop. (For more info, click here!) Well, anyway...here are some pics from that time in my life...kind of a big ol' throwback Thursday, I guess. My very own dress form is assembled and waiting...I am so excited...more to come! Oh, and her name is Molly. I wanted to call her Ms Gunn (to pay tribute to Tim, of course!)...but John said no, that was weird. So...Molly it is! ...THANK YOU AGAIN JOHN FOR MY EARLY B-DAY PRESENT!
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I am going to start tree twenty-five, really I am…but I did get a little side-tracked this morning. I finished up and submitted my final reflections for my experience as an SDA Scholar at the Confluence in June. Keep in mind that it was my participation in Anna Carlson’s workshop that really did inspire me to start blogging, to really make an effort to write about my process and my art. I don’t know if anyone reads this blog besides me, but I really do enjoy sitting down and reflecting on what and why I am creating. Now, don’t let the occasional grammatical flub fool you- I feel like I am better able to articulate about my art just from sitting and writing about it via this blog. (Mrs. Aldridge, if you ever read my blog please forgive my lapse in syntax and love for commas.)
Attending the Surface Design Confluence in Minneapolis really made me awaken artistically and I know that this growth will also show in my teaching. I am going to post my reflective essay below along with the six pictures that I submitted. I think that the reflection, or parts of it anyway, and some of the pictures may be published on the SDA web site or via their on-line journal. I do want to acknowledge again what an impact attending this particular conference has had on me. So, here is what I wrote…if you know me you can skip the first paragraph… My name is Jennifer Love Gironda. I currently teach art to grades 5-8 at Indiantown Middle School, which is a small school of four hundred students. I just completed my eight year of teaching; I have taught art to all levels, K-12 in those eight years. I earned my MAEd and BFA from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina where I was inspired to study textiles by my Surface Design Professor, Christine Zoller. I am a National Board Certified Teacher in the area of Early and Middle Childhood Education and I am also an avid grant writer. I recently joined the Surface Design Association, and was thrilled when I found out that I would attend my first conference as an SDA Scholar. What an honor. The workshop that I signed up for was Anna Carlson’s Beyond One of a Kind: Creating Collections, Series and Signature Style. I had two main reasons for choosing this particular workshop; artistic and professional growth. On a personal and artistic level, I signed up for this workshop to do a little soul searching and to get these hands creating meaningful work again. I graduated from my masters program in May of 2009. In my last semester I felt like I had really started to find my aesthetic. I was working with hand-dyed and fused fabrics at the time, which I heavily embellished and then combined with my drawing and painting works on paper. I felt like I was finding my voice. However, then I graduated and the work seemed to just…stop. I have done some work here and there since graduate school, but I felt like I was just making work that did not have a connection; work that I was not connected to. Sitting in Anna Carlson’s workshop the first day and watching her introductory PowerPoint, I knew that I had picked the right workshop for me. The whole purpose of the workshop was to identify personal style and aesthetic and then to learn how to push past just making that one piece to really exploring a complete, cohesive, body of work. I was able to discuss my work and inspirations with an amazing group of women, and to get feedback and direction. The in-depth exploration of my aesthetic, and looking for recurring themes in my own work helped me to see that I have little pieces of me in all of my work, I just never allowed myself to push past that one piece. On a professional level, this workshop has many applications. First and foremost, maintaining my own direction and learning directly impacts my students, they always benefit from my professional growth. In addition, anyone that has ever worked with students can tell you of the dreaded, “I’m finished.” I saw this workshop as an opportunity to learn how I could push my students beyond the initial point of completing a work and really delving into a study of a subject or a theme. I had become so used to just ‘doing’ that I forgot the how and why. I will take from this workshop a focus on reflection and looking for connections not only in my students’ art but in my curriculum planning. I have the potential to help my students really connect to their work and make art that is meaningful to them. I am currently enjoying the last of my summer break. Since conference I have taught two art camps to students ages 5-7 and worked on lesson plans for my own students in the fall. One thing that I have noticed since I returned from the SDA Confluence is my desire to have a textile reference or technique in all that I do, and I am excited about infusing my curriculum with surface design. In addition to planning for the next school year, I have started an art blog, which I write in almost daily. I realized that I am heavily influenced by Gustav Klimt and Alphonse Mucha, so I committed to creating ten 18x24 tree pieces combing what I love about these two artists. After the first ten drawings were done I decided to just keep pushing myself (thank you, Anna) and now I am on to drawing number twenty-four and still going. I have plans to work with a variety of painting and collage techniques and to return to the fused fabrics and beading that I fell in love with in graduate school. I feel more aware of myself as an artist and a creative spirit as a result of the SDA Confluence and I am excited to see my passion extend into my teaching this coming fall. So, that is what I submitted. I am not great a proof reading so I am sure that there are some mistakes, but I wrote it down- I got it out there. If by chance any of my fellow art teachers are reading and want to know more about the Surface Design Association and the SDA Scholar program, here is the link to their site: http://www.surfacedesign.org. And now.. what else? Starting tree #25, which will be interrupted by a trip to Michaels and lunch, but nonetheless, I am starting it and that has to count for something. Hello! My name is Jennifer Love Gironda, known to some as Mrs. G, Coach, JLove, Jenny, ‘da muse… it’s all the same. My intention is to use this blog to stay motivated and to write about my work, or works in progress...or any other creative thing I am working on. Let me say that I am trying to start this blog with somewhat of a grammatical structure…but I do love some e.e. cummings so it might be inevitable that as the blog grows my attention to syntax may fall to the wayside. Also, there probably won’t be a continuous flow; I am just going to write what I know about my art, the act of making art and all of the happenings that impact these two things. So…here goes. I just got back from an amazing trip to Minneapolis, where I attended the Surface Design Association Confluence. One word- inspired. But I get inspired often, and I get excited and start something…alas, life gets in the way, or that’s my excuse at least. One of my struggles as an artist has been deciding what to do, figuring out what it is that I need to get out…will I paint it, draw it, bead it? All of the above. I attended a workshop with Anna Carlson focused on moving past just the first piece, hence the title of the workshop, ‘Beyond One of a Kind: Creating Collections and Signature Style.’ I feel more confident in my work after the experience; I do have some reoccurring elements and concepts in my work, so I just need to delve into them more. We participated in activities ranging from evaluating our own work and influence to presenting to the group and getting feedback. Perfect start to my summer break, I needed this. I am going to start small, just start with this weekend. My goal for today was to get this here art blog up and running- check. (Insert pat on back, celebratory jig, etc here) Now my focus for the weekend is just to get some drawing done. I had not drawn in a while prior to the workshop…forgot how much I love to draw…how much I need to sketch. When I sit down with that blank piece of paper I have so many questions, occasionally I can work these out through the act of sketching. I wore out my trusty ink pen from the El Inn in Kyoto (best pen EVER)… I dulled my new drawing pencils…I made marks. So…gonna sketch. The pic posted here is one of the sketches from the plane trip back to FL. Gustav Klimt is such an inspiration to me…so I looked at one his pieces, pulled out the largest shapes and then put the print away and just let my hands travel across the page. I really became aware of my love for spirals while drawing this piece. Working on a Mucha-inspired sketch tonight… let the journey begin. |
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