We are back! School has started and so has art class. Introduction to art class letters are going home with students after their first art class. Please take the time to read the letter. The letter shares information about our blog (you are here, fantastic!), Artsonia, and my teaching philosophy. It also reminds you to please, please, please send in an art shirt for your child. Art is messy and messy is fun!
Please remember that we are focused on the learning process in this art room. We are learning a variety of techniques, but we are also learning about the artistic process. We are learning about planning, working through mistakes, and evaluating our own work. At the beginning of the year, we are focusing on the basics- things like learning proper procedures and reviewing the elements of art. It may be a few weeks until your child brings anything home from art class, especially in the older grade levels.
One of the things we will address at the beginning of the year is mistakes. We will read Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg and take about mistakes (if you have not read Beautiful Oops, I encourage you to do so, it is a great story for children and adults alike!). Remember art is just as much about the process as the product. I want the students to learn from the process, not create picture perfect copies of my examples. We can learn just as much, if not more, from the mistakes we make. So, always remember in art, it is not a mistake, it is an opportunity.
