First 6th Grade Art Unit of the Year
6th grade tool drawings (in-progress critique). Master artist: Jim Dine
Hi There!
This is a photo of an end of class critique with 6th graders on Monday. We have been learning about the work of American artist Jim Dine, specifically his tool drawings. We learned a bit about his childhood and the time he spent helping out at his grandfather’s hardware store, where tools became “like relatives” to him (nga.org). Using Dine as a master artist, students drew a tool of their choice from observation. They used line first, then moved into using a full value range (art pencils and charcoal). They were required to fill the page and pay close attention to accurate proportion, positive space, and negative space. So far, I think they are really doing a great job. Student handled the critique with respect, making insightful, constructive comments that reflected their acquired knowledge. I was very proud of them! We are very close to being finished, which means I get to hang the first hallway gallery show of the year very soon!
Are You Ready?
"Out-of-the-Blue Monster", mixed media monotype, c. Nancy Mitchell, 2010
Hi there!
Is it just me, or does it seem like the school year came around ‘out of the blue?’ This here is a fun little mixed media monster monotype that I recently made, and it seemed appropriate to post it here. I want you to know that these prints were originally inspired by my 6th grade students from last year -who are now big ole 7th graders 
You guys remember, don’t you? How you love to swirl lots of paint around on a slippery piece of palette paper at clean up time and then press or print it onto some nice white paper? And then we’d all try to guess what it looked like (kind of like a Rohrschach test)?
Well–the monsters came out of that process You might be happy to know that I’ve been selling them pretty regularly at the Visionary Art Museum gift shop (The Sideshow), and that all proceeds go to benefit professional artists in Haiti recovering from the earthquake!
Like all the teachers at Patapsco, I’ve been really busy getting the room ready for all of you. We have a NEW printing press, more silkscreens, lots of clay, paint, charcoal, ink, drawing pencils—and everything else we want to get into this year to make new creative discoveries, advance our skills and HAVE FUN!
See you MONDAY!
I SPY comes to the Walters!
Hot off the Press from The Baltimore SUN:
Walter Wick: Games, Gizmos and Toys in the Attic
What? August Already?
"Two More Monsters" c. 2010 Nancy Mitchell
Well, I can hardly believe it, and I know you can’t either! I’ve been thinking about my students and my room and all the fun we’re going to have and the art we’re going to make!
I just added a new page called ART CLASS Q & A. You’ll find it with all the tabs up top here on the home page. It is the last tab of the list. I encourage you to read it, especially if you are an incoming 6th grader! If anyone, student or parent, has a question they’d like answered directly, type it into the comment section at the bottom of that page. I will publish any answers, so check back often!
Don’t forget–We have GREAT local museums and galleries in Baltimore. The Walters and The Baltimore Museum of Art are always free. This is the perfect time to go. There is a new medieval manuscript show at the Walters based on the theme of Games and Play. (“Checkmate! Medieval People at Play.“) It was so cool to see a centuries year old manuscript of people throwing snowballs at each other. Check it out–it will put a smile on your face!
Enjoy the rest of the summer! See you soooooon!!
New Show at AVAM co-curated by Matt Groening of Simpson’s Fame!
When I was 12, I wanted to be a museum curator. My parents took me to the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Museum (back then called the Walters Art Gallery) pretty frequently (lucky me!). Anyway, I distinctly remember, and I suppose this desire never left me, that I wanted to be the person who got to set up the rooms, who got to select and (gasp!) TOUCH everything!! The (then) small re-creations of the Cone sister’s rooms behind thick glass were like a tractor beam to my 12 year old imagination. Oh, if I could JUST get behind that glass and arrange things!!! Now, at the BMA you can go on a touch-screen interactive of their apartment and are no longer separated from the treasures by glass, but still…
http://www.artbma.org/collection/overview/cone.html
So when our pals at the Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore told us a month or so ago that the word on the street was that the NEW show would be curated by Matt Goening and “the guy that worked on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse”, I nearly jumped for joy! What might those kooks dream up?
Alfred E. Newman Headboard, detail Patty Kuzbida
Turns out JOY is just what they’re thinking of. In October of 2010, we will all be delighted I’m sure to see “What Makes Us Smile”: the theme of the new exhibition at AVAM. “This mega exhibition on the timeless and global phenomena of smiling, laughter and humor will include contributions by dozens of artists…” PLUS it will mark AVAM’s 15 year aniversary!!
If you are a student of mine, you can be sure these happy themes will be making their way into our art lessons. Not to minimize the importance of some of the major tragedies happening on our planet right now, but it may do us all a lot of good to embrace a little humor! And you better just get used to the idea again now, because you know that like last year, every day I’ll be bugging all of you to get out and see the show! Till then, read more here
http://www.avam.org
Ansel Adams in COLOR?! Who knew??
I just received my latest issue of Smithsonian magazine in the mail. In it was an article on the color photography of Ansel Adams. How did I go my WHOLE LIFE and never realize that he made color photos along with his iconic black and white, larger than life images. This one is my favorite (1939!!)
Excerpted from the book Ansel Adams in Color. Copyright © 1993, 2009 by Trustees of The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust. Reprinted with permission of Little, Brown and Company
THIS is the kind of image I love to just sit and stare at–like listening to a piece of well-composed music, this picture has nothing unnecessary in it. The repetition of the towers, cars and smoke create not only a kind of pattern, but a real visual RHYTHM that you can feel and even hear in your imagination! The predominance of cool blues contrasted with just a hint of its complementary color, the warm orange from the rising sun reminds me of what it feels like to have to wake up early on a cold morning and get ready for work. It is strangely quiet and busy at the same time….sleepy but full of potential energy. The best part about it is that I don’t have to go anywhere or do anything! I can just sit back and enjoy this exquisite photo!
Please visit the Smithsonian link to the slide show of other works and quotes from the artist here:
Our Voice
CONGRATULATIONS to the Patapsco Middle School art students to be published in this year’s edition of Our Voice, the Howard County Public Schools Art and Literary Magazine for all Middle School students in the county!
Drew W. (8th grade, self portrait)
Elly J. (8th grade, self portrait)
John O. (8th grade, ceramic dragon sculpture)
Ashley Mae K. (8th grade, self portrait)
I will see you at the reception June 3rd!!
Hearts for Haiti
underglazed hearts ready to be fired c)nancyleemitchell 2009
This is a detail shot of small ceramic hearts that are serving a really special purpose. This year in art, all 6th graders will receive 6 hours of Student Service Learning credit in their art class learning about the art, culture and history of Haiti and creating one-of-a-kind, hand-molded ceramic hearts that will be sold in the internationally recognized American Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore, Maryland! Ted Frankel, the proprietor of the museum store (called “the Sideshow”) is on the board of directors for Art Creation Foundation for Children in Jacmel, Haiti. When he returned from a visit there this summer, I met with him in his store. He told me he had been at the Art Creation Foundation giving sculpture workshops to the 60 children there. He showed me tons of gorgeous pictures of Jacmel, the cultural arts center of Haiti, and led me to a wall where the artwork the children had made was displayed. Of course, I had to buy one for my home! He explained that after the workshop, he offered to buy the children’s art. What he paid for it was, in most cases, more than their own parents make in a month. That is because, sadly, most people in Haiti live UNDER the Universal Poverty Line that has been established by the World Health Organization. (Universal Poverty Line = $1.00 USD per day).
(Just imagine for a moment buying a $4.00 ice cream cone at Maggie Moos and having to pay FOUR DAYS WAGES for it. Yeah. It’s like that.)
I told Ted about the hearts and my desire to use the visual arts to help the world’s most vulnerable children. Hearts for Haiti was born. We both thought it a wonderful idea if my art students would make the hearts (and I know some of you already did at the end of last school year 
and he would sell them in his shop. I requested a price of $1.00 each, to represent the Universal Poverty Line income level.
I am happy to report that the hearts have been selling OUT at his store!!
So this school year, all 6th graders will get the chance to join in on this worthy cause. The art you create will directly benefit 60 children in Jacmel, all who are around your age, who, before being accepted into ACFFC were not even getting one meal on a daily basis and had never had the opportunity for an education! We are also very fortunate to have, in the art room, actual artwork made by the children in Jacmel. Paper Mache is the traditional medium used in the very strong visual arts culture in Jacmel. the children there are learning directly from master artists, and will one day grow up to have marketable skills, helping to break the chains of poverty.
For MUCH more information and pictures, I invite you to visit my blog on the project (soon to be YOUR blog too!) AND the site for the foundation in Haiti:
www.arthelpingchildren.blogspot.com
www.artforhaitianchildren.org
Art is Where You Find it
( Pierrot Barra, Batou, 1997. Recycled plastic dolls and boat, October Gallery, London)
It has been a long time since I wrote an “art is where you find it” post, but I’m rather in the mood to just now….
This evening I was reading about the many different cultural influences on Haitian art work. One author described the sculptures of Haitian artist (Pierrot Barra) as interpretations of the mysterious, the unknown “lurking in plastic, plaster and paper imports (transforming) foreign detritus into objects of sacred art.”
Haiti, one of the world’s poorest countries, has one of the richest cultures of visual art. And in Haiti, art can literally be made out of anything: discarded bits of fabric, string, sequins, plastic, beads, wood, bottles–whatever is immediately available. It is the insight of the artist that brings transformation unto what would otherwise be regarded as trash, as useless scraps. In our throw-away society, on this earth over-burdened with waste, reusing materials such as cardboard, plastic, string and cloth to create an art work seems like a kind of magic to me.
Many of my students this year will experience the excitement of transforming humble materials into works of art. I have been stockpiling everything I can get my hands on and have had lots of help from other teachers at Patapsco too! Who knows what you might transform!
Back to School!
(One of the first chalk pastel drawings by my dad, who is 65, and just starting to get into making art. SEE? It’s never too late to start learning!!)
Can you believe summer break is over already? While you enjoy your last week of vacation, I will be back at school with the rest of the Patapsco staff getting ready for your arrival.
Make sure you bring the following things to art class:
YOU: On Time
A Pencil
A Big Eraser (I have some, but they go FAST)
An Open Mind
Good Manners
Willingness to try new materials and processes
A healthy spirit of play and experimentation
That’s it? YES! That’s it. Middle school is a time when there is a HUGE range of art ability that the students bring to the table. It is not unusual to see a 6th grader that draws on a high school level and an 8th grader that draws on an elementary school level, and everything in between. Like learning an instrument, practice = improvement. It really is that simple. I will strive to meet you at YOUR level of need, I will encourage and challenge you, and hopefully, I will be able to expand your mind about the vitally important role the visual arts play in history and cultures from around the world from pre-historic times to the present. You will be graded on your effort to meet all clearly stated objectives at your level of ability, on an individual basis.
And you know what? You might not love every single finished piece of art you make. Just like an instrument, you’re not going to play every song perfectly, every time. It isn’t about that. It’s about pushing yourself to try new things and make creative discoveries. The only way you can “fail” art class is to do nothing or not try.
Bring a spirit of play and adventure with you, and let’s have a great year!
