Inspiration, Motivation & Choice

HTM Visual Arts Project Name:

To LeT mY mInD wAnDeR

8th Grade Artists By Charlie Linnik GSE Discovery Card

To Let My Mind Wander is a pen and paper project that asks students to daydream, relax and drift away while they are
drawing. Artists where required to create an ever-expanding connected art piece, in that each text, design or illustration either shared the same lines, or touched (no floating separate objects). The class was encouraged to pretend they were the only ones in the room, zone out, listen to music and draw. They were asked to draw whatever pops into their mind, or whatever felt natural for their hand to draw, be it designs (spirals, stripes, swirls, dots, etc.) text or illustrations. These requirements were minimal so that students had the freedom and choice to create something that they liked, or something that felt right for them. What they drew, how they drew was completely up to them. Our goal for this mini-project was to show that creating art relied heavily on imagination, design and our creative thoughts not so much on having technical advance drawing skills, or this natural talent for drawing things realistically. It was a project that showed us that what we create matters more then how we create. Art often relies heavily on the content, meaning and purpose more so then just the aesthetic value. I want them to know their ideas and minds matter to me more then whether they can draw well. I wanted my artists to understand that this class was not particularly about their artistic skills in creating work but their artistic minds. I also wanted to use this project as a way to pull in every single student. I wanted them to approach this project in their own way and start creating what felt natural, comfortable and inspirational to them. I felt that by making this project completely open by giving student choice it would allow all students to succeed in creating an art piece that was completely original, unique, personal and interesting. This project has shown me that I need to incorporate more mini-projects that build confidence in my students, and allow them to re-connect with the feeling of freedom and creativity that art can provide them. Also, giving the students some class time to use art, as a way to relax and breathe is something that the students really needed. The larger projects we do can add stress because of the depth and development of longer larger projects. Having smaller, no-repercussions-except-for-creative-outlet projects give students the opportunity to work on certain skills and confidence. So far this project has been their favorite one (and mine too), and I was very surprised that they preferred having some art classes that were very quite, where they could zone out. The freedom of drawing what they want, and the fact that they did not have to worry about the perfection of aesthetic appearance de-stressed the students, and allowed creativity to sprout. They began to appreciate and understand the importance of thought behind the art, instead of just the appearance. Students were motivated, inspired and proud of their artwork. By having such an open project, where they could draw what they want allowed them to succeed in any level. It gave my students, who felt that they were not so great artists, a boost of confidence and allowed then to feel that they were equally great artists and creators. I would like to do these types of mini-projects more often with my students. Often times I get caught up with larger projects when I teach project-based learning. Even though I scaffold my projects with smaller assignments, it is very different to take time to do small light-hearted pieces of artwork that can stand alone, and with no other reason then joy and the feeling of creative creation. Projects like this allow each student to feel successful and confident when they start larger projects. Having this open access point, and open subject matter helped each and every student feel comfortable and inspired. Letting my mind wander and drift away helped get me in a creative mood, and opened up my mind to different possibilities. My piece came out very different and unique from everyone elses, and I like how it showed my personality Marissa This project was relaxing because we turned down the lights, we got to zone out with our IPODs, and I love that the pictures were so random. It was very freeing and fun. -Eduardo Gonzalez-Arangure

I like that we could draw anything we want, and there were no distractions in the class so we could focus on our art. It was cool because we had no pressure to be good drawers, just good thinkers. That made me feel better as an artist -Sophia Williams