Trained as a studio painter, the author, describes the challenges he faced as circumstances forced him to make the transition from studio artist to teacher. For many years he believed that there was no way to get anywhere as an artist If he was not working exclusively in the studio. He felt that if he stopped painting or even dedicated less time…

Teaching high school students the "grammar" of art--the principles and elements of art and design--while also teaching them about creativity and concept can be difficult. This author has found that combining beginning lessons in line, shape, value, texture, form, and color with projects requiring innovation and inspiration, though challenging, is…

This article describes a middle school introductory art lesson that encourages experimentation as an essential part of the creative process. In this lesson, students experiment with different types of media and tools to create an abstract piece that focuses on the most basic element of art--line. Students focus on line quality, focal points,…

The author teaches clay vessel construction in the fifth grade, and it is amazing what can be accomplished in one forty-five minute period when the expectations are clarified in the initial lesson. The author introduces clay coil vessels with a discussion of the sources of clay and how clay relates to fifth-grade science curriculum concepts such…

Most parents and educators are not as familiar or comfortable with the developmental stages that may also occur in three-dimensional work, yet no doubt a similar progression exists. Is there a scribble stage in sculpture? Do children need to master one set of skills before they are able to move on to the next? Do students have opportunity and…

This article offers some ideas about creating mathematical art based on number patterns. It includes a process for students that integrates number and geometry and results in attractive and useful patterned squares. Students may pursue the activity with paper and pencil or they may use computer software like The Geometer's Sketchpad to achieve…

Hollis Sigler was an artist, teacher, and activist. Her works seductively invite us to consider fantasies and challenge to confront the monsters. Sigler's narrative artwork after 1991 focused almost exclusively on issues relating to her and her family's history with breast cancer. It purposefully calls into question the capricious nature of life…

This paper reports part of a phenomenographic inquiry into arts education in early childhood. Research studies into how young children understand and conceive their early arts experiences are limited. In documenting children's views, this study contributes to an understanding of arts education in a preschool context, and raises possibilities for…

When working with very young children and/or students with special needs, it is beneficial for teachers to think "outside the box" in order to preserve and enhance a child's natural curiosity. In an effort to teach young children to control their drawing tools, they are often presented with coloring book-type pages and instructed to "stay inside…

This article presents a lesson called Memory Palaces. A memory palace is a memory tool used to remember information, usually as visual images, in a sequence that is logical to the person remembering it. In his book, "In the Palaces of Memory", George Johnson calls them "...structure(s) for arranging knowledge. Lots of connections to language arts,…

One of the author's earliest recollections is going with her mother up into her grandmother's bedroom to look in a very old chest. The chest contains quilts that have been in the family for generations. Fascinated by quilt colors, designs, and tiny stitches, the author shares this with her fifth-grade classes by making a paper quilt at school.…

This article investigates very young children's use of a stylus-driven, electronic painting and drawing on the tablet PC. The authors compare their development in the use of this device with their use of other mark-making media, including those which derive from pencil and paper technologies and also with mouse-driven electronic paintbox programs.…

The process of art-making is integral to the development of a child's fine motor skills, coordination, and concentration. Therefore, creating an ongoing project one or two weeks in length can benefit both teacher and students. The teacher can assess the children's skills by observing the way they handle materials. Also, after spending valuable…

Drawing helps children organize their ideas for expression in story writing in several ways. Drawing promotes the first writing, and this writing becomes the first reading material that children themselves author. Children draw pictures and write to organize ideas and construct meaning from their experiences. Open-ended opportunities to write and…

Background/Context: For over two decades, the boundaries between the social sciences and the humanities have become blurred, and numerous articles and books have been written about the infusion of the arts in qualitative research as a means to collect and analyze data and to represent findings. Yet these arts-based research processes, although…