After four years of trial and error in finding the right sketchbooks for my students I think I may have finally cracked it! I order them these beautiful ProArt hardbound sketchbooks that are only five and a half by eight inches. They are easy to cary and somehow incredibly pleasing in their small size. The girls... Continue Reading →
This Year Interior design projects have become a somewhat permanent addition to my curriculum. While I am always tweaking and changing my lesson plans each year, this one feels fully developed and I think it's here to stay. What I might change next year would be small things like what artists I introduced during this unit,... Continue Reading →
"For our last unit, Ms. Cowan introduced our Studio Art II class to the craft of bookmaking. Not only were we creating books to physically use, but our creations were something I had never associated with books before: sculptural works of art. Well-crafted books serve their practical purposes well, but in this unit, we stressed... Continue Reading →
So, STEAM. It's my cross-curricular curriculum of choice. I’m doing it now, as we speak, I even presented with my colleague down in Richmond this summer at the NCGS convention, but I haven’t mentioned much about it this past year. It was my, or I should say our, first year last year. So, STEAM, who,... Continue Reading →
I know, I know, it's October, but September is a busy month for teachers, especially this one. I have been very busy adjusting for the exciting new changes that came with this year. To begin with, we have two new teachers in our upper school visual art department. That makes four of us. We have... Continue Reading →
What drives me crazy every year is the conflict between my compulsion to document and the impossible task of doing so. It is not feasible for me to record, and keep track of, every single wonderful thing that happens at my wonderful school. But I try. To fill in some of the gaps here is a quick... Continue Reading →
Fall has finally really begun, and the leaves are beginning to change. In Foundations of Studio Art, for the past two weeks, and the next two weeks, we are dedicating our time to creating sound art. We defined sound art as "a term for a diverse set of art practices which utilize sound and listening as the... Continue Reading →
I am taking on a summer course at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. It is called Multi-Dimensional Studio. My explanation of the course for our school website goes as follows: "An exploration in the decorative and fine art, Multi-Dimensional Studio will challenge students to find new meaning in art through studio work and... Continue Reading →
The summer is finally over and I am two weeks deep into work at my new school, which we will call "The Girls School." I have been busy with my move from Philadelphia to Washington, DC and the transition to my new job, but I feel like it is important to get some documentation from... Continue Reading →
For one module, to coincide with African American History's curriculum, we studied the art of the Harlem Renaissance. The first artist we looked at was Aaron Douglas. We studied his paintings and focused on the key vocabulary that is important when looking at his work: silhouette, skylines, and symbolism. The students were then challenged to paint... Continue Reading →
Emma Teaches Art! 