Book Art

Student teachers... they come and they go. Though they are all learning, some teach me the most fascinating ideas and thoughts while others leave me wondering if they even want to teach! I try to inspire them to want to do the best that they can for their students and to take their job seriously, while still having fun.

A few years back, I was blessed to have L. Rowan, who is now an art teacher in Athens, GA. She was shy when she first came to me, but I knew that she would be fine in her own classroom. I had trouble myself trying to teach in another teacher's classroom! I knew that L. would shine!!

She brought to us a wonderful lesson on book art. Below are some of the pictures. We took old encyclopedias (great way to recycle), and each student was able to mold, manipulate, tear, draw and paint on, and reinvent their book. Many students had trouble defacing such a precious object, but eventually, they got past that. We did state a disclaimer that they did not/do not have permission to go home and tear up their parents' books! Needless to say, we had a great time.

In teaching the book arts, we were able to go over basic book vocabulary, such as backing, deckle, signature, binding, etc. We also learned about a new artist or genre of art with each new section or idea.

The students were taught about various artists, including:

Jim Dine

Jackson Pollock

Robert Rauschenburg  http://www.bobrauschenberggallery.com/rauschenberg_biography.htm

Jasper Johns

Faith Ringgold (of whom I had the pleasure of meeting at a GAEA conference!)

Below are more pages featuring the students' artwork: