2010 Resume - Art Educator

Christina Hahn - Art Educator

502 Tower Road, Sellersville, PA 18960
Tel: 267-566-0269
devlinshire@gmail.com

PROFILE

Professional art educator with a Masters degree in Teaching Visual Arts seeks a full-time opportunity in a k-12 environment. Dynamic fine art and digital art skills. Strong verbal and written communication skills. Demonstrated and enduring commitment to arts education.

SUMMARY OF SKILLS/SOFTWARE PROFICIENCY

• Excellent organizational and time management skills
• Superb communication skills (verbal, visual and written)
• 2D and 3D design (drawing, painting, printmaking, digital art, fibers, ceramics, sculpture, mixed media, cake arts)
• Experience in performing arts (dance and theater)
• Honed computer skills and working knowledge of several software programs and hardware, including Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook); Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, InDesign); Corel Painter 11; Flash and Dreamweaver; video and animation; post-script printers and scanners. Mac and PC literate

EDUCATION, HONORS, AWARDS, ACTIVITIES

University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 2007-2009

MAT – Masters of Teaching Visual Arts

Academic Honors. Artwork included in “Wish You Were here” exhibit in the Provost’s office within the University of the Arts in May 2009. Member of NAEA and PAEA since 2007. Participation in community initiative to bring visual arts to Philadelphia schools without a full- or part-time art educator on staff. Participation in the University of Arts Saturday Arts Lab program as a co-teacher for k-2 students. Participation in art museum education program at the Philadelphia Museum of Art for pre-K students, ages 3-5.

Bucks County Community College, Newtown, PA, 2005-2007

24 credits in Fine/Visual Arts

Academic honors. Artwork featured in the 2007 student art show and on the back cover of the 2007 Bucks County Community College Fall catalog.

Art Institute of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 2002-2003

36 credits toward a Bachelor of Science in Animation and Graphic Design

Holy Family College, Newtown, PA, 2000

6 credits earned toward a Masters of Elementary/Special Education.

University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, 1993-1997

Bachelor of Arts in English/ Minor in Philosophy

Academic honors. Dean’s and Chancellor’s List. Member of Phi Beta Kappa. Additional credits earned in Dance and Theater.

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS

PA Teaching Certification in Art k-12 (Instructional I).

RELATED EXPERIENCE

Per Diem Substitute Teacher, Substitute Teaching Service (STS), Horsham, PA, November 2009 – present

Providing instruction to k-12 students in four area school districts (Methacton, Upper Perkiomen, Upper Moreland, Hatboro-Horsham) in all subject areas.

Per Diem Substitute Teacher, North Penn School District, Montgomery County, November 2009 - present

Providing instruction to k-12 students in all subject areas, with a primary focus in Art.

5-7-2 Cakes, Sellersville, PA, January 2010 - present

Per diem cake sculptor and decorator for home-based business. Skills include designing, building, painting and sculpting cakes for special occasions and to the specific creative expectation of each client.

Nanny, Private Residence, Ambler, PA, 2007-present

Per diem caregiver of two pre-school toddlers. Provide early childhood instructional education (visual arts, language and reading skills, physical play, etc.) in addition to basic childcare responsibilities.

Graduate Student/Student Art Teacher, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, 2007-2009

Student art teacher at Knapp Elementary School (Lansdale, PA) and Pennfield Middle School (Hatfield, PA) in the North Penn School District, providing a combined 375 hours of assisted and full-time instruction from January – May 2009. Graduate assistant and teacher in the Saturday Arts Lab school. Participation in the University of the Arts service learning initiative at the following Philadelphia schools: Pennypacker Elementary, High School of the Future, Fairmount Early Intervention and DiSylvestro Elementary; primary art educator for in-school and after-school art programs. Participation in pre-K, art museum education program at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Participation in all aspects of on-campus art exhibitions for Philadelphia k-12 students.Instruction in and experience with curriculum development and lesson planning for k-12 art classrooms.

Apprentice Classroom Teacher (Sixth Grade), School District of Philadelphia, Fitzsimons Middle School, May 1999 -September 1999

Instructed middle school students in Math, English and Science. Planned lessons and adhered to curriculum. Participated in summer school instruction in Math and English at Julia de Burgos Middle School.

OTHER EXPERIENCE

Marketing/Publicity Coordinator/Executive Assistant, Baylin Artists Management, Doylestown, PA, 2004-2006

Oversaw all publicity/marketing for artist management company, including the writing/editing of press materials (i.e. media, images, press reviews, paste-ups, etc.) and distribution. Designed and oversaw advertisements/promotional materials for industry publications, such as Dance Magazine; Managed revisions and updates for company Web site; Maintained extensive image library and all other visual indication. Operations management and general administrative duties, including answering phones, light accounting, direct mailing (large scale), maintaining supply inventory (both publicity and overall office inventory), IT support and conference/ travel planning for President/Owner. Managed one part-time assistant.

Freelance Designer/Editor/Writer, Various Locations in PA, 2004-2007

Wrote and edited marketing/public relation communications (Web copy, a weekly newsletter, e-mail blasts, etc.), as well as performed graphic design/layout, when necessary, for Teho Designs (Langhorne, PA), www.davedevlin.com (Langhorne, PA), www.devlinpro.com (Westchester, PA) and the Sustainable Energy Fund (Allentown, PA).

Project Designer, Rosenbluth International (currently American Express), Philadelphia, PA, 2000-2004

Managed, researched, wrote, edited/proofread and designed deadline-driven, B2B proposals, presentations, advertisements, product launches, event communications, multimedia projects, the Web, etc., to grow the travel management business from the initial strategy session through production. Worked with Content Editors/Web Designer/Event Planners to innovate, write and editcontent/copy for all marketing vehicles, database management and case studies; conducted research (both online and verbal) in order to communicate in a clear, comprehensive manner for internal as well as public use. Demonstrated creativity through layout,design, copywriting and concept development for e-advertising, print, product/service launches and invitations; assisted with brand communication, logo designs and multimedia projects. Illustrated company holiday card in 2001. Conducted in-house production, including printing and binding, and worked with outside vendors, when necessary. Managed and created PowerPoint presentations for both a high-level, post-acquisition meeting for use by company executives as well as an internal presentation to support change management. Handled and coordinated multiple projects at one time on tight deadline and led various projects upon assignment.

REFERENCES

Available upon request.

Christy Hahn

Philosophy of Teaching

"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." - Albert Einstein

It is my intention to direct the focus of my professional career and goals toward art education because I am passionate about self-expression, creativity and education, and feel that these passions can help to maintain the importance of visual arts in our schools, communities and society as a whole. It is my belief that art education provides students with opportunities for individual expression, creative possibility and exploration and multicultural diversity. Art is a basic component of our every day, engaging our senses and enhancing our awareness of the world around us. Art is a reflective backdrop for our reality and it deserves a certain respect and recognition within our education system. It is of the utmost importance that we procure an artistic tradition for generations to come and I plan to maintain and demonstrate this ideal in my classroom and throughout my career.

True Lies: Distorting Reality in Hyperrealist Art

It has been said that art imitates life, but through whose reality? Hyperrealist artists successfully imitate life while simultaneously exaggerating it. In doing so, they can confuse and control a viewer’s reality leaving them questioning what is real and what is not.

Hyperrealism is a recent movement in art, which exists as an outgrowth of the Photorealism movement of the late 1950s. In fact, the French word Hyperealisme was coined in 1973 to mean photorealism. Unlike photorealism, which results in painting directly from a photograph, hyperrealism incorporates the use of photographs as reference, but distorts highly-realistic work and blurs the line between reality and fantasy. Examples of common hyperrealities are television (namely “reality” TV), movies and amusement parks.

Artist: Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck is an Australian hyperrealist sculptor who currently works in England. Mueck began his artistic career as a modelmaker, puppeteer, and animatronics/prop creator, making a name for himself through children’s television shows (Sesame Street, The Muppets), movies (Jim Henson’s Labyrinth starring David Bowie), and advertising. While creating photorealistic animatronics and props for the advertising industry through his own company in London, Mueck came to the conclusion that “photography pretty much destroys the physical presence of the original object” (http://paintalicious.org/2007/09/14/ron-mueck-hyper-realist-sculptor.html). He then began experimenting with fine art and sculpture using fiberglass, silicone, acrylic, and cast models made of clay.

Mueck’s sculptures are highly-realistic, yet under- or overexaggerated, inciting curiosity and immediate reaction. His attention to detail with regard to skin folds, hair, and the like is incredible. The “psychological confrontation for the viewer is to recognize and assimilate two contradictory realities” (http://paintalicious.org/2007/09/14/ron-mueck-hyper-realist-sculptor.html): the human figure depicted with detail and care and the apparent distortion of size. His sculptures are recognizable yet abnormal, and he controls the experience of the viewers by confusing them.

Untitled (Boy) is a larger-than-life sculpture of a what appears to be a teenage boy ducking or crouching in fear of the viewer. The boy gazes out over the viewer with a look of apprehension and guilt. He is too big for his surroundings; yet he is trying to hide from them. Hiding from anyone or anything is virtually impossible for this boy, considering his absurd size.

Untitled (Boy), 1991, Ron Mueck, mixed media, 16.4 ft.

In Bed is a 5 x 21.25 x 13 ft. sculpture of what appears to be a worried or sickly woman lying in bed. It is as if she is unaware of her audience and is caught in deep thought as she stares out a window or into space. Her body is hidden under a white sheet and it is not clear if she is wearing clothing.

In Bed, 2005, Ron Mueck, mixed media, 5 x 21.25 x 13 ft.

Artist: Audrey Flack

Audrey Flack started her career as one of the major American photorealists of the 1970s. In the early 1980s, however, she began experimenting with dye transfer photography and sculpture and has put her painting career to rest. Even though Audrey Flack is considered a photorealist, many also consider her work hyperrealist. Her use of color, paint application, subject matter, and composition add a dreamy or fantastical quality to completed paintings.

Marilyn (Vanitas), 1997, Audrey Flack, oil over acrylic, 96 x 96 in.

Marilyn (Vanitas) is based on both the Dutch vanitas paintings of the 16th and 17th centuries as well as the famous celebrity and Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe. Flack uses several different objects and colors to convey a message about Marilyn Monroe as the viewer’s eye moves around the circular pattern the objects create. Flack has included specific objects that are symbolic of several themes related to life and death. “To Flack, Marilyn Monroe represented a deep pain and a deep beauty. She affected both men and women equally and that is why Flack considers this painting androgynous” (http://cda.morris.umn.edu/~lamberts/audreyflack/marilyn).

Artist: Walt Disney & Disneyland

Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, Disneyland, 1955. Anaheim, CA. 77 ft. (total height).


Walt Disney, 1966.

Walt Disney was a pioneer, visionary and, more importantly, a dreamer. Through his animated movies, characters and the design and construction of both Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, in 1954 (opened 1955) and in the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL, in 1971, he has left his legacy of imagination and innovation.

Disneyland, the first of the conceptual theme parks created by Walt Disney, is fantasy within reality. Walt Disney used both his imagination and his childhood roots to form the ideas for the look and feel of the park. Visitors enter another world when they enter Disneyland, where they are bombarded with sensory experiences through imagery, color, sound, smells, and movement. Once visitors cross into Disneyland, they seemingly leave one reality and enter another. Since its opening day, Disneyland has been visited by over 515 million guests.

At Disneyland, designers created the first physical space conceptualized as an interactive experience using cinemagraphic storytelling devices to choreograph the free movements of visitors through a three dimensional fantasy movie. Sequences of spaces and transitions were carefully planned to combine disparate elements into a cohesive whole (http://www.landliving.com/articles/0000000073.aspx).

Studio Activity: My Personal Hyperreality

Look around your home and gather five, simple 3-D shapes or objects, such as boxes and cans, of different sizes. Set up a still life with the objects, to resemble a landscape or city. Place very small items (such as push pins or miniatures) in your still life to further create a feeling of scale and location. Choose a theme or idea for your still life (i.e, amusement park, city, national park). Pick a viewpoint that appeals to you and take 15 minutes to sketch a still life in 2B pencil or conte crayon and apply your own imaginative effects and distortions to create an alternate reality. Use heightened color to further the effect. Name your ‘hyperreality’ and describe it in 2-3 sentences.

Links

www.metacafe.com/watch/816457/ron_mueck_australian_hyperrealist_sculptor/
www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/all_current_exhibitions/statuephilia/videos_-_mueck.aspx
www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/ron_mueck/video.php (***please be advised that this video contains representational nudity.)
www.audreyflack.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH2Vv02C_SI
www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/feminist_art_base/gallery/flack.php
www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/
http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2007/04/building-disneyland-pictorial-tribute.html
www.disneydreamer.com/walt/history.html

References

David. (Sept. 14, 2007) Ron Mueck:
Hyperrealist Sculptor. Retrieved March 30,
2008 from http://paintalicious.
org/2007/09/14/ron-mueck-hyper-realist-sculptor.html

Flack, Audrey. (1977). Marilyn (Vanitas).
Retrieved March 30, 2008 from http://cda.
morris.umn.edu/~lamberts/audreyflack/
marilyn

Lippencott, James. (2005). Disneyland hits the Big
Five Oh. Retrieved March 30,2008
from http://www.landliving.com/
articles/00000000783.aspx

Meisel, Louis K. (1993). Audrey Flack. Photorealism
Since 1980, 205.

Sutton, Polly. (2001) 49th Venice Biennale: Ron
Mueck’s “Boy”. Retrieved March 30, 2008
from http://www.abc.net.au/arts/visual/
stories/s424394.html

WebQuest

This WebQuest requires students to investigate the idea of paradigm shifts through imagery found in advertising from the 20th and 21st century.

Introduction

Deconstructing the Past to Predict the Future: Researching Paradigm Shifts through Advertisting

By

Christina Hahn and Laura Hilferty

Ads taken from Adflip and BEKO

Breaking Ground Advertising Wants You!

Breaking Ground Advertising is a progressive company looking for bright, young concept artists to decode advertisements from the past in order to create ads of the future. We want to stay ahead of the curve and understand that, sometimes, you have to regress before you can progress.

Take a moment and think of all the different imagery you see in advertisements in just one, normal day. Do you think advertisements have always looked the same throughout the last two decades? Have their messages changed? Have our belief systems changed? How and why? Just think of all the changes that happened with the advent of television in the 1950s. How will paradigms and advertisements change in the next 50 years? What will television commercials look like in the year 2058? Breaking Ground Advertising believes you can answer these important questions!

Task

In this WebQuest, you will be guided through information and imagery that will give you a better understanding of what paradigms are and how they can shift. It is designed to strengthen your critical thinking skills and awareness of the messages and belief systems that lie beneath the images in advertisements. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers, just creative predictions based on your online research.

It is your objective to research, analyze your findings and then use the new information to design/create a print advertisement or a TV commercial for the year 2050. Your advertisement/TV commercial for the year 2050 will be based on an advertisement/TV commercial from the past. By the "past", we mean from the 1950s to the present.

In order to be seriously considered for this position with Breaking Ground Advertising, you will be responsible for submitting your research notes, your final advertisement and a brief presentation based on your research.

Good luck!

Process

"The masses can only think in images and can only be influenced by means of pictures. Only pictures can frighten or persuade them and become the causes of their actions... To them, the unreal is almost as important as the real?

-Gustave LeBon Psychology of the Masses

Before you can start generating ideas for your advertisements, you'll need to conduct some necessary research. In order to create successful advertisements with strong undercurrents, you'll need to fully understand what a paradigm is and how paradigm shifts occur. You will also learn how historical research connects the present with the past and aids in the development of fresh, new ideas. Your advertisement will also reveal your own individual perspectives and ethical/moral concerns, which will then inform the paradigms that manifest in your chosen imagery, text and overall layout.

1. Take a look at the following advertisements:

Northwest Airlines -1950

Southwest Airlines - 2000

Apple Computers - 1980

Apple Computers - 1994

1a. While viewing these advertisements, follow these simple guidelines to begin deconstructing the images. Answer all of these questions on a separate piece of paper for each image.

Review the VISUALS

Look at the images. Take notes on what you see.

What are the people in the advertisement doing?

What are the expressions on their faces?

What clothes are they wearing?

Who or what might be left out of the picture? Why?

Review the TEXT

Read every word in the ad- even the smallest font

What do the words say? what adjectives or adverbs are used?

How do they say it?

What might be left out? Why?

Review the LAYOUT

How do the words relate to the images?

Notice how your eye moves as it first encounters the ad?

Do you think your eyes are attracted to the brightest portion of the page?

Are the major elements of the ad placed along an inverted "S"?

Are the major elements placed in each of the three thirds of the page?

2. Take a look at the following commercials:

Brain on Drugs Commercial (1980s)

Zoloft Commercial (1990s)

Clairol Hair Color Commercial from the 1970s

Feria Hair Color Commercial from 2000s

2a. While viewing these commercials, follow these simple guidelines to begin deconstructing what you see. Answer all of these questions on a separate piece of paper for each commercial.

Review the VISUALS

Watch each commercial a few times. Take notes on what you see and hear.

What is happening in the commercial?

What messages or paradigms are featured?

What is the intended mood of the commercial?

How are the commercials shot (as in camera angles, pace of the commercial, etc.)

Is there music or voice overs? What kind?

Who or what might be left out of the commercial?

Review the WORDS being spoken.

Listen carefully.

What is being said? What words are being used? How are they being spoken?

Are the words (or the way the words are spoken) directed toward a certain demographic or population?

Review the LAYOUT

How to the words relate to the images?

Notice how you feel the first time you watch the commercial? How about the second time?

How do you think others feel when watching the commercials? Who do you think is the most effected by this kind of advertising?

3. Based on your research and the criteria below, create an advertisement for the year 2050.

Ground Breaking Advertising needs you to join our concept development team!

Criteria

Choose a print advertisement or TV commercial from the decades between 1950 to the present.The advertisement/commercial can come from any industry (i.e., beauty, airlines, cigarettes, computers, etc.), but cannot include nudity or profanity. We are discussing the importance of paradigms and paradigm shifts over decades of time, so some material may contain mature themes and could be offensive, so choose wisely! Be ready to defend your choices and ideas!

Your advertisement should be a print advertisement or a TV commercial.

The print advertisement can be created using any media and should be in color. Black and white advertisements will only be accepted if the use of a grayscale design is relative and necessary to convey a particular paradigm or message. The overall design should include an image(s), text and the name of the product being advertised. The image(s) should convey the primary meaning in your ad with text as a support. Minimum size for your print advertisement should be 18x24. You will be presenting this image to the Breaking Ground Advertising concept development team, so your advertisement has to be visually accessible from all angles in the meeting room! You may work large, if you are so inclined. Digital work will have to be enlarged and printed to meet these specifications as well.

The TV commercial can be no longer than three minutes and length and, again, should not contain profanity or overtly offensive material. You should use a digital video camera and should be able to download the commercial to a computer. Be sure to prepare before you shoot your commercial! This means write a script, rehearse and edit, where necessary. Commercials can be created in iMovie or other video software. Again, this will be presented to the concept development team, so you will need the proper equipment (laptop, projector, TV, etc.) to present.

Good luck and we look forward to working with you!

Conclusion

Now that you have completed your advertisement, submit your ad to our screening assistant. He/She will review the work and decide whether it's Breaking Ground Advertising material. Once the work has been reviewed, all participants will meet in the conference room for a final presentation and assessment. Prior to this meeting, the screening assistant should make sure all necessary equipment is available for the display of print ads and commercials.

When it comes time to present your work, make sure to include:

1. The central focus of your advertisement/commercial

2. How you evolved the product from the past or present and into the future

3. How the layout, color palette and design are significant to your message

3. Why you chose to pick this particular object and/or theme

All of this information should be word processed in a one-page summary and submitted along with your ad/commercial.

Warning! Failure to find meaning can lead to a mundane existance. Expert decoders, don't stop decoding! Look beyond the surface and find meaning! Pass on your findings and keep researching!

Home is Where the Heart is

Grade Level: 4-5-6

Brief History/Background:

Postcards
John P. Charlton of Philadelphia patented the postcard in 1861. The first postcard in the United States was created in 1893 to advertise the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. Shortly thereafter the United States government, via the U.S. Postal Service, allowed printers to publish a 1-cent postcard (the "Penny Postcard").

For more than 100 years, postcards have been a way to communicate with others while on vacation or far away from loved ones. Postcards usually feature a visually pleasing photograph or design on one side and spaces for writing and an address on the other.

Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Newell Wyeth is an American realist painter and regionalist artist. He is one of the best known of the 20th century and sometimes referred to as the "Painter of the People" due to his popularity with the American public. Wyeth's favorite subject is the land and inhabitants around his hometown of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and those near his summer home in Cushing, Maine. He conceived the idea for the painting while recuperating from a severe illness, when he slowly roamed the fields wearing a pair of boots that had once been part of Howard Pyle’s costume collection and watching his feet and the ground beneath. The painting may symbolize death itself or man’s rejection of illness and death.

For Wyeth, the Pennsylvania countryside meant solid stone walls and soggy, rich earth, in contrast to Maine, which seemed to him "all dry bones and desiccated sinews," as he was quoted as saying in the catalogue of his Metropolitan Museum of Art show. But Maine appealed to him strongly because of a simplicity that he found to be disappearing elsewhere in America.

PA Standards: Types of Writing (1.4); Quality of Writing (1.5); Speaking and Listening (1.6); Technology Education (3.6); Technological Devices (3.7); The Interactions Between People and Places (7.4); Production, Performance and Exhibition of Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts (9.1)

NETS Standards: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity (1); Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments (2); Model Digital-Age Work and Learning (3)

Goal: Students will use collage techniques to create a 5x7 postcard, based on the theme of “home”, which will then be sent to pen pals in different countries. Students will also learn to scan their postcards into the computer, save them for their portfolios and post them to the class art blog.

Objectives

Students will:

• Ponder and discuss the concept of “home”, what it means to them and why someone would choose to send a postcard over a letter, e-mail or by simply making a phone call.
• Discuss Andrew Wyeth and his concept of “home.
• Discuss the concept of pen pals and different styles of writing
• Discuss mixed media collage and use drawings or photographs to compose a collage design based on their concept of “home” for the front of their postcard.
• Discuss and think about the composition of their design.
• Discuss different kinds of writing styles and apply the appropriate style to their penal postcards.
• Learn to use a scanner to digitize and save their postcards to the computer as well as post them to the class art blog.

• Obtain a penal from the instructor (via www.sincerelyyourspenpals.com) and send their postcards to their given penal.
• Present their postcards to the class for group critique.

Requirements: Students will create a collaged postcard based on the theme of “home”, scan their postcards for blog posting and send their postcards to a penal in another country. Prior to mailing, students will present their postcards to the class.

Resource Materials/Visual Aids: Reproductions of Andrew Wyeth landscapes/portraits; a variety of postcards both new and vintage; an exemplar for the activity; books on postcard art/design; exemplars of mixed media/collage

Supplies/Materials: white cardstock (cut in 5x7 rectangles), 8.5 x 11 drawing paper, construction paper, periodicals (newspapers, magazines, etc.), pencils, colored pencils, markers, erasers, scissors, glue sticks

Teacher Preparation: Cut cardstock into 5x7 rectangles; research Andrew Wyeth and gather relevant examples; gather periodicals; register with Sincerely Yours Pen pals (based in Philadelphia); research postal cost

Introduction: Ask students what the term “home” means to them and discuss its different interpretations (i.e. where one lives, your house, where one was born, etc.) and what is meant by the saying “home is where the heart is”. Introduce and discuss postcards and why someone would choose to use a postcard to communicate over other forms of communication. Ask the students to think about how they would convey their sense of home visually. What happens if you are conveying your interpretation of home to someone from another country that may or may not speak a different language? What is a pen pal? What kind of writing do we use on a postcard?

Directions

1. To get started, students will take five minutes and write down a list of words that describe their sense of “home”.

2. Students can draw, cut out photographs or words and/or combine both mediums to create a collage based on their concept of home. Designs must not go beyond the edge of the postcard. Inform students that using other people’s images or words (copyright) are allowed for the educational purpose of this project.

3. Once their design is complete, students will turn their postcards over, divide the space in half and write a five-sentence correspondence on the left.

4. Once the postcard is complete (sans the recipient’s address), the instructor will take a quick look at the postcard for grammatical errors/overall design and give them a pen pal’s name and address to include on the right side of the postcard.

5. Students may then move to the computer for scanning, saving and posting to the class blog.

6. Students will get ready to present their cards to the class for group critique.


Critique/Evaluation/Assessment: Students will participate in a group critique of their postcards and discuss what is visually successful/unsuccessful. Instructor will evaluate the success of the postcard by its design, five-sentence correspondence and overall expression of the “home” theme. Students will be assessed according to their completion of the project, successful scanning and uploading of their project online and stated/written expectations in either rubric or self-checklist form.

Extensions: For early finishers, students can either go online and research their pen pal’s country of origin or write a series of interview questions for their pen pals for future postcards. Students may also design additional postcards for their own personal use.

Time Budget:

Intro/ Motivation/Discussion -10-15 minutes
Short Demo – 10 minutes; Activity: 1-2 (45 minute) sessions

Vocabulary: Andrew Wyeth, collage, composition, pen pal, mixed media

Safety Concerns: scissors

Bibliography/References:

http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postcard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyeth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_media
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collage
www.askart.com/AskART/artist.aspx?artist=24079
www.sincerelyyourspenpals

An Impressive Monotype

Grade Level: 9-10 grade

Brief History/Background:

Monotyping

Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The image is then transferred onto a sheet of paper by pressing the two together, usually using a printing press. Monotypes can also be created by inking an entire surface and then, using brushes or rags, removing ink to create a subtractive image, e.g. creating lights from a field of opaque color. The inks used may be oil based or water based. With oil based inks, the paper may be dry, in which case the image has more contrast, or the paper may be damp, in which case the image has a 10 percent greater range of tones.

Unlike monoprinting, monotyping produces a unique print, or monotype, because most of the ink is removed during the initial pressing. Although subsequent reprintings are sometimes possible, they differ greatly from the first print and are generally considered inferior. A second print from the original plate is called a "ghost print" or "cognate". Stencils, watercolor, solvents, brushes, and other tools are often used to embellish a monotype print. Monotypes are often spontaneously executed and with no previous sketch.

The monotype process was invented by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (1609-64), an Italian painter and etcher who was also the first artist to produce brushed sketches intended as finished and final works of art (rather than as studies for another work). He is the only Italian to have invented a printmaking technique. He began to make monotypes in the 1640s, normally working from black to white, and produced over twenty surviving ones, over half of which are set at night (Theseus finding the Arms of his Father, 1643). Few other artists used the technique until Degas, who made several, often working on them further after printing (Beside the Sea, 1876-7). In the twentieth century the technique became more popular.

Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th century art movement that began as a loose association of Paris-based artists, who began exhibiting their art publicly in the 1860s. The name of the movement is derived from the title of a Claude Monet work, Impression, Sunrise (Impression, soleil levant), which provoked the critic Louis Leroy to coin the term in a satiric review published in Le Charivari.

Characteristics of Impressionist painting include visible brushstrokes, open composition, emphasis on light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, the inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles.

Radicals in their time, early Impressionists broke the rules of academic painting. They began by giving colors, freely brushed, primacy over line, drawing inspiration from the work of painters such as Eugene Delacroix. They also took the act of painting out of the studio and into the world. Previously, not only still lifes and portraits, but also landscapes, had been painted indoors, but the Impressionists found that they could capture the momentary and transient effects of sunlight by painting en plein air. Painting realistic scenes of modern life, they emphasized vivid overall effects rather than details. They used short, "broken" brush strokes of pure and unmixed color, not smoothly blended, as was customary, in order to achieve the effect of intense color vibration.

Berthe Morisot
Berthe Morisot (January 14, 1841 – March 2, 1895) was a painter and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists. Morisot was born in Bourges, France into a successful bourgeois family. Both she and her sister Edma Morisot chose to become painters. Once Berthe Morisot settled on pursuing art, her family did not impede her career.

In 1864, she exhibited for the first time in the highly esteemed Salon de Paris. Sponsored by the government, and judged by academicians, the Salon was the official, annual exhibition of the Académie des beaux-arts in Paris. Her work was selected for exhibition in six subsequent Salons[1] until, in 1874, she joined the "rejected" Impressionists in the first of their own exhibitions, which was founded by Cézanne, Degas, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Renoir, and Sisley. It was held at the studio of the photographer Nadar.

She became the sister-in-law of her friend and colleague, Édouard Manet, when she married his brother, Eugène. Her works include, not only landscapes, portraits, garden settings, and boating scenes, but also subjects portraying the comfort and intimacy of family and domestic life, as did her colleagues, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Mary Cassatt.

National Standards: Art materials and process (1); Aesthetics (2); Art History/Cultures (4); Criticism/Evaluation (5)

PA Standards: World History (8.4); Production, Performance and Exhibition of Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts (9.1); Historical/Cultural Contexts (9.2); Critical Response (9.3); Aesthetic Response (9.4)

Goal: Students will demonstrate Impressionist painting techniques (i.e. Berthe Morisot) (quick line gesture, color) to create a monotype of a still life.

Requirements: Students will create a monotype print of a still life using water-based paints and Impressionist painting techniques on plexiglass.

Resource Materials/Visual Aids:

Teaching Board
View from the Terrace at Mezy (1890) – Berthe Morisot
In the Garden (Women Gathering Flowers) – Berthe Morisot
View of the Bois de Boulogne (1889)
Examples of Monotypes
Exemplar for Project

Supplies/Materials: 11x14 piece of BK Reeves printmaking paper (or 90 lb. drawing paper) 11x14 piece of plexiglass (taped around the edges), gouache (red, blue, yellow, white), brushes (any size), brayers, spray bottle, water dishes, sponges, straws, paper towels, paper plates, 19th century classical music (French), CD player

Teacher Preparation:

1. Research and find examples of Impressionist paintings by Morisot involving gardens (flowers)
2. Tape edges of plexiglass with duct tape to prevent injuries
3. Make teaching board
4. Produce an exemplar

Introduction – Ask students to define the word impression (to make a mark by applying pressure). Ask them if an impression has to be a detailed representation or can it be a series of marks and shapes that captures the subject. Discuss impressionism through the paintings of Berthe Morisot. Explain how Impressionist painters were not concerned with rendering an exact image, but were more concerned with the overall effects of a painting rather than details; used active, visible brushstrokes; created movement in their paintings; emphasized light; worked outside en plein air; used ordinary subject matter and pure color from the tube.

Explain that, although the Impressionists painted on canvas in oil paints, there are other ways to make an impression of something and have students name a few. Explain the idea of a monotype and how it works (reverse image, plate). Explain to students that they will be working from a floral still life and making their own Impressionist monotype. Review few painting elements while they work (overlapping, composition, color choices.) Demonstrate during before and during the lesson.

Directions:

1. Before beginning the monotype activity, make sure your plexiglass is clean of paints, inks or marks that could transfer onto your monotype print. Sometimes surprises are fun, but they can also be frustrating if they do not work with your painting.

2. Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine it is a warm, spring day in Paris, France, and you, Berthe Morisot, have gathered your painting supplies to embark on a day of painting in a garden. The sun is shining brightly and the colors of the flowers in the garden seem to have come directly from a tube of paint. There is a slight breeze and the flowers move back and forth to the rhythm of the wind. You can hear music in the distance, which you believe to be a result of a boating party along the Seine River. The soft scents of spring are all around you –fresh freesia and white gardenia - and you take them all in one with one deep breath. You can’t wait to begin painting.

3. Open your eyes and take a look at the still life. If you are not pleased with your view of the still life, move your seat to a more satisfying view. Remember, you are an impressionist, so you are not looking to create a detailed image of the flowers in the garden. You want your brushstrokes to be spontaneous and quick, and your colors full of light to achieve an overall “impression” of the flowers. Keep in mind your overall composition and use overlapping to show depth.

4. You have been given four colors – the three primary colors and white. Berthe Morisot would have used colors directly from the tube as did her Impressionist painter friends, but due to limited supplies, you will have to mix your colors to achieve orange, purple, green (the secondary colors). Make a few quick, gestural marks on your plexiglass to get a feel for the paint and surface. Wipe it away with a damp paper towel.

5. You have about 10 minutes to create a painting of the flowers. Be sure to cover as much of the plexiglass as possible. Please be aware that gouache can dry rather quickly, so using your straw to add a small bit of water every now and then is a good idea. Be careful not to add too much water or your paints will be runny! The more water you add, the less intense your colors will be. If you need to erase a mark, dampen a paper towel and wipe it from the plexiglass.

6. Once you are finished, put your painting aside. Wipe up any paint they may have gotten on the table with a paper towel. Take the printmaking paper and place it in front of you. Take your sponge and moisten it with water. Squeeze out excess water. Water should not be dripping from your sponge, but it should be moist enough to wet your printmaking paper.

7. Move your sponge back and forth across your paper, pressing gently. Make sure you sponge the entire paper. Be careful not to squeeze water onto your paper. You want to be able to tell its wet, but not soaking wet. If it seems too dry, press a little harder with your sponge. I will come around and check it.

8. Take your wet paper and slowly place it on top of the plexiglass. The size of the plexiglass and your paper are the same, so try and match up the corners to keep your painting from being crooked. Take your time! Work slowly!

9. Once you have your paper on your plexiglass, slowly, and with pressure, rub the paper with your hand. Hold the plexiglass still with your other hand. After you’ve rubbed the entire paper, take a brayer and with a forward motion only, roll over the paper a few times.

10. Lift a corner to check and see if your painting transferred. Remember, you will only get one monotype print from this painting. Depending on how much paint you used, you may get a second print called a ghost print.

11. Slowly peel the paper from the plexiglass and set the paper aside to dry.

12. Wet a paper towel and wipe your plate until all the paint is removed.

13. Rinse brushes, empty water and throw away paper plates. Place sponges in the bucket.

Closure – Students will clean –up and return supplies to their proper storage area to prepare for critique/discussion.

Critique/Evaluation/Assessment:

Critique the final monotypes and discuss challenges of the medium, if any.

Evaluate student’s success and understanding of impressionism and the monotype process by looking at their final monotypes.

Assess student comprehension of Impressionism and monotypes through a project rubric.

Extensions: Students who finish early can continue to make more monotypes by focusing on a different floral arrangement, moving to get a different perspective, perhaps abstracting the flowers in some way or students can embellish their existing monotype with other media.

Time Budget:

Introduction and Motivation/Demo – 10
Class Demonstration/Participation – 30 minutes
Activity – 45-minute session

Vocabulary: monotype, Impressionism, Berthe Morisot, gesture, plexiglass, brayer, gouache, spontaneous brushstrokes, printmaking

Safety Concerns: Remind students to be careful with the plexiglass. Even though the edges have been duct taped, they could scratch themselves.

Bibliography/References:

www.waterbasedinks.org
www.wikipedia.org

Stuckey, Charles F., Scott, William P., Lindsay, Susan G. Berthe Morisot: Impressionist