The Last Week of Class

Rocco's Alphabet

Rocco Dinino

"Spoken words are the symbols of mental experience and written words are the symbols of spoken words."

Aristotle

On Interpretation

350 BC

Jenny as a Mermaid

Digital Photo manipulated in Photoshop

by Emma Carter

"Art is serious play."

Paul Klee

And so, this being post #2, I thought it appropriate to begin with something a young friend of mine made for me- the alphabet. It is the point at which our formal education begins. a b c ... and our lives are forever changed. Graphite marks on ruled paper and the abstract becomes concrete. Our thoughts become ordered by symbols not of our making, yet copied, again and again until mastered. Initially, however, the individuality of the student is expressed through the mark- like Rocco's alphabet. It takes a great deal of effort to return to that place of individual expression. One thing I have learned after teaching art to a wide range of ages (from kindergarten to university)- the older the student is the more specific the assignment must be. Oh to be Rocco's age again.

The last week of class. Where did the year go? This week will focus on the final assignment: a self portrait assembled from the past ten assignments. They are-

Hands

Favorite Letter

Favorite Number

Favorite Color

Favorite Song

Eyes

Facial Proportion

Favorite Time of Day

Favorite Food

Favorite Place

All ten must be included. Some of the finished pieces will be shown in the next post.

I sent a former student from High Point University, William Reavis, a link to the first post. His response was one of the highest compliments I have ever heard. He said, "...the art is edgier than I would expect from a Christian school." Edgier. I hope so. Francis Schaeffer said, "The Christian is the one whose imagination should fly beyond the stars." Now, that's edgy.

A few more pieces from Trinity art class.

Watercolor by Gabriella Baer

Cyanotype by Liz Fagan

Acrylic on canvas by Paige Goodwin

Charcoal, graphite and ink by Emily Prozinski