Sketchbook Challenge: DAY SEVEN!

Today is the seventh and final day of the sketchbook challenge, so get your pencils ready! I’ve really enjoyed my sketching experiences so far, and definitely hope to continue incorporating nature journaling into my weekly routine! Through this process, I feel as though I have become a little more aware and appreciative of the beauty found within the living, breathing world around me.

Now, for the final sketchbook challenge:

Sketch a “snapshot” of a scene that you walk by on a daily basis

Since most of us are living in a more urban environment, this “snapshot” may include some man-made, industrial objects as well. Perhaps it is the view from outside your doorstep…or an area that you walk by every day on your way to your car. Try to find an area that is mostly natural–though it can include some industrial or man-made objects as well.

Happy Sketching! I will post my sketch later this evening.

Today’s Sketch:

Nature Sketch Challenge!

So I’ve been thinking about this for some time now and decided that it’s high time I increased my own art making in the natural environment. So, for the next week I am posing a challenge for myself–as well as anyone interested in doing this with me–to complete one nature sketch every day. This does not need to be anything incredibly time consuming–or costly, for that matter. You can sketch on napkins, trash, notes–whatever you have at your disposal.

Every day next week, I will post some sort of nature sketch activity–along with my sketch of the day. If you choose to participate, I’d love to see your sketches or hear from you about your experiences and gained insights!

The challenge will begin Monday, October 3rd and end on Monday, October 10th. I’m looking forward to gaining new perspectives through this experience and hope some of you will consider joining me!

Step outside today, if you haven’t already! No matter the weather, it’s worth checking out!

What is an Art-Based Approach to Environmental Education?

Nature journaling, anyone? Most often, attempts to combine environmental studies and art education result in one of the following activities:

1. Nature Journaling/sketching

2. Landscape paintings

3. Recycling art sculptures (a.k.a. art teacher spring cleaning)

While these projects are not inherently bad, their full potential is rarely realized, as the focus of these projects often remains on the visual–what you see around you–which is then depicted on the paper/canvas in front of you. Or, as is the case with the recycled art, the focus becomes “what can I make with this stuff” (much of which consists of toilet paper rolls, milk jugs, and egg cartons). At the elementary level, these sorts of sculptures often turn into cute little animals with marker-drawn eyes, monsters, or a stacking competition to see who can tape together the highest tower of toilet paper rolls. While the students enjoy the building/creating associated with the project, a deeper meaning is missed.

An art-based approach to environmental education is much more than simply making art outside or creating egg carton animals. It is an awakening of the senses. I know that description sounds rather convoluted, but that is the ultimate goal of art making–a newly discovered awareness to the subtleties of existence. An art-based approach to environmental education promotes experiencing and perceiving the world with all of the senses, and articulating those experiences in a new way.

Landscape painting in-and-of-itself is not environmental education, as Meri-Helga Mantere states in her lecture, titled, “Art and the Environment – An Art-Based Approach to Environmental Education”. “But if it can be done with environmental consciousness, understanding the interrelation of the visual processes–by which I mean biological, as well as cultural processes–the painting process itself can also be a study of environmental processes. The students spend many hours [in] the woods painting not what they saw, but how they felt the process of growth and change: the energy and interrelation.”

 

In much the same way, recycled art becomes much more than simply sticking recycled “throw-aways” together to create a new, recognizable creature. A recycled art project should focus on the act of recycling–taking materials that are used and turning them into a new, purposeful product. So, rather than simply trying to get rid of all of the donated egg cartons and milk cartons that have been piling up around your classroom, why not try one of the following ideas (as mentioned in Meri-Helga Mantere’s lecture)?

- Making new clothes from old ones

-Making vases and drinking glasses from empty bottles

-Making textiles from rags and paper scraps

-Making a hammock from old blue jeans

Or, if you’re itching to clear out some of those old “throw-away” donations (as I know I was when I taught k-8), I would recommend cutting or tearing everything into pieces. The simple fact that these paper rolls and egg cartons are no longer in their original forms will inspire new creations and an increased likelihood that new, purposeful products will emerge.

On a side note: This website is FANTASTIC! Check it out. Now.