Let me start by saying this. Please do not be offended by this post. I am about to express my own personal opinions, and that's all they are. I don't expect you to agree with me, and that's fine. Maybe you'll agree with some points; maybe not. It's all OK! Wouldn't it would be boring if we all had the same tastes and opinions? This isn't a rant; it's just me blowing a little steam as I express my opinions on a bunch of
random, some art education related topics. I'm just in the mood for getting these pet peeves, things that I am just "over", off my chest and I want to share them. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might even notice me saying something I've said before in one or more of these points (such as #5). If some of the things in my list annoy YOU, that's OK; nothing here is intended as a personal attack and again, I don't expect you to agree with me.
So here we go:
1) Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night. I'm so beyond bored by lesson plans based on the painting, clothing with the trademark swirly sky, you name it. I am just SO over
Starry Night! (And YES, I have taught
Starry Night lessons in the past, but not for a number of years now.) This isn't a slam about van Gogh. There's a lot of van Gogh paintings that I think are stunningly gorgeous. And fun to teach with - the rich texture, the vibrant use of color!! But
Starry Night? Not my favorite. First of all, if you've ever seen the real painting, in MoMA in NYC, you know it is very small. Sort of a disappointment. But mostly, I feel the painting is overrated and dreadfully overused. There's just so much better! Here's one of the many goofy parodies of the painting:
2) While I'm on the case of paintings that are smaller than you hoped, there's also
Dali's The Persistence of Memory. The real painting, also in MoMA, is positively tiny!! Don't get me wrong; I'm actually a Dali/surrealism fan; it's fun to teach. But this painting is a grand disappointment compared to other works by Dali and other surrealists. This is me and the painting, I think last winter, at MoMA.
3) Being asked to vote for or "like" artwork by kids I don't know so that they can win prizes on Artsonia or elsewhere. Sometimes I really don't think the piece I've been asked to "like" is the best one, and it is kind of awkward to be expected to vote for it just because I know you from Facebook or somewhere. If there's a contest, and you'd like me to vote, fine. Just don't tell me what to pick. I'm rebellious, and if you tell me who to vote for, I guarantee that I'll always pick the other guy.
4) While I'm at it:
being asked to play games on Facebook. Do I ever play games? Yes:
Words with Friends, and
Word Streak/Scramble with Friends; I like word games. But I do not link those games to Facebook in any way. I'm happy to play them with you if you need someone who will be competitive, but please don't ask me, on Facebook, to play other silly games. I have enough to do.
5) Lessons on using repetitive design and pattern that are called Zentangle lessons. The word Zentangle doesn't appear in the
National Art Standards, or in the
Common Core, or in the
Elements of Art or
Principles of Design.
Zentangle is a prescribed method of drawing repetitive designs using specific techniques and patterns and materials, and has become big business. Every repetitive design is not a
Zentangle. Do you think that when Laurel Burch filled her fantastic felines with rich pattern and design that she was
Zentangling? Do you think that the incredible artists of Oaxaca who make carved wooden animals and other figures and then paint them with detailed and colorful repetitive pattern have even heard the word "
Zentangle"? Please, folks! Lessons on pattern and repetitive design are just that! You may be incorporating various E's and P's, such as line, movement, rhthym, and so on, but you are not necessarily doing a
Zentangle every time you fill a shape with smaller shapes and then fill them with repeating patterns.
NO NO NO. (By the way, on the left below is an image of some patterned Laurel Burch cats. The two other images are of carved pieces hand-painted by the talented Oaxacan artist Agustin Cruz Prudencio.)
6) Annoying brainless pop music ear worms (music that you can't get out
of your head) of songs that you don't like. The other night I was
watching the Jimmy Fallon show and he and Ellen DeGeneres did a lip
sync contest, and two of the songs they did (and the two that got stuck
in my head for a full day) were the
Whip/Nae-Nae song (I don't know the
real title) and
Bitch Better Have My Money. WHAT???? What ever
happened to songs with lyrics that I wouldn't be embarrassed to sing
along to? Good grief. Dear younger generation, is this the best that you can come up with??
7) T-Shirts and posters that tell me to "Keep Calm and...". I do NOT always WANT to stay calm! I am not a yoga sort of gal. I like to get excited by stuff!!
8) And since I've mentioned T-shirts, how about this:
being expected to want to wear a logo T-shirt to match a bunch of other people in a group of some sort. Sorry, folks. I wear T-shirts to the gym, or cleaning the house, or when I'm in the kayak or in the yard. I do not consider logo T-shirts to be fashion. And, as an art teacher, I like to be unique in the clothes and jewelry I wear. I want to be an individual. Wearing matching T-shirts makes me feel like a kid in day camp or camp counselor. Where's my whistle?
9) Still in the T-shirt department -
just because a T-shirt has an art print on it, doesn't make it fashion! Why are so many people so excited to wear a T-shirt with a Keith Haring (or any other artist) work of art printed on the front? It is STILL JUST A T-SHIRT!! Now, if you are making something awesome with fabric that has artwork printed on it, that's a different story. Just please, let go of the T-shirt as a fashion choice!
10) Facebook posts of coloring book pages in the Facebook Art Teacher group. Listen, if coloring books are your thing, if they are therapeutic for you, I've got absolutely no gripe. I do know people who adore coloring books for relaxation, and I know adult coloring books are the rage right now. So go ahead and color! But sharing your coloring sheets on Instagram or Facebook? I just don't understand why anyone thinks I'd want to see them, and I don't understand why they are they clogging up the feed, making me miss more useful and interesting posts. By the way, when I searched for an image to put here, I was pretty stunned at some of the 'edgy' coloring books available for adults. I chose to post something relatively safe...
11) Lately, again in the Art Teacher Facebook group, I see lots of posts of people asking for links to videos they can show a certain grade level on a certain topic.
I think kids spend WAY TOO MUCH TIME looking at stuff on screens. I don't understand the need to have a video in order to introduce a new topic. Kids need less screen time, not more.
12) And finally, there's this - the way I see people teaching the drawing of cylinders.
It makes me absolutely CRAZY when people draw the tops of cylinders as an almond, with two curved lines ending in points where they meet at the ends, rather than an oval. It makes the cylinder look like a crushed can. If you don't know what I'm talking about, look at my quickie illustrations below. The first shows using ovals to create cylinders, which is correct. The depth of the oval will depend on where your eye level is. The second illustration shows a drawing where the top curve and the bottom curve meet in points on either edge, like an almond shape. This is NOT correct. I always had students, when learning to draw solid shapes, practice using their entire arm to make ovals. And we used lots of cylinders and looked at them carefully to see if there were ever points on the ends. And unless the cylinder was squashed or crushed, there was not.
13) I have a concern about the many
lessons I see posted, incorporating sweet foods to make them fun, such as mixing colors of frosting for cupcakes to teach color theory, or using cupcakes for incentives, and so on. I have three concerns about this: first, the kid who is gluten-sensitive and can't participate, second, the diabetic child who can't have the sugar, and third, the obese child who doesn't need to be fed candy or cupcakes in art class. I have a close relationship with someone who has a child that is struggling with obesity, and is trying to maintain a doctor recommended diet, but everywhere he goes, someone is offering an ice cream or a cupcake, it seems. It's hard for a second grader to have the will power to say no, and even harder if it is part of a class experience. When I was teaching, I did sometimes reward a class with a "pop-pop" party. The refreshments, popcorn and fruit ice pops, were chosen specifically to avoid food allergies and diet concerns.
14) And finally, something I think you should all be able to agree with. It absolutely kills me how many school districts have art teachers, and art programs, and then have no budget to support them. It breaks my heart to see the constant posts in the Facebook Art Teacher group about the incredible amount of money people spend from their own pockets to supply their programs. Everyone is always posting bargains they find at Target or other stores that they are scooping up for their classrooms. Bargains are great, and certainly when I was teaching, I spent some pocket money to buy oddball things to enhance my lessons and my classroom, but I didn't totally supply my art program out of my own pocket. No other teachers are expected to do this! Phys ed teachers don't use their own money to buy the basketballs and other equipment for their programs. And certainly the academic teachers aren't buying the textbooks for their classes! It's ridiculous! I'm blown away by how disrespected (by lack of financial support) so many art teachers are by their districts, rather than being given the resources needed to be successful.
There. I've said all I want to, and I'm done. I'm curious to hear whether I've touched any nerves with this post, whether you agree, or have a totally different perspective on my points. Let me know!