AP405

Light wood

Piece 1- 'Inside the Manic Mind'

Personal Project Critical Prologue

The theme I chose for my Personal Project was 'Mayhem'. I chose this theme as I felt it was relatable to some of the current happenings in the world at present and in peoples lives. When i think of the word 'Mayhem', I think of chaos, craziness, turmoil, overwhelm, and shock! I felt that I could create three pieces which spelled this theme in a variety of ways through the use of various media. For my first piece I wanted to create a piece which signified the mayhem or turmoil occurring in someones mind in a burdened period of ill mental health and esteem due to stress and/ or overwhelm. This pressure and overwhelming feeling is something which we may all experience, and I used an outline of someones head filled with external forms of mayhem as a metaphorical representation for this burden. I used paint, paper, newspaper and black ink pen for this piece. As a second piece I wanted to focus on the human yet again, and the awe and craziness of human anatomy. Our bodies are really something amazing and I felt that it really truly is crazy how all of our internal cells, organs and systems correlate together to run this machine. I used the 'Brushes Redux' app to create this Digital piece. My third piece is a black and white abstract piece of something quite busy and chaotic. I chose to create a mystical spiraling pattern which almost resembles a 'Tornado' for my final piece. As my first two pieces were quite literal, I wanted to create something quite simple and abstract, yet effective with the chosen theme of 'mayhem', as my final piece. I used pencils and acrylic paint for this piece.

A Professional Manifesto, in this context, is a statement as an Art Specialism student, declaring what I feel Art in the Primary Classroom is, and should be. For this project, we were required to address relevant literature for this statement and create a vibrant and meaningful piece which portrayed just what 'Art in the Primary classroom means to us! This manifested what we desire Visual arts to look like in a school context. I used Canva to create my Professional Manifesto. I consulted the Visual Arts Primary School Curriculum (1999) documents and literature from artists such as; Laurie Polster, and Rob Barnes. I felt that this gave me some inspiration and insights into what I wanted my Manifesto to preach to a wider audience. My manifesto contains buzz words on the purpose, process and outcomes of art for Primary school children and for Art specialism students like me. It really emphasises the importance of process rather than product, and freedom for creative exploration and self expression. I feel as though the emphasis on identity, uniqueness, daring to be different and expression is one which should be highlighted through any visual art experience in Primary schools. It's many benefits for integration are really wonderful! These are elements which I deem to be utterly important as a future Primary teacher and will allow them to guide me in my future planning and practice.

Reflection on the Experience

rtistically, I had the opportunity to interpret an Ekphrastic poem visually on paper using charcoal and pencils in this activity. Charcoal is something I don't use too often and this activity gave me the opportunity to experience the use of charcoal and pencil in creating various tones, textures and lines! 

esearch wise, I learned that Ekphratic poems are poems which describe a piece of art. From my reading of the poem by another pupil in my class, I could tell that this poem was about a wedding taking place with multiple people attending. I researched black and white wedding images and silhouettes in order to obtain some ideas of possible elements I could include in my piece

eaching wise, this activity might be good to use in the classroom with the older primary classes as an activity integrated with Literacy, focusing on descriptive writing and/ or poetry. It can enable children to use their creative imaginations to interpret a piece of descriptive writing through art and express this through a variety of media of their choice!

I really enjoyed creating three correlated pieces for my AP405 Personal Art Project this semester. I felt that using a theme as a basis created a more comprehensive environment for comprehension which aided in guiding me on the right path, with a lot of freedom still to create art pieces related to my own personal interpretation of the theme. Brainstorming and visual research for this theme helped to conjugate ideas relating to my chosen theme of 'Mayhem' with a chose colour scheme of; black, white, orange, yellow, red as the main colours, but incorporating more colours to convey 'life' within the human body in my second piece.

Critical Reflection on the Experience

Piece 1- 'Inside the Manic Mind' For this piece I used; watercolour, acrylic paint, black pen and newspaper on newsprint paper. I wanted to represent 'Internal chaos'; as a metaphor for what may be occurring in someones mind who is mentally overwhelmed or suffering from ill mental health- a site of mayhem. 'External chaos' is depicted within the head shape to show 'mayhem' occurring in our world at present. Shocking news articles of crime and violence, as well as atomic explosions, a site of war, a mechanical brain, and finally a claw capturing a human silhouette to signify the feeling of overwhelm are all elements which I incorporated to convey a sense of mayhem on the fiery background. Piece 2- 'Body and Awe' My second piece was a digital art piece created on the Brushes Redux app on an iPad which depicts the awe of anatomy. The power of the human body in all its glory is depicted here with colours to represent organ processes and operations within the human body as a system which inspires and intrigues me. What occurs inside of our bodies is utter mayhem! This piece links to piece one through the use of human outlines used. Piece 3- 'Tornado' As my previous pieces were both very literal, I wanted to create a simple black and white abstract piece to depict something busy and conveying 'havoc'. Therefore I created a spiraling tornado which is quite obscure to the eye. The weather can often be chaotic causing demise and turmoil when it is at it's worst, and I feel that a tornado proclaims this 'mayhem'.

Critical Evaluation and Reflection on Experiences

Creative Flow I really enjoyed creating my tile for the 'Creative flow' piece. I played some peaceful, immersive classical music in a quiet, relaxing setting while completing this chalk pastel piece. I decided to create something which resembled life, with a flower like shape, and flowing patterns emerging from this almost like waves. I really enjoyed this piece, and the collaboration of all of our class' interpretations of the meaning of 'creative flow' was something almost therapeutic to view. It intrigued me to see how different people interpreted the meaning of 'flow', and the variety of colours, patterns and techniques used. Collaborative printing piece Communication and Cooperation were vital aspects of our class' collaborative printing piece. We were required to align our tiles with our peers' tiles that touched ours, and make links and connections through line, pattern and/ or colour. I really enjoyed the patterning and indentation process and communicating with others to share ideas and create connectivity. The final product amounted to something very interesting to view and identify connections that were made throughout the process. I feel that collaborative art is something I will definitely bring forward into my future teaching due to it's manuy benefits in developing communication and cooperation skills, as well as creativity. Just as the Visual Arts Primary Curriculum (1999) identifies "The collaborative nature of project work can help to develop self-esteem and can indicate abilities and dispositions that might otherwise remain unnoticed" (GoI, 1999, p.84).

Reflection on Self-assessment

Before our Personal Projects, Areas which I could improve on included; Sharing the product, Sticking with difficulty, Daring to be different, Tolerating Uncertainty, &amp; Playing with Possibilities. When I revisited the Creative Habits of Mind wheel, after the completion of my Personal Project, I can see that I have improved in the above areas. Imaginatively, my strengths are heightened in the 3 domains. I felt that this project enabled me to look into the deeper meaning of the theme which I chose 'Mayhem' and see how I could make something creatively representative of this theme. Collaboratively, I felt that sharing ideas with others and gaining ideas from others helped with the progression of my pieces. I feel that working with peers offers support as well as constructive criticism on ways to improve. Disciplines were enhanced through the exploration of a variety of techniques and use of media for my pieces. Inquisitively, I was required to think of what the word 'Mayhem' meant and question elements and experiences in life that I would associate with this word, and plan how this could be plotted into 3 interconnecting pieces. I tried to challenge the generic assumptions of 'Mayhem' and delved into deeper meanings associated with this word. Persistently, My creative mind has developed through choosing a medium, beginning a piece and continuing to create this piece despite uncertainty, or unsureness. This was a huge developmental aspect for me as I am often very indecisive when it comes to art.

References

Barnes, R. (1990). The Value of Art. In R. Barnes, Teaching Art to Young Children 4-9 (pp. 8-29). New York: Routledge. Government of Ireland. (1999). Visual Arts Primary School Curriculum. Dublin: The Stationery Office. Oppland, M. (2016, December). Body &amp; Brain: 8 Traits of Flow According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. PositivePsychology.com. <a href="https://positivepsychology.com/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-father-of-flow/#flow-types-characteristics">https://positivepsychology.com/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-father-of-flow/#flow-types-characteristics</a> Polster, L. (2010). What is Art?. In D. Donahue &amp; J. Stuart (Eds.), Artful Teaching: Integrating the Arts for Understanding across the Curriculum, K-8 (pp. 19-30). New York: Teacher’s College Press.

Link to read book online <a href="https://read.bookcreator.com/SoUd3DTLKme4fNnUGa0jfjqS6cF3/IkKmfUhpROKYvQD5ErhQog">https://read.bookcreator.com/SoUd3DTLKme4fNnUGa0jfjqS6cF3/IkKmfUhpROKYvQD5ErhQog</a>

Reflecting and responding to Csikszentmihalyi's 'Creative Flow Theory' A Moment of 'Flow'- My 5 minute chalk pastel piece

Points I took from the article: ·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Skill level and challenge at hand are equal ·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It is when you are truly and utterly immersed in an activity ·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Time passes by and you don’t notice ·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One is immersed in the present moment ·&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One is so engrossed in an activity that nothing else seems to matter

<a href="https://positivepsychology.com/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-father-of-flow/#flow-types-characteristics">https://positivepsychology.com/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-father-of-flow/#flow-types-characteristics</a>

The Piece I worked from...

Below was one of my peers' written responses to their chosen art piece; a poem which I received and was required to respond to through drawing, without any visual images given. The image on the following page is my response to reading this poem, anonymous to the piece created by the actual artist Faith Ringgold.

We are gathered here today - or should I say joined together like patchwork... Surrounded by those who love me - or judge me Their eyes give away their thoughts - as they dart around, conversing in silence... Flowers in my hand, on his chest, in their hair - the colours are blooming everywhere... The men in their uniforms, suit and tie - a day of faith, for our love to display, I recall why we are gathered here today. - Anonymous

Table of Contents

Self-assessment Post Personal Project

Initial Ideation... Responding to the word 'Mayhem'

AP405

Creative Teaching: Subject Leadership 2022-23

Rebecca Sweeney 19324213

My Ekphratic Writing Piece

In response to the above art piece, I created an Ekphratic poem which I felt correlated well with the given piece

My Artistic Response

<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zbIxTLFHMjrpjja17ZHuyh8XMPCUO4BN/view?usp=sharing">https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zbIxTLFHMjrpjja17ZHuyh8XMPCUO4BN/view?usp=sharing</a>

Creative Habits of Mind

Self-assessment Pre- Personal Project

Using the 'Creative Habits of Mind Wheel', and the 5 Habits of Mind;Collaborative, Inquisitive, Persistent, Imaginative and Disciplined, we shaded in the sectors on the circle which we felt best represented our current levels of ability. This required me to critically reflect on my own abilities and areas which I wanted to improve. Before our Personal Projects, My strengths included; Cooperating, Making connections, Wondering and Questioning, &amp; Exploring and Investigating. Areas which I could improve on included; Sharing the product, Sticking with difficulty, Daring to be different, Tolerating Uncertainty, &amp; Playing with Possibilities.

Visual Research...

My mood board based on the theme of 'Mayhem', created on <a href="https://www.canva.com/">https://www.canva.com/</a>

Our second collaborative piece with our major art specialism peers was to create a piece, a tile from multiple tiles and ensure that it is connected with the surrounding tiles regarding pattern and line. We created these tiles using Styrofoam and through carving out patterns.

We were each given a number tile and had to work with the people who were numbered around us on the given grid, to connect via pattern, and line. We then used inks and rollers and printed these tiles onto paper. In the following workshop we combined all the tiles together to create a class collaborative piece which is shown on the following slide.

Ekphrastic Poetry involves descriptive poems written about a piece/ pieces of art

Our class collaborative response to 'Creative Flow'

Revealing the actual piece

Here is an image which one of my classmates was given and they were required to respond to it through the creation of an 'Ekphrastic poem'. When I revealed this image, I realised that my interpretation of the poem was slightly different, however I comprehended the main message that it was about a marriage ceremony