Connecting Art to Math

Art and Math

Click on the orange Art and Math Animoto Video link above. It is  produced from the work of my Essentials of Art class at Texas Women's University and demonstrates how students can use the constraints of design and geometry to create fun and beautiful work. My elementary education majors are exploring how Art relates to other subjects that are part of the curriculum they will be teaching.

Oh, yes the Blue Willow tile table at the end is mine, and was inspired by the story on the plates, the beautiful cobalt blue tiles and Tangrams!

For more about arts integration you might want to view this http://ning.it/1grYeBC

Denton through the Backdoor Story

Earl Bates, my spouse, doing his St. Patrick's Day gig on Denton's Courthouse  Square

Denton through the Backdoor Story
Click on the title to see the Animoto Video that links to my view of Denton's past and present.

The Other Side of Texas

Since so many of my old friends from Nebraska and other parts of the planet have never been here to visit, and since there will be a lot of focus on Dallas over the next week as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination this month,  I am posting about the place that we have called home for the past several years, Denton, just north of Dallas.

The images of Texas conjured up by team names such as Rangers, Cowboys and the Mavericks belie the fact that Texans also started  such enterprises as the  Susan J. Komen Foundation, and the National Cowgirl Museum. And, whereas, Alaska can claim the originator of the "maverick" misnomer, Sarah Palin, Fort Worth is represented in the state legislator by Wendy Davis who has stood up to say no to the overwhelmingly male dominated legislature, in regarding women's reproductive health.

So my posts will include images of the other Texas, the one I have experienced locally.
Here is where we live, on the northwest tip of Lake Lewisville just outside Denton.
Welcome to my neighborhood!

Home Sweet Home

Boat House across the road, with Landlady, Dana Binnion

Side view Boathouse

Lake in front of boathouse

 

Huge ammonite fossil in our chimney, spiral symbol of creativity sole us on this place.

 

My room  sans my office.
 

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STAY TUNED FOR  MORE POSTS THIS MONTH

Engaging Homelessness

Students in Therapeutic Arts class at Texas Christian University embraced the challenges of homelessness in various ways. These journal pages reflect the Brown Bag Challenge, asking them to carry their essential belongings in a brown bag for a week-end. 

 

We visited the Day Resource Center on East Lancaster St.in Fort Worth and learned about the services they offer to their homeless clients that make their existence more comfortable, with the end goal of helping them to find affordable housing.  We learned about a normalizing musical event held monthly at the center called Cyber St. Café. Students then engaged some of the clients in a mosaic-making project at a nearby facility called Feed By Grace.

 

 

 

Students are planning a return visit to complete the  mosaic sign with some of their new friends at the center. Upon completion it will mark the center's stage for their monthly free concerts.

Special Thanks to Diane McClure for her photography.

Recognizing the Visual Culture of Our Students' Places

Seeking Refuge

I made these sculptures after spending 10 years in secondary education with the politics of No Child Left Behind.  I grew frustrated with the effects of over-crowded classes, standards and assessment and witnessing money going to administering a never ending series of tests instead of ways that could positively effect students. I built these sculptures to reflect  frustrations of trying to  reach students using  standard curriculum when my students came from such diverse places.

This series of sculptures were constructed at the end of those years with discarded  clay structures my high school students had built and other greenware objects I had made or found. I glazed the objects, applied decals  and constructed each sculpture with a particular student group in mind.

Shotgun

Only through the Backdoor

Dreamer

Safe House

Denton through the Backdoor Story

Denton through the Backdoor Story

an Animoto Video

A lot of people who live outside Texas have never even heard of Denton. These images are part of the 6 mile bike ride that takes me to TWU. This VIDEO  is done  with a free educator account from Animoto. Created to show some of the  visual culture of Denton including  Quakertown Park and the historic courthouse in Downtown Denton. Quakertown Park has a past that has only recently been recognized.  To find out more  you can check out this link  https://dentonwiki.org/quakertown

Shhhh, It's a Secret............Therapeutic Arts Class at TCU

Inspired by Frank Warren's Book Secrets, my students in Therapeutic Arts Class created these works of art. It is  an open enrollment course for undergrads and grads at TCU that explores the therapeutic qualities of art and how art therapy is used to heal, in different institutional and community settings.

These are some of the secrets my students chose to share with the  class and now you.