Philosophy of Artistry and Teaching

Philosophy of Artistry and Teaching.

A question I have asked myself in regards to art education; is how can the process of creating art pave the pathway to self-discovery? Through my own artistic practice, I have come to value both the process of creating art and the end product for different reasons. When first approaching an art project I incorporate problem-solving methods in order to tackle the concept that I am attempting to illuminate it in artistic light. Through research, brainstorming and thumbnail sketches, I begin to cultivate my ideas. This process becomes educational and brings a greater understanding of the concept I am working with. The educational process becomes an empathic vehicle, as I can easily see many sides to every argument that I research. Liora Bresler once said that, “the unique juxtaposition of affect and cognition, caring and distance, that renders making and viewing art dialogic and transformative are mobilized toward empathic understanding.” Developing an empathic understanding is my ultimate personal goal when creating art. I want to know every side of the story through conducting research and choose my side accordingly.

The end product becomes the illustrated story of my process. Looking at a completed work of art that I created brings me back to the pleasant (and sometimes unpleasant) memories of creating the work. It brings me back to the battles of understanding the concept, the trial and error of sometimes creating many preliminary sketches of how I wanted to portray my idea, creating a final piece and realizing that I must go back to the drawing board because I have failed to understand the concept completely. On the other hand, once I have suffered through these battles, I can look at the finished piece and remember the character building process of the hard work that was employed to design the piece. I can retain the immense amount of information that was learned through the process and feel proud of the effort I put forth in order to gain a deeper understanding. Once the art piece has been completed, I enter it in juried contests, galleries and art expos with the intent to sell. All of this passion and effort put forth so that I can simply kiss away the piece once it is hopefully sold, and remember it through the photos that I took of the process and the end product. Detaching myself at the end can sometimes be the hardest part of creating art, but ultimately I know that the project was a success if this entire process occurred.

John Spencer Clark asserted that, “To leave art out of our plans for the education of the young is to deny the growing minds that strong inspiration that comes from a knowledge of a man as a creator. To use art wisely as a means of education is to put the growing mind in touch with the growth of the race.” As an art educator, I will strive to pass on this passionate method of self-discovery to my students. Of course, every artist chooses his or her own path to create a final project. My personal process will differ completely from the process of other artists. I want to show aspiring artists and students that there are many ways to come to the final understanding, and that learning their own individual process is a beautiful self-discovery.

Citations:

Liora Bresler, Studies in Art Education Volume 48 Number 1, Toward Connectedness: Aesthetically Based Research. Fall 2006 p.52-69

(John Spencer Clark, 1894, p.381, Efland p 164.)