My Ateneo Art Gallery Art Students

I love the artworks made by my kids! I am extremely proud of my students. I can’t believe summer is almost over… 😦 We set up their exhibit today and finished painting the murals. Tomorrow we are going to present their works to their parents. So exciting! Here are some of the works that will be exhibited at the gallery:

This was made by 7 year old Amanda. The class was only supposed to be for kids from 9-12 years old, but her father insisted that she joined. Good thing we gave in and let her in because she kept up with the older kids and really did a good job! 🙂

This was made by Audrey. Our activity was to make an alternative portrait of someone with an object that represents his or her (or in this case, its!) personality by using one continuous line. She chose to make a portrait of a fish with a flower. How creative!

These sculptural pieces were made by Mikaela. She didn’t know what to sculpt, so she made little things that she could rearrange and stack to make different sculptures. Wonderful!

This collage was made by Kristian. It’s his commentary on the effects of pop culture/media on kids (and adults) today. He made light of it, but it’s a clear idea of what is going on right now. He’s quite shy and insecure—he didn’t realize he made a good work of art!

This is an unfinished work by Jolly. I really appreciate this one because he’s a boy with a lot of energy, who cannot sit still for five minutes, and yet was able to produce this intricate drawing. I think it’s beautiful even if it’s not painted!

Kian made this sculpture. He wanted to make a fish, then a bird and ended up with a flying fish! 🙂 Here’s another boy with a bundle of energy who was able to create and finish his work. It’s an adorable piece! He put the fun back in creating! 🙂

Travis also made an animal sculpture. He made a solid and reliable looking dog. It’s very much like him—he made sure his group mates did their part so they could finish their projects. He’s also intelligent and creative.

Nieves loves to draw animals and mythical creatures. She brought one of them to life by making this dog sculpture. You can tell that she already has a style of her own—her sculpture looks exactly like her drawings! Adorable!

JR, the most serious of the bunch, created this piece by using colored india inks. This was inspired by one of Fernando Zóbel’s works from his Saeta series. We listened to one Saeta song and he made this. He has great skills and has a good command of art materials for such a young boy. The Force is strong with this one. ;o)

And last, but not the least, is Renzo. This is his interpretation of the Saeta we listened to. He likes to work under the radar—but his works will catch your attention. You can see that there is thought behind what he does.

And there you have it: my first batch of students from the Ateneo Art Gallery Summer Art Workshop. My students really did a fantastic job! I’m going to miss them. I hope this workshop gave them a jolt of energy that they need for the incoming school year. Keep on creating, kids! 🙂

On making mistakes

My summer art classes at the Ateneo Art Gallery are about to end next week and I can’t help but look back on the times that I’ve spent with the kids. They entered my class—ten children ages 7 to 11 years old—eager to learn, full of curiosity and excitement, but were also apprehensive about being in a new environment. We were not in a classroom, but an art gallery, surrounded by artworks made by people decades ago. They had new classmates from different schools. Everything was new and after the first activity, they knew that this was not like any of their previous art classes.

From the beginning I encouraged all my students to make mistakes. I probably drove them mad because—coming from very traditional schools—they wanted to excel and get things right right away. “Teacher, is this correct?”, they kept asking me. They were so worried about getting things “right” that they forgot to have fun. There is no “right” or “wrong” in art—you just have to do it and enjoy the ride.

I also push my students to explore and expand their creativity. Yes, they learned techniques like which pencil to use for what, how to mix their colors, and how to make sure two pieces of clay will stick together, but I focused more on how they could use these tools, turn them upside down, and create something new. Again, they asked me, “Teacher, is this correct?”, their fear of the unknown getting to them. And since they couldn’t control the outcome, they wanted to just stop or settle, but by helping them shift their focus from the “perfect” output or product to experimenting (which equals to making possible mistakes) and enjoying the process, comments like “I give up!” and “That’s okay enough.” slowly disappeared.

Yesterday they started working on their murals. They divided themselves into 2 groups—the girls (with one boy), who didn’t want to get their hands dirty at the beginning of this summer art workshop, faced their wall filled it with random symbols and words, and splashed it with colors. One girl had paint on her hair and just giggled while working. The boys—who were always rowdy and hyperactive—created a plan for their mural and silently worked on the details of their illustrations.

I’d like to think that they were able to learn a lot from this workshop; not just the technical things, like what is additive and subtractive sculpture, or knowing the names of the works in the gallery’s collection, but also about working through their fears and being less critical of themselves (which is sad to see in children at that age!). I hope that after this class ends they will continue to experiment, to face blank pages and walls with gusto, and, when creating, to learn how to jump without worrying if there is a safety net or not to catch them.

Interpretations

It’s been forever since my last entry. Forgive me, my dear blog. 🙂

The top two artworks were painted by Fernando Zóbel, a Spanish-Filipino modernist painter. They were inspired by “Saetas”, a series of religious songs sung a capella during Holy Week in Spain. Zóbel used a syringe to paint the precise lines in his artworks. My students listened to a couple of Saetas (they hated it! Too scary!) and produced the bottom two paintings. They used ink droppers and india ink to paint their works on poster paper.

Zóbel’s paintings “Saeta no. 36” and “Saeta no. 42” are part of the permanent collection of the Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines.

Summer Art Workshop for Kids at the Ateneo Art Gallery

 

I will also be conducting a workshop for kids 9-12 years old at the Ateneo Art Gallery this summer! 

Goals:

• Develop new art-making skills : Collage making, acrylic painting
•  Learn about the different elements of art and the basic principles of design
•  Know more about Philippine National Artists : Arturo Luz, Vicente Manansala, HR Ocampo, Ang Kiukok and other Filipino artists in the Ateneo Art Gallery Collection
•  Learn how to look at paintings, explore different materials, create!

Schedule:
6-weeks, 12 sessions
Twice a week, Wednesdays and Thursdays, beginning April 24
(April 24, 25, 30, May 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30)
10:00 – 11:30 AM

Workshop fee:
Php7,200 for 12 sessions including materials

Venue:
Ateneo Art Gallery

To reserve slots or inquire about the classes:
Call +63 2 4266001 ext. 4160 or +63 2 4266488
Email : rtalamayan@ateneo.edu
Visit: www.ateneoartgallery.org