The  More  for  Me  Miranda  Sweeney  

Artistic  Development  ARE6693  University  of  Florida  

08  Fall  

Progression.Graphite  pencil.  2001.  

My story begins before I even remember it. My family is full of wonderfully creative,

talented people, all of which have played a role in my development. Always encouraging and

always willing to let me explore. Learning to quilt with my grandmother taught me about

patterns and the importance of color and color combinations. My

mother used to paint, not on canvases, but on just about everything

else. She embellished t-shirts, ceramics, and wood cutouts with

wonderfully detailed paintings. I learned how to use a brush in

many different ways and the importance of craftsmanship. My

grandfather was a golfer by gift, but he built clubs and adapted

machines to do what he needed them to do. He had been an

engineer in the military; he was my everything and a huge

influence on my sense of exploration. My summers were spent at

his golf shop. I watched him make clubs, fix and re-fix, then

manipulate his equipment. In comes my uncle, the techy. He put a

Macintosh computer in the office…I played for hours. There was a

graphics program that would allow you to manipulate the swirling,

geometric graphics with a few key strokes, and then freeze and

print the image. I was in heaven. My aunt was always one to

encourage us, and support our creative endeavors. She is cultured

in the arts, and ensured that we had experiences with them at a

young age. She would take us to plays and fine restaurants. She has

a keen sense for design, and taught me how to arrange a room, set

a table, and dress for success. Another aunt, on my father’s side, owned a ceramics shop. It was a

paint-your-own-pottery place where people would come to paint decorative cast ceramic pieces.

This is where I learned about clay, and I have been fascinated by it ever since. Each one of these

individuals has played a significant role in my life and my creative development.

In walks formal education.

In elementary school I remember winning poster contests and banner designs for class

projects. Everything I remember doing in school was representational. Creating banners and

displays with illustrations of dolphins, whales, and endangered species for the environment club

Summer.  2002.  Cotton.  I  made  this  quilt  in  a  fabrics  course  during  my  undergraduate  studies.  I  used  one  a  sewing  machine  that  was  more  than  30  years  old.  I  felt  connected  to  my  grandmother  more  than  I  had  in  a  long  time.  It  was  her,  but  it  was  me  at  the  same  time.    

I had started. Drawing awareness posters for seatbelt safety and fire safety for poster contests

was also part of my skill set. On my time, I liked to explore lines. I would draw these detailed

swirling line designs into various recognizable shapes and my aunt would copy them so I could

share them with my friends. They were like my own coloring books.

My middle school art courses really opened my eyes to my own talents. I continued the

representational works in school, adding perspective drawings and more technical skills. I don’t

recall my teacher’s name and really only recall one project in my three years of middle school.

We were given the task of creating a mobile with colored wire and flat shapes. In retrospect,

Calder likely inspired the assignment, however, I wasn’t introduced to any artist or art history

references for a while.

High school was it for me.

It is not only where my talent

flourished, it was where people

outside of my family recognized it.

My teacher, Mr. Knight, saw my

ability to replicate just about any

image he put in front of me. After

the first few weeks of my

freshman introductory art class, he

moved me into advanced level

courses, where I stayed for the

remainder of high school. As a

high school student, I learned the

art of imitation. According to

Cannatella (2012), “art education in the form of imitation as representation should be an

important aspect of most art educational programs” (p.100). I received a very traditional form of

art education in high school. We were given the task of finding images that were appealing to us,

and to replicate those images using whatever medium we were most drawn to. This style of

teaching seems ancient to me as an educator now, however, as Cannatella suggests, “the student

Night  Bloom.  1998.  Prismacolor  and  acrylic  paint.  This  image  was  replicated  from  a  photograph  in  a  magazine.  I  

have  always  been  drawn  to  the  beauty  of  flowers,  and  continuously  practiced  rendering  them  as  realistically  as  possible.  

learns to manipulate his medium in order to explore, discover, create, and reason” (p. 108). For

everything I deem missing from my high school art education, I will say my art teacher provided

opportunities for us to see art outside of our small community. He arranged field trips,

workshops, and organized a trip to Italy after graduation.

I also continued my interest in

technology with art in high school. I became an

intern in the design department of a local carpet

manufacturer, Mannington Commercial. I

learned about design, pattern, color, and about

business. I also learned about getting the

community involved in the arts, as I was

responsible for organizing a monthly art show

for local schools in the showroom of the

company. This is also how I sold my first work.

It was a replica of a painting of a Native

American; a big wig from 3M bought it for one

hundred dollars. I am still not sure how I feel

about it. As Hamblen (1995) notes, “if one

adheres to the mimetic orientation … in

instructional methodologies, one believes that

artistic value is determined by the extent to

which the student is successful in accurately

rendering a representational image or in

expressing an ideal, universal quality” (p.115).

If this is the case, I guess I was a successful artist in high school.

Undergraduate Eye Opening

It didn’t take long for me to recognize everything that had been missing from my high

school art courses. My first official drawing class as an undergrad at the University of Georgia

was the most influential in my decision to become an art educator. My professor was stern,

Unfinished.  1998.  Prismacolor.  This  image  is  similar  to  the  one  I  sold.  I  found  and  replicated  paintings  of  Native  Americans  found  in  an  art  magazine.  I  apparently  grew  bored  with  the  subject  matter  because  I  never  finished  this  image  and  haven’t  been  interested  in  anything  similar  since.  I  question  why  I  would  sign  my  name  to  an  image  that  wasn’t  really  mine  to  begin  with.  

sometimes harsh, but always straightforward and honest. He required strict adherence to his

assignments, but also applauding slight deviances. Everything had purpose and reason. I learned

to draw from observation, the importance of composition, and most importantly, I learned that

loved everything about it. Long gone was the art of imitation.

I found that I had a knack for extending myself outside

of the requirements my professors were asking of us.

My projects were often unconventional, and

experimental for me. I felt free to try new techniques,

mediums, and concepts. I explored every genre I could

get into. Once I made it beyond the introductory classes and began my studies in art education, I

made it a point to continue hopping around despite my professors urging to choose a focus. My

philosophy was simple. I was likely going to be

asked to teach a variety of different artistic

subjects, why should I not familiarize myself

with as many as I can. That’s just what I did.

Drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramics,

jewelry, sculpture, graphic design and new

media were all part of my undergraduate art

education. It was a fantastic time of exploration

for me as an artist and as an individual.

Fixative.  2001.  Graphite  pencil.  My  first  drawing  class  as  an  undergraduate  taught  me  to  draw  from  observation,  a  skill  that  I  had  never  developed  or  practiced  before.  My  professor  required  a  border  on  every  page  and  we  had  to  number  every  assignment.  I  took  it  upon  myself  to  extend  outside  the  borders…he  never  reprimanded  me  for  it,  I  think  he  enjoyed  that  I  wasn’t  afraid  to  do  without  asking.  So  I  did  a  lot  of  things  without  asking.  

 

Figure.  2002.  Charcoal.  I  had  never  drawn  figures  before.  I  was  fascinated  in  the  concentration  required  and  the  techniques  I  was  taught  to  capture  the  correct  proportions.  The  three-­‐hour  classes  never  seemed  long  enough.  

I learned that I love to draw figures, and creating graphic prints with the meditative, repetitive

technique of relief printing. I learned that I love to hand build ceramic pieces and I am terrible at

throwing on the wheel. I learned that I have a very clean, geometric aesthetic quality when I

design jewelry pieces. I learned that installation sculpture means so much more than just putting

pieces in a specific space. I learned that I will never be able to keep up with technology in art but

it sure is fun trying. The most important thing I learned from my undergraduate art education is

that you have never learned enough. There is always more.

The More for Me

Eight months after graduating from UGA I landed my first teaching job at Dacula High

School. A rural school, relatively small compared to the surrounding area, and very similar

feeling to my own high school. I dove in headfirst. I think the introduction of VCAE, Visual

Culture Art Education, in my undergrad programs influenced not only my teaching pedagogy,

but my artistic style as well. I started to pay closer

attention to the visual stimulation that I was

influenced by on a daily basis. I also started

taking pictures. I wanted to teach photography,

but had never been inside a darkroom, so I took a

community class at the Atlanta College of Art.

The course changed my preferred medium of

expression. I started taking pictures, especially of

people. Since my first figure drawing studies and

self-portraits, I’ve been intrigued by people, so I

frame them with my lens, point and shoot. I try to

capture the innocence of children, the wisdom of

the elderly, the love shared by a couple, and all the quirky eccentricities of teenagers. I try not to

let the camera get in the way of expressing who the subject is, or who I am as the photographer.

As a mother of two, full time teacher, and graduate student, I don’t get to practice as an

artist as much as I would like. I enjoy doodling and have used it to create works, sometimes

collaboratively with my students. Let me back up a bit. My best friend became fond of “sugar

skulls” after seeing one in a design on the reality show, Project Runway. I decided to paint her

Anniversary.  2010.  Digital  photograph.  This  is  a  photo  of  my  parents  taken  for  their  25th  Anniversary.  The  photo  says  so  much  about  who  they  are  as  a  couple  and  how  they  have  managed  to  stay  together  for  25  years.  Laughter  is  the  answer.  

one as a gift, and it quickly became a hobby. As a part of this

hobby, I put poster board down on my desk at school, and

when I get a minute or two, I like to doodle. I encourage

students to add to the drawings. The doodles became

illustrations of “sugar skull” characters. I would give the

drawings a personality and a name, and when I finished

them, I would let a lucky student take the drawing home.

Occasionally a student would

help me uncover the personality of the skull through some design advice or insight, and even

coloring parts of the image with me. The students loved to watch the drawing develop and would

constantly ask, “Who’s next?” as far as the personality I would create. The sugar skulls have

filled a void for me, allowing me to create something even with the constraints that keep me

from creating as much as I would like to.

Part of the reason I chose the graduate program at the University of Florida was the

inclusion of studio electives as a requirement. What better way to make time to create than

making it a required part of continuing education? The courses I’ve taken that require creative

projects to correspond with the research have forced me back into making time to do what I love.

My favorite projects have been centered on the influence of visual culture and using  art for social

awareness and advocacy. In Duncum (2002), he claims, “linking the world of art with the world

of students is what all good teachers do” (p.7). I think this is true for my practices as an artist and

as an educator. I try to make meaning of the world I live in by trying to capture the essence of the

lives that surround me as well as the external influences on those lives. I try to do the same in my

classroom. Incorporating lessons and projects that force students to be mindful of their

influences, their choices, and the consequences. I allow them to explore, question, and play with

media, technique, and concepts and modeling these behaviors is the best way I know to

encourage them. “Images and artifacts from popular culture’s terrain lie in the everyday and are

invested with meaning and pleasure” (Tavin, 2003, p.198). If I am to teach my students and

Mariposa.  2010.  Sharpie  marker  on  poster  board.    This  skull  was  named  with  the  help  of  a  passing  through  Spanish  teacher.  He  stopped  to  look  and  said  “mariposa  –  it’s  Spanish  for  butterfly”  and  I  knew  that  it  had  to  be  her  name.  She  (the  skull)  was  nicknamed  “Mari”  because  she  just  so  happened  to  be  adopted  by  a  graduating  student  named  Mary.    

support their creative development, it is

imperative that I model creative practices in my

classroom. I show my students the work I do for

my classes and talk about the importance of

continuing their education beyond the classroom,

beyond, high school, and even beyond

undergraduate degrees. I sit with them and draw

or doodle while we discuss their current projects

or what they did over the weekend; I question

their decisions and urge them to question their

influences. I implore them to speak up and speak

out about issues that concern them with their art

and their voices. The more for me is found when

I’m creating for a cause, for a purpose, and when I

see my students doing the same.

Nothing  Fits.  2011.  Acrylic  paint,  magazine  images.  This  project  was  tough  because  it  made  me  think  about  how  I  let  visual  culture  influence  my  own  body  image  and  self  worth.  The  image  is  a  life-­‐size  self-­‐portrait  outlined  by  images  filling  the  difference  in  space  of  my  actual  size  and  how  I  perceive  my  size.  The  title  is  reflective  of  what  I  constantly  hear  myself  say  and  how  I  don’t  fit  into  society’s  image  of  beauty.    

References

Cannatella, H. (2012). What it is and that it is. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 46(2), 100-110.

Duncum, P. (2002). Back to the future:[Re][De]fining art education. Art Education, 55(3), 6-11.

Tavin, K. (2003). Wrestling with angels, searching for ghosts: Toward a critical pedagogy of

visual culture. Studies in Art Education, 44(3). 197-213.