Kris Fontes                                                            Union City High School                             

Each fall the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Art Education Association holds it's annual conference.  In order to entice art teachers to attend this event, the committee must schedule speakers, workshops, lectures, vendor displays, luncheons, dinners and various other activities.  Members of PAEA, who have volunteered to lend their expertise for an hour or two during the conference, lead many of these workshops.

In late spring, PAEA members are invited to submit a proposal for a workshop.  This is an opportunity to share a great lesson, technique or material.  The idea for the workshop does not have to be revolutionary; it is an opportunity to share with other art educators something you are passionate about.

Conferences take about two years to plan and are a huge undertaking for the committee and when they send out the invitation to submit a proposal, it's hard to say no.  Since I had helped organize the Erie conference in 2000 I knew how important it was to offer as many diverse workshops as possible.  With this in mind, I decided to submit a proposal for a workshop for the 2002 conference in Williamsport, PA.

Art teachers share some things in common with one another but each one of us is unique in our interests and abilities.  For this reason, I chose one of my favorite middle school lessons that involves lines, textures, gold scratchboard and the Austrian artist, Gustav Klimt.  I titled my workshop, Elegant Art Nouveau.

Teachers would create an elegant drawing in the ornamental, decorative and luxurious style of Klimt.  In preparation for the conference I created handouts to be given to each participant.  One handout dealt with the art history, both of Klimt and Art Nouveau.  This information was readily available on the Internet.  Another excellent source was Helen Hume's book, Art History and Appreciation Activities Kit.  My formal lesson plan with standards and procedures comprised a second handout.  For classroom use, I included a student worksheet on Descriptive Line, that gave examples of different types of line, such as, diagonal, horizontal, vertical and zigzag.

The day of the workshop, I set up my supplies and waited for the teachers to arrive.  After I introduced myself and briefly explained what we would be doing, I passed around three student examples.

"Can we start?"

Suddenly the activity level accelerated and everyone was busy...extremely busy yet quiet.  It was wonderful to watch this group of twenty-three art teachers as excited as any classroom full of art students.  Walking around the room, I saw the project transformed by the individual artists, each one putting a personal spin on the original concept. The workshop was only an hour and a half long and many of us wished we could have had more time.  I came away from the conference feeling good about my contribution and with a heightened sense of admiration for my fellow art teachers.  We are not often given the opportunity to play.  But play we did!

Instructional Materials:

• Reproductions of works by Klimt, especially those that are highly embellished and ornamental.  Caution - Klimt's images should be chosen carefully as they are often of the naked female form.
• The Grammar of Ornament by Owen James
• Student Examples

Supplies;

• Gold Scratchboard (board not paper)
• Scratch knives and holders
• Magazines
• Glue

From a magazine cut out the head and hands of a human figure, this can be a man, woman or child. Glue these pieces to the gold scratchboard.

Begin by scratching out an organic shape that
suggests a garment. This garment should not be realistic...

After you draw the garment you will have two areas to fill...the garment and the background around the garment.

• 
• One of these areas must be densely and richly patterned using lines and textures.   The other area will be covered less densely.  This will emphasize one area more than the other.

• Keep the unscratched area of the scratchboard covered with a clean sheet of paper to prevent oils from your fingers transferring to the surface of the board.

• Begin to fill one of the two areas with patterns, lines, textures and shapes.   Refer to the Descriptive Line worksheet for ideas and also the book, The Grammar of Ornament, for inspiration.

• Fill the other area.

• Check to see if the two areas are distinctly different.  Does one stand out more than another?  If they are too similar, go back and add more details to the dense shape.

Standards:

9.1.B Recognize, know, use and demonstrate a variety of appropriate art elements and principles to produce original works in the arts.

9.1.H Demonstrate and maintain materials, equipment and tools safely.

9.2.C Relate works in the arts to varying styles and genre and to the periods in which they were created.