The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth

When I decided to be a teacher, one of the most appealing things to me was the ability to indulge myself in the arts. As a teacher, I get to be "on stage" every day. I get to be an artist as I design bulletin boards and actually teach it. I get to write and teach others to do the same. And, I always get to learn new things. It seemed the perfect fit.

Fridays are for art in the fourth grade. We learned about Jim Dine last Friday. He is an American artist who is widely known as a pop artist among greats like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. One of the ordinary objects he uses over and over is the heart, which is perfect for a February project. 

There are so many things I love about this particular art project. Hearts are an easy shape (especially when you make stencils for tracing). Mixed media is always fun, and the imperfections created by it are very forgiving. Nobody's heart is perfect...which, is actually perfect. 

This particular project lends itself to creativity. I take my art seriously, in that I'm still trying to teach them something under the guise of having fun. Many times, I teach them through a step by step process to show them they can draw/make whatever I choose. This one, however, I taught the process, but let them choose the colors and styles. 

We dipped strips of tissue paper in a mixture of glue and water and then we crumpled them and put them down on card stock paper. That, of course, was a mess, but being messy is kind of fun when you're a kid. Whatever they create can be, "Perfect!" Of course, then there's the waiting time. You CANNOT color over wet tissue paper. Once it's dry however, the magic happens. I take out ALL of my oil pastels. I show them a few tricks about shading and blending colors, then I let them go.

This is one project that when I'm asked, "How does this look?", "Is this good?", and "Am I done?", I can honestly respond with, "Do you like it?" and, "If you're happy with it, you're done." They are all perfect in their own way and I love that.

As I put them on the board, I realized I needed to say something. I was going to go with the simple "Love others" theme, but those words, though they are true and good, didn't do this project justice. Then it hit me, "The course of true love never did run smooth." It's perfect for this in so many ways. First of all, it's Shakespeare and we do a Shakespeare play in the spring. Then there's the fact that these hearts are quite literally NOT smooth. Also, there's the truth of the quote as one teacher noted as she passed by, "Well, ain't that the truth!" And indeed, it is.

I'm grateful for Fridays in fourth grade. I'm grateful I get to teach art. I'm grateful I get to watch kids get excited about their creations. I'm grateful I get to witness that in the looks of joy and pride on their little faces. 

 If you happen to walk by and see them, or even if you're just viewing them here in this space, find a fourth grader and gush over their success. Tell them how amazing their art is, and more importantly, how great they are.