Ms. Sharples advises against projecting art becasue it will take aways from what the students "feel" towards the art. As in, if the piece is right in front of you, you have more of a connection to a physical piece vs something thats digital and is just data. Another to note is that art on a screen can differ in color drastically when something thats in front of you e.g. printed. Ms. Sharples first teaches the students on what the art is; as in what do you feel or what do you see. Then by doing so she gives an example of her own abstract art. Each color, each stroke, every line has a meaning behind it within art. Why did they pick red? Maybe it was because it was either a facorite color or maybe it represents their red house? By informing the students on what abstract art is gives the students the understanding of how to make their own abstract piece.

1. Why does Ms. Sharples advise against only projecting examples of art?

Ms. Sharples is against projecting examples of art on a screen because it is difficult for a student to be immersed in the artwork. When you take the extra time to print the artwork it gives the students the opportunity to look at the details. Having the artwork close and tangible it occupies their learning space and creates more questions and ideas.

2. See how students analyze examples of abstract art and the artist's purpose How and why does Ms. Sharples model her thought process in creating her own piece of abstract art?

Ms. Sharples models her thought process in her own art to show that art can be relevant to the artist. Art can be about an experience or a memory. The art can also be about the emotion from the experience or the memory. Doing this process in front of the students helps demonstrate that abstract art can have a significance for the artist.

She is an awesome art teacher who is willing to expand the knowledge of her students by explaining the steps of the project to them. She wants the students to incorporate the provided images in their own ways. This activity also gives a chance to the students to walk around the art tables to look at the artworks of their peers and make the comments on their chosen artworks. They decide to explain about their preferences to her at the end. Her own artwork is also the reflection of her own life. She has been through several stages and each one revolves around a story that she shares with them. The details of her own life tell the students that they also need to work hard to achieve their goals by themselves. Education is the passion for her life and she is willing to teach her students to expand the knowledge of the students in her artroom.

I have been working with fline and dot designs to develop a sense of the formal aspects of the Principles of design with my middle school students.  Ce=reating non-objective art has been quite challenging for them.  This maybe a fantastic culminating project for the students to apply their new knowledge and skill with design.Thank you!