Connecting our work to Eco Art gave students the chance to use their designs to tackle important topics that concern our environment, such as the conservation and preservation of our waterways. Plastic bags and other materials were punched onto canvases to raise awareness about the negative impact of trash on the environment. Students also incorporated watercolor, acrylic paint, and appliqué to add interest and variety.
Left: Emily H., eco-inspired punch-needle canvas. Right: Emily H., punch-needle canvas in progress.Kamila M., punch-needle canvas.Left: Kayla S., punch-needle canvas. Right: Kayla S. uses a tufting gun to help create a collaborative class rug.Students Drew J., Brayden H., and LeeʼAyla F. learn about local aquatic life from boat tour guide Josh Gilliland.
As an artist and teacher, I enjoy experimenting with new media, learning new techniques, and creating art outside of school—and summer is the perfect time to accomplish this. Creating my own art allows me to bring this knowledge back to the classroom.
I recently developed an interest in rug hooking, a craft and fiber art form that has gained in popularity in recent years. I discovered Rose Pearlman, an artist who specializes in this medium and purchased a book she wrote on the topic.
Then I started creating. I purchased stretcher bars, monk’s cloth, the Oxford punch needle, and yarn. I ended up with an abstract wall canvas full of high and low piles, with a macramé-style bottom for added interest. I had so much fun making this piece that I couldn't wait to share it with my students in the fall.
The Floating Classroom
The waterways, plants, and creatures that live in Virginia Beach where I reside have always been an inspiration to me, so I decided to use the location as the theme for a rug-hooking project for students, and I wrote a grant to help fund it. A company in the community donated $2,000 toward the project, which covered the costs for all the art supplies I needed as well as a boat tour of our local waterways.
The chance to learn in a floating classroom was an engaging experience for students, and they approached the project with enthusiasm and purpose. Students collaborated as they net fished, crabbed, and learned about the unique fish and aquatic life in our local waterways. We discussed the positive and negative impact of humans in our area and how artists can create works, known as Eco Art, to inspire positive environmental change.
Eco Rug-Hooking
Back in the classroom, we explored the medium of rug-hooking using punch needles. Students developed unique abstract and nonobjective art based on their photographs and drawings of the aquatic life they saw on the floating classroom. The reds and blues of the local crabs influenced students’ yarn choices, and greens from the plant life made their way onto the canvas.
Connecting our work to Eco Art gave students the chance to use their designs to tackle important topics that concern our environment, such as the conservation and preservation of our waterways. Plastic bags and other materials were punched onto canvases to raise awareness about the negative impact of trash on the environment. Students also incorporated watercolor, acrylic paint, and appliqué to add interest and variety.
My classroom became a place of mindful calm as students quietly punched their canvas artworks—a repetitive yet peaceful process. I played music to fill the silence, and students said this was the most relaxing class of their day. Through these works of art, students learned about abstract and nonobjective design, how to hook a rug using a punch needle, and how to communicate and inspire others through art.
Collaborative Tufting
To wrap up our exploration, I taught students the art of tufting, a process similar to rug-hooking with a punch needle but at high speed. I brought in a local artist who showed us a beautifully tufted rug she made and demonstrated how to use a tufting gun. The slow, meditative process students had so recently experienced became energizing and exciting as they used tufting guns to create a collaborative class rug.
Conclusion
This project allowed students to explore rug-making in two ways: through individual punch needle wall canvases and a collaboratively tufted floor rug. Both of these unique processes were inspired by our hands-on learning experience on the floating classroom, giving students and their work a unique and meaningful perspective.
Jessica Provow is an art teacher at the Gifted Visual Arts Program at Virginia Beach Middle School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Jessica.Provow@VBSchools.com
National Standard
Connecting: Relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context.
Art teachers share lessons that students can relate to, fostering a sense of self and community. Young students identify emotions and facial expressions while collaging, elementary students trace their countries of origins and share their findings through self-portrait photo compositions, middle-school students create aquatic themed rug canvases with important ecological messages, high-school students draw alongside Tibetan monks as they create a sand mandala, and more.
