A Special Student Thank You!

I stopped by the main office of one of my schools this week (yes, the start of the school year is upon us). While I was there I checked in on my mailbox in the main office. You know, sometimes I miss important things in my mailbox here or there because I travel between schools. Things can just sit there for a week or more with a 6-day schedule, and a weekend thrown in.

Well, apparently I missed this treasure left for me at the end of the year. It is a student drawing inspired by Romero Britto, with a note thanking me for our recent mural project. This made my entire week! Please, if you have a teacher that deserves a thank you, take the time to give it. It is something we all appreciate— more than you know!

Vincent van Gogh Giveaway Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest for a free copy of Vincent,
by Barbara Stok. You all had great stories to share. I especially loved seeing pictures
of you dressed as Vincent, recollections of lessons taught and learned, and even got
the scoop on a free van Gogh app! So fantastic!

 

 

Congratulations, Katelyn Smith!
You are the winner. Hurray! 

Look for your package in the mail, find a comfy chair,
and have a great read.

Middle School Mural, Part Three

Our mural is complete! HURRAY! 

Here are a few suggestions/learning moments I would like to share for those of you with a yearning to mural, or to help your next mural go more smoothly.

We used Sax True Flow acrylics and they worked well. We mixed a little white into each color to give them better opacity. The lightest colors did need an additional coat— and go figure, I realized later that Sax makes a Blockout White, which probably would have been a better way to go! Live and learn. The kids used restaurant cups to carry their paint over to the mural. And I just snapped the lids on and saved them for the next week! Unless there was near nothing left in the cups, the paint stayed moist and usable throughout our five weeks of meeting to work on the mural.

 

Once we got rolling and past just filling in large areas of color, my students were so motivated that I became a little overwhelmed with many of them asking over and over and/or simultaneously "What do I do now? What's next?" I had about twelve students, for a 6 foot by six foot space. Not everyone could work at the same time, and sometimes with so many working, I could not look to see what needed to be done! So, at the end of each work day I would take a shot of the mural in progress, and before the next meeting, I would mark all of the areas that needed work with a post-it note. Voila! Students could pick an area, pull off a note, and get to work. I also had students washing brushes, filling paint cups, and mixing colors as we needed them. And lets not forget the emergency clean up crew! Damp washcloths at the ready just in case of spills, paint on clothing etc. 

 We had the printout of the image hanging nearby for reference as we worked. For circles and stripes I hung up sheets to practice on. Having a chance to try filling in these areas before heading to the mural gave the kids confidence, and helped their work to be its best. I still found that straight lines were tricky, barring masking every line with tape. So in smaller areas, we opted to make free-form lines, and dab dots. The kids could practice them on the practice sheets as well, and they still gave the look and feel of Britto's original work. They also painted the free-form scribble patterns free hand.

For the final stage of adding black outlines, I painted the outside borders for the kids to fill in, and painted some areas myself. Once you get so close to the finish, you don't want anything to go horribly wrong. And at this point, precision is key!  We managed all of the final touches with success.



This really was a great learning experience for the kids, as well as for me as a teacher, artist, and life-long learner. I also enjoyed the many students and staff who walked by and stopped to give encouragement, thank me for contributing to brightening up our hallways, and find out who I am! Being a part-time teacher who travels to two different schools, I don't always get to feel as much a part of each school's community as I would like. This was a wonderful opportunity to get to know everyone. And I'm glad my students will be able to walk by our mural and know they were part of it for their years at middle school. Great job young artists!

 To see the other stages of our Romero Britto mural, check out these previous posts...

Middle School Mural, Part One

Middle School Mural, Part Two

Vincent van Gogh Giveaway!

I recently found this wonderful graphic novel all about Vincent van Gogh and his years spent in Arles. It was created by a Dutch artist/author named Barbara Stok, and her simple and brilliant visuals are a joy to read. Here she talks about her inspiration:

"I chose the last couple of years of his life, the period he lived in the south of France, because it’s an extremely interesting time. There was a lot going on: he made his most beautiful paintings, he dreamed about setting up an artists’ house, there was the tragic incident with his ear and, finally, he went to a mental institution. He had hopes and dreams and big disappointments, but in the end he found resignation and consolation in his work and in nature."

 So now I want to share— literally!
Welcome to latest Positive Space Giveaway! Woo hoo!

To enter: please become a member/follower of my blog if you haven't already, and then leave a comment below with a favorite van Gogh anecdote. Maybe it's the first time you viewed one of his paintings, your favorite or most successful art lesson. Perhaps you dressed as him for Halloween one year? Hmmmmmm? Too bad you can't see the candles on my, err, I mean his hat. One winner will be chosen from the comments, so make sure you leave a way for me to contact you within your comment!

The giveaway is open to residents of the 50 United States (and DC), ends on August 15th, and will ship within one week. Read it yourself, share with a friend, and depending on what age range you teach, share it with your students. I would suggest high school only. Caution: nudity, some naughty language, and the ear is dealt with—enough said.

Good luck my art teacher friends, and hope your first days of school run smoothly! And well wishes to all of my online family!