My first Teaching Position

Well it's finally official. As of next week I will be teaching full time! I have just been hired as a leave replacement from September through November. One of the teachers I had subbed for last school year just had a beautiful baby girl and is taking maternity leave. And she has been incredibly helpful and supportive beyond my dreams! She has given me lesson plans, notes on classroom management and given me free reign in decorating the art rooms. I wish everyone could have this kind of experience. Thank you Emily!

So I have helped her unpack art supplies for the year, set up art rooms, started writing lesson plans, and have been reviewing notes, schedules etc. I have two days of new teacher orientation next week, and one professional development day for staff meetings etc. Oh, and then the real work begins. I have more and more respect for what teachers do every day! And my excitement is growing as well.

I wish you all the best for the 2011-12 school year, teachers, parents and children!

Zen Pandas

 I have been working on more lessons using children's books as inspiration. They make great cross-curricular projects, and highlight careers in the arts. I recently saw this one on MaryMaking and had to use it! Thanks Mary.

Students created mixed media works based on the children's book Zen Shorts by John J. Muth. The background combines pastel, ink and tempera techniques. The pandas were drawn in pencil, then sharpie, and color was added with watercolor washes. Each work depicts Stillwater the panda floating with his paper parasol. Enjoy!

Recycled African Masks

I love giving my recycled art classes during the summer. I hoard during the school year in hopes of having enough egg cartons, paper tubes, straws, or whatever I might find interesting to have enough for a group class.

I saw examples of these African inspired masks at Fem Manuals, one of my favorite art sites ever! They always have incredibly creative projects, recycle often, and really capture the adventure that their young artists are constantly having.

Our masks are created using recycled laundry soap containers, bottle caps, acrylic paint, and other materials from the studio. I assisted with construction using a hot glue gun. We discussed the stylized geometric forms and special uses for masks in Africa, as in many cultures of the world. Here are some of our creations.

Bubble Writing Review!

Laurence King Publishing contacted me and asked me to check out some of their upcoming books for use on my blog. The first I received was How to be the Best Bubble Writer in the World Ever! This is a brilliant workbook style book that introduces us to and guides us through the world of the bubble writer!

It is great for kids and adults alike. It can also be quite addicting! Author Linda Scott suggests minimal materials and a fun attitude to begin you on your journey. Oh, and she reminds you that there are no rules when it comes to bubble letters and creativity! The first three types of bubble letters are the foundation, so to speak, and then you can venture on to the more complex.

Use this workbook to create fun doodles, complete pieces of sketchbook art, or even design your own alphabets! Typography and design, pattern, color, composition—all of these themes are inherent in art lessons designed for children, when using this book as a guide. Here are some things we tried in class at the studio, using just pencil, black sharpies, and crayola markers:

Name Assignment: the students and I  went over the 3 basic bubble alphabets (freestyle, block, and shaded block) and created an art piece based on our first names.

Typeface Design: we designed our own bubble alphabets using our favorite animals as inspiration.

Comic Words: and for my manga/comic students, we used Scott's alphabets to illustrate examples of emotional dialogue.

Check out this video of Linda Scott demonstrating her genius! Thanks to Linda for such a wonderful book, and to Debra at Laurence King Publishing for sharing it with me and my students.

How to be the Best Bubble Writer in the World Ever! on Vimeo

Our Bottle Cap Mural in Progress!

Well summer is here and my students have been donating bottle caps like crazy! Off we go on our first bottle cap adventure. You can see more photos on our Facebook page. More mural posts and progress to come...

Great Art Sites for Kids—Kerpoof!

Kerpoof Studio is one of my kids' favorite sites on the web for drawing and making art. Kerpoof is owned by the Disney company, and though not everything there is available for free (they require a monthly subscription fee for complete access) there are great features that are free that should not be passed up!

Try the Make a Drawing page with a sophisticated and easy to use paint program. Children can see colors being added to their palette and how they mix, and they can choose settings for the transparency and size of their pen.

On the Make a Picture page, children select different backgrounds to start with and then they get to add elements to create their art in a collage style. I happened to find a couple of pages base on famous paintings. As elements are selected, facts are given about the artist and his work. 

I hope you get a chance to play at Kerpoof!

Vegetable Print Seascapes

My younger students have been exploring printmaking and recently we created some lovely seascapes. We used 12x18 construction paper in light gray for a neutral background. First we created an ocean along the bottom of our pages using various shades of blue tempera paint. The ends of cut celery stalks make great waves. The children were quite diligent in printing multiple times to fill up the ocean! Next I had some carved potatoes to use for the sun, clouds and fish. The children were responsible for choosing placement and number of elements on their pieces. The end result was a collection of lively and colorful works. Great job little artists!