Cha Cha Cha CHANGE

If you've read this blog before or you know me, then you know what line of work I'm in.  I teach "talented art" to a small groups of kids each day in a public school setting.  Due to the nature of my job, I tend to keep the same students for a number of years.   Some I've taught for 5 years now.  I've practically watched them grow up.  I've gotten to know their parents as friends and feel very comfortable seeing familiar faces every new school year.  Next year will be more of the same and I'm glad of it. 

One thing gets to me though.  Once my students move to 9th grade I lose them to another teacher.  I know it's for the the best, but it doesn't make it any easier.  They always make me feel like I'm the key to their success as an artist, and while I'm flattered, really my desire is for them to take what they know and run with it, learn something new, get a fresh perspective.  

My greatest desire for my departing students is that they would remember my everyday life, while FAR from perfect, is pointing to Christ and bearing fruit.  If it isn't, then the greatest artist to come from under my teaching would be wasting paint.  It's true that I love art, but I love Jesus more.  I'd rather see the gospel advanced in their lives than visual arts.

To my students who read this blog:
I love you,
I'll really miss you,
Come and see me,
Ride the bus back to the elementary school next year if you must.

Ahem... Happy Cinco de Mayo!  Tomorrow is SB's actual birthday.  I don't think I'm gonna tell her.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far...

Crystal, my sister, gave SB an easel with a dry erase board for her birthday and she loves it.  See other posts for more of her works of art.  These two drawings are among my favorite.  They've got real personality.  The left is one of her first face drawings.  I drew the circle before she started and the ears when she was done.  (Sorry.  He needed ears.)  To me he looks so much like Charlie Brown, don't you think?  Maybe it's the zigzag line.  I don't know.  For the right one, she asked me to draw a snake so she could add the face to it.  I drew the long snake-like body and bulbous head.  She did everything else.  My reaction:  I couldn't have done it better myself if I tried.  I love the personality of this guy.  Maybe someday I'll collect all my phone photos of her drawings and turn them into a storybook.

...Once upon a time, Charlie Brown and his stylish snake friend went on an adventure...  Blaaahhhh... I'll leave the writing to someone talented.

Pretty good drawings for a two year old huh?

School

It's official.  The summer is over half way over.  June is gone.  July is in a hurry.  Please stay, July...just a little while longer. It seems like you don't hang around for very long. 

School...August...wake up early...schedule...lesson plans...kids...deadlines...contests...fun projects...friends...new classroom...more space to make art...PAY CHECK.  Ok.  I'll go back.

Busy Bee

This was my first photo of SB since late November when I took her Christmas pictures.  She's growing up and if not for my mom, I wouldn't have much of a record of the past few months because I have taken no pictures.  Mom takes pictures of her every Friday when she stays with her for the day.  Because I'm fairly confident that she takes pictures every week, I haven't worried about it.  Mom's photos are great for the most part.  SB doesn't make it easy.          

Work has kept me entirely too busy lately.  Our student art show is fast approaching and my students are never ready early.  I blame myself.  I have a hard time saying "no" to any student who wants to try to do something better days before things are due.  I end up staying after school every day until the very last minute urging them to work faster.  They tend to take the pressure as well as I do.

The word "yes" seems to fall out of my mouth freely for any reason whatsoever.  I have trouble turning anything down.  It's not so much that I feel pressured into doing some task, it's just that I like a challenge.  

Some of those "yesses" include:

-making a beauty pageant costume look like a head of cotton; I couldn't resist. 

-making a 4 tier wedding cake.  (I will never make another wedding cake again if I have any say in the matter.)

-have another exhibit of my artwork with no current pieces to speak of.

-exhibit my students work when it isn't required.

...and now I will abruptly end this typing spree because I'm really

t i  r   e   d  .  .  .

 

March of the Tools

There are two things I feel are "must haves" for any artist/crafter -something that rends and something that mends.
Here is my trusty rotary cutter. Once I was purchasing some fabric in a local quilting shop when the clerk cut my yardage with one of these babies. I was sold at that moment. It has only been a resident of my toolkit for the past 6 or so months. I don't know how I ever got along without it before. I find it so much easier to cut straight edges especially on large quantities of fabric. If you've never used one of these, I think you'd find plenty of uses for it even if you're not a sewer. You'll need a cutting surface and a nice straight edge to make the most of it, but those aren't so expensive and can be found in lots of craft stores, even in WalMart. Replacement blades are between $5 and $10.

One of my other favorite tools is my glue gun. Once when I was teaching science in private school, I asked parents if the class could borrow some glue guns as I was in need of about 6 of them for a roller coaster project. One of the parents bought me 6 glue guns and told me I could keep them. They are still in my arsenal. I use them for everything from making hairpieces to adding texture on paintings, to burning holes in plastic things - thus the burnt tip.


This is my first "March of the Tools" post in conjunction with Heather Bailey's month-long blog feature. Click on the March of the Tools graphic on the sidebar to learn more.

Fashionista

Haley, one of my students, wanted to do some fashion designing as a project in my class. She's in 5th grade, so I wanted to keep it simple. Take a look at the dress she's wearing and decide for yourself whether or not it's simple to make. She's the one on the very left in blue.

Her cousin was in the Miss America Pageant, and Haley and her family attended the program. There she met Clinton Kelly from What Not to Wear. He complemented her on her dress... which she forgot to mention that she made...in my class.

Recycled Art

I could go on and on about my daughter, but thought I'd better include some posts about my other interests too.

Hurricane Gustav, 2008

Acrylic, newspaper, photos, found objects

The International House of Blues Foundation holds an annual art competition for school age children (grades 5-12). The theme for this year was "A Significant Event that Shapes Your Life and World". The assignment was to create a piece of abstract art out of found objects and recycled material. My students participated in the competition, and one of them won second place!

The piece above was an example I made for my students. It's about Hurricane Gustav. I found newspaper clippings, photos of friends' houses that were damaged, and debris from the storm. Even though you might not see it in this flat image, there are holes in the canvas where the branches come through.

My winning student's piece was about increasing gas prices. It's a drop of oil made from pennies. One of the most common things people say about abstract art is, "I could do that." Taking a concrete idea and turning it into an abstract representation is more difficult than most people think. Even some of my best students have trouble with this concept - This student did a great job for a 5th grader. Here's her piece:




If you've ever thought, "I could do that" when looking at an abstract piece, I challenge you to try this: create an abstract piece of art with the topic "My Dog". Try to create something that makes complete sense to you, but not to everyone else. A representation of your pooch, but not a portrait. Send the results to me at ficklelittlepickle@gmail.com , and if you like, I'll post them to this blog in the future (I won't do so without your permission).