What the Art Teacher Wore #86 and Our Artsy Book of Choice!

Still-Life Dress Monday: So I totally know what you're thinking: Geesh, Stephens, that dress is a lil short doncha think? Yeah, looking at this photo, I totally agree. That's the prob with being a little on the tall side, clothing is often a little on the small side. Regardless, when you teach little kids, I swear to you, they don't notice this kinda stuff (mine don't anyway). What they did love was the photograph of the lady and the examples of still-life paintings which inspired several convos. dress: scored cheaply on Modcloth; tights: Target; boots: Frye, picked up at a second hand shop; necklace: DIY embroidery, details here

Hey, ya'll! I hope you guys are having a super amazing weekend...AND looking forward to a lovely Monday off in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. If you DON'T have the day off, my apologies. I'll stay in my pajamas and craft a little bit longer in your honor. 

This past week was my first 5-day'er since the holidays and I can't believe I made it! I tried out some of your vocabulary suggestions this week (an updated post with your amazing suggestions to come), continued stencil marbling with my third and fourth graders, and wore my Starry Night light up dress for kindergarten town. Then yesterday, hubs and I went on a 12 mile hike on which I decided to wear my new hiking boots which weigh, I swear, five pounds each. I felt like I was walking with overweight koala bears clinging to my ankles. Which sounds cute. Trust me, it wasn't. All that jibber-jabber to say, I'm beat and I think Ima need Monday just to recover.

Or, MAYBE, I'll spend Monday purchasing our Artsy Book Club book of choice: One Drawing a Day by Veronica Lawlor (available on amazon here)! Thank you to all of you that voted -- it was a seriously close race between this book and two others. Perhaps if this book club idea takes off, we'll read those other books as well. 

Now, I've done a little homework and I found that the author, along with several other illustrators, has a blog that might give you an idea of what we'll be creating. I've been trying to dream up ways for us to share our drawings with each other and chat back and forth about our experience. AND how we art teachers can share this experience with our students (Drawing Club, anyone...?).

For that reason, I've created an Artsy Book Club Facebook page! Please feel free to join the page whether your reading the book and sharing your drawings or not. I hope that this will be an inspiring and fun experience for all of us.

For everyone to have enough time to purchase their book and begin thinking about when in the world they'll find time to create a drawing a day, let's begin reading this book Monday, February 3rd. Of course, you can begin at any ole time...I just wanted to give those of you that love deadlines and such, a deadline and such. Oh, I'm so excited! I'm looking forward to getting started!

Starry Night Tuesday: Once every six days, I have three kindergarten classes back-to-back for 45 minutes at a time. I drink a tall cup of patience, have a couple of amazing assistants on hand and try my very best not to grow any more gray hairs by the end of the two plus hours. On this day, I had 'em in the palm of my paint-splattered hand when I sit the switch on my dress. Granted, that moment didn't last too long...but enough to get their attention and have 'em interested in all things Starry Night and van Gogh-y. dress: DIY Starry Night here; tights and top: Target; boots: Marshall's

Sweet or Savory? Marilyn Murphy, 2010. Since we'll be drawing, I wanted to share with ya'll one of my favorite artists whose medium of choice is pencil, Marilyn Murphy. Ms. Murphy is a local artist who is also a professor of art at Vanderbilt University. I have been in love with her work since discovering it a coupla years ago. It's so retro, Twilight Zone-y and simply amazing.

Hot Java, 2007. One thing I really love about her surrealist work are the stories that you can create just by looking at her drawings. She creates a mystery in her drawings and leaves you to solve it. And what fun it is to unravel the strange elements.

Security Tag Wednesday: So I have wanted this Anthro dress since the beginning of time. BUT it was always, like, one million dollars. When I found it at a resale shop for $20, I flipped out! Until I got all the way home (from Cali) only to find they'd forgotten to remove the security tag. WHUH? So hubs and I spent some time watching youtube videos (some by folks who OBVIOUSLY did  A LOT of shoplifting, le sigh) and using a lighter, a knife and some tweezers had the thing off the dress in a matter of minutes. Future DIY post...? sweater: thrifted; dress: Buffalo Exchange; boots and belt: Anthro

Profiterole, 2008. Ms. Murphy has created many of these lasso'ing-things-from-the-sky pieces and I absolutely love them. I'm really drawn to the color sky blue so that could be a reason these pieces are some of my faves.

Hair Cuttin' Thursday: Ya'll, I NEVER get my hair cut. Only because I'm lazy. But it's gotten so long and gnarly on the ends, I just had to do it. Now you know your hair is too long when they make you stand up for your hair cut. Seriously? She took off 3" and did a fab job...but you cannot even tell the difference. dress and shoes: thrifted; blouse and necklace: gift; tights: Target

The Getaway, 2005.

Friday!: Marbling papers with 4 classes of 3rd and 4th graders will seriously wear you out! But they loved it so much. I had one boy tell me that this was his "new favorite day of the year" and several others come up to me and say, "thank you for teaching us this." Totally worth the mess. sweater: Old Navy; dress: vintage, thrifted; boots and belt: Anthro; tights: Target

Haunted by Tradition, 2010.