Sunday, January 19, 2014

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.











18 comments:

  1. You know what you need? A lace-extender-slip for your too-short dress! Like this: http://www.domesticblisssquared.com/2013/06/my-new-extender-slip-plus-tutorial.html
    Or leggings to wear with it instead of tights... that's my solution of choice! Or don't worry about the length, bc it looks fine to me! ;)

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    1. Ah! Love your ideas! thank ya, gonna check out the linky-loo :)

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  2. Hi there! I just discovered your blog via Pinterest. I am a former elementary teacher (loved it!) and now a stay at home mom/blogger/etsy shop owner. Love your look and LOVE this blog.
    Cheers,
    L A
    http://ravishing-ruby.blogspot.com/

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    1. Aw, thanks for finding me :) Now I'm off to check out YOUR fabulous blog :)

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  3. First of all, I absolutely LOVE the artwork you've shared in this post. Love. Smitten.

    And then there's that dress, at the top of the post, your Monday dress - it may be my favorite, ever, and yet you didn't even make it! And if you ever get tired of it, then, well, the length wouldn't be a problem for me; it would come to right to my knees, I'm sure. I'm the opposite of tall.

    Finally, I'm going on amazon to check out that book and I'm thinking I might just join in! AND - if that's not enough, I'LL BE SEEING YOU IN SAN DIEGO!!!

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    1. YAY!! This comment just made my day! PLEASE let's plan a day/time to meet! Maybe we'll actually be able to have our first book club meeting in...SAN DIEGO! Seriously, I'm thrilled!! Yayness!

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    2. Absolutely, we need to meet!!!! I will be there for the whole conference, it seems, from Saturday morning through late Monday, so we need to make this happen. I have signed up for the elementary division luncheon, as recommended by some people in the Facebook group, and am more looking forward to meeting everyone, than I am about the actual conference! I'm not signed up for anything else, but am waitlisted (boohoo) on one off-site workshop that really interested me. So many of the hands-on workshops (for a fee) incorporated technology, and since I'm no longer in a school, these just don't apply to me at all.

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  4. These are some of the cutest outfits! The firs one with the purple tights is divine. Very excited to participate in the book club. I bought the book immediately after reading about it on your blog. Hopefully it will help pulling me put if this no-drawing-for-me regime my stupid perfectionism has put me on.

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    1. That's exactly what I'm hoping for! I used to draw all the time...now, never! I'm so glad that's the book people voted for...and I'm hoping it will motivate me as well. So glad you are joining the fun!

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  5. Just loving the 60s vibe of the first outfit - and the length is perfect for that vibe, methinks.

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  6. Amen to your dress isn't too short but your legs are just long, I have the same problem and often remedy it with leggings, I still have to be careful because I teach middle school art! Love love love your boots in the first picture!
    Xo Lauren of www.cornwellfam.com

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    1. Oh, yes, I don't think I'd be able to get away with half of this crazy in middle school town. You are a trooper, teaching middle school is not for the faint of heart, it takes a special person :) Thanks for dropping by!

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  7. Okay, I ADORE your first outfit, everything; colours, hair and silhouette - perfect! I know what you mean about being long and things looking shorter on because of it....I try and make myself feel better about it by saying to myself "well now, this wouldn't look short on a short person, therefore.....it isn't short! I'm just long!" And I"m not an artist nor an art teacher so you've introduced me to Marilyn Murphy, which is awesome otherwise I would never have known The Getaway existed. I do like clothes though, your cheery style of writing and I am a maker of stuff, so I think your blog is pretty rad.

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    1. Aw, thanks, Teeny! A girl that loves clothes is pretty stinkin' awesome in my book. Especially if she can appreciate the awesomeness that is Marilyn Murphy. Thanks for commenting and reading!

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  8. Hi, Cassie! Do you remember what that Modcloth dress was called? I searched for it and couldn't find it. Thanks!

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    1. Hi Lucy! Well, I just checked Modcloth after sharing this post to see if the dress was still available and I didn't see it, boo! I do believe that the label was called "nice things" but I'll check that again and get back to you (there is currently a cat on my legs and I am unable to move. True Story.)

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    2. Awesome - thanks!

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  9. Heading over to like your Artsy Book Club page now! I'm just about to start a Drawing skills club for my 7-10 year olds! LUUUUVing your work as always... Natalie, Oman x

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