In the Art Room: An Art Class Playlist!

A while back, I shared with y'all a playlist for art teachers (read, not for the kiddos) which you can find here. I have been meaning to create an art class playlist forever...and I finally did it. Y'all, it is my new favorite addition to the art room! I've been working on this playlist for sometime and I'm finally ready to share. It's a growing list...and I love thinking of new songs to add. I did have a couple of rules for this playlist:

1. It had to be songs I liked. No cheesy baby-ish songs, sorry. I don't want to spend my days listening to stuff that makes my ears bleed. 
2. It had to be a variety of genres. Still working on that one but I did try to touch on different genres and eras.
3. It had to be classics. The kids need to hear Michael Jackson, Elvis and They Might Be Giants, right?! I'm schoolin' them. 

How do I play these tunes? I created an Art Class Rocks playlist on my iTunes account. Then I simply connect my phone to my UE Boom speaker (the sound this thing pumps out is BANANAS! And, of course mine has to be super cute). I love that I can keep my phone in my pocket to adjust the volume, skip or silence a song when needed. Now, let's get to that list!

In no particular order...

1. Journey's Don't Stop Believing. I want the songs on my list to inspire my students and what better mantra than Don't Stop Believing?

2. Smash Mouth's All Star. The lyrics are so awesome...I wish more songs like this were played on the radio today!

3. They Might Be Giant's High Five. Disco in the art room is how this song feels. I love it because when it comes on, we all take a high five break!

4. They Might Be Giant's Roy G. Biv. Gotta throw some educational songs into the mix.

5. Celebration by Kool and the Gang. I remember my mom playing this song on the record player loud and proud. It always makes me happy. I played it for first grade the other day and was told it was "old school". It really is!

6. We Are Family by Sister Sledge. I am always trying to emphasis that we are family in the art room...this song helps!

7. REM's Shiny Happy People. Seriously...why aren't songs like this on the radio right now? LOVE this video too.

8. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive by Jonny Mercer. This song is one of my all time favorites. And what a message. 

9. Sly and the Family Stone's Everyday People. You cannot go wrong with Sly. I used to play this record for the kids all the time. 

10. Thank You by Sly and the Family Stone is another favorite of mine. "Thank you for letting me be myself...again." So good!

11. Genius of Love by the Tom Tom Club. Fun fact about this video, James Rizzi was the illustrator! This song has such a great beat, the kids and I love it.

12. Van Halen's Right Now. I just love classic rock and I think everyone should too. PLUS such great lyrics, again!

13. Love Train by the O'Jays. More old school for the kiddos.

14. In college, I went to see these guys and I swear the lead singer inspired me with her fun and funky style. Grove is in the Heart by Dee-Lite.

15. Europe's the Final Countdown is my favorite way to let the kids know we have five minutes until clean up. It cracks me up every time.

16. The ENTIRE soundtrack from The Big Chill is worthy of any art room. Here's what you'll hear: Marvin Gaye's Grapevine, The Temptation's My Girl, The Rascal's Good Lovin', Smokey Robinson's Track of my Tears...just to name a few. My favorite?

17. Three Dog Night's Joy to the World is my favorite from The Big Chill soundtrack. 

18. This one was my favorite as a kid...so why not play it now? Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have fun.

19. I love the lyrics in this song so much. Labrinth's Express Yourself.

20. The Beatles could be played all day long...I mean, really. Yellow Submarine is just one that made my playlist.

21. I love the B-52's. This song is one of my faves.

22. Say what you will about disco and ABBA but I love a song that you can dance to. So do the kiddos!

23. This song is a classroom staple as are most of the songs from Scratch Garden.

24. Having some more calm songs in the mix always helps. Variety is good.

25. I'm a HUGE fan of the Blues Brothers, being from Joliet and all. I have the whole album and this is just one of the songs I play from it.

26. Yes' Owner of a Lonely Heart because it's a great song. 

27. Since you all know I love me some call and response, then you know I had to add some songs that require the kids to sing back too. This is Otis Day but the Isley Brothers sing it as well.

28. No playlist is complete without some of the Jacksons or just MJ himself. 

29. I live in Tennessee, y'all. It would be a crime not to play some Elvis!

30. Don't ask me how Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher became our unofficial clean up song but THE KIDS LOVE IT. 

What's on your art room playlist?! LOVE more suggestions. I'll share a Part 2 of this list in an upcoming blog post!

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DIY: Confetti Cowl

I feel like I've not chatted with y'all in FOREVER but...if you follow me on Instagram then you know I'm currently BURIED ALIVE under clay projects with no end in site. I'm so excited about the projects they are working on...our theme is Super Heroes and their artwork is so fun. I'll be sure to share them with you super soon. Until then...

No need to adjust your T.V., this is not a rerun. I literally just knitted the same cowl twice with a different color of yarn. Cuz why not? Let's face it, what the world needs now are more cowls. Confetti ones to be exact. 

Unlike my last knitted cowl, this one required two skeins of yarn. This yarn was thicker and less of it was in a skein. It didn't seem to take any longer than the last. Knitting is my favorite thing to do when we hit the road, travel or late at night when I just wanna watch more stories and relax. Now that we are FINALLY approaching spring, I guess I'll have to put my knitting of cowls aside but I have loved doing it. 

Putting them on and taking them off is always an adventure in face-makin'. 

My favorite place for late night knitting is the couch in my newly flipped bonus room/art studio. This happy pillow from Target reminded me of Small World and y'all know I love that! 

If you'd like to see more about my Small World mural, you can find it here. 

The best part about making a cowl is how easy it is! You literally just knit a short and wide scarf that you whipstitch together. It's a weekend project, really...if you either knit super fast or knit all weekend long. 

With our crazy Tennessee spring, I should have plenty of chances to wear the cowl...while it's 70 today, it's supposed to drop down to chilly temps by Sunday. This means I have the perfect thing to keep the chills away. Happy Friday, y'all! 

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In the Art Room: Walk Around the Room

 Did you know that today is National Walk Around Things Day?! Me neither! That is, not until I checked my calendar. What is this day? Well, apparently, it's open to interpretation...personally, I thought it sounded like a fun way to get the kids up, moving, doing something new AND having them search for mini-masterpieces by the artist we are currently learning about: Vincent van Gogh! Here's how I introduced Walk Around Things Day and this hunt to my first graders: 

Y'all, this was so much fun and so interactive! When I explained what they were to do, one of my students said, "like an Easter egg hunt, but for Vincent van Gogh!" My fourth graders are also learning about van Gogh and I did the same activity with them. Because I have doubled up fourth grade classes, I skipped over the "walking around like a giant bit"...I'm certain they would have loved it but I know my crowd: they are a little wild. I can only give the a little bit of leash, if you know what I mean. So, instead, we reviewed what we knew about van Gogh before going on our hunt. I managed to snap one photo of the fourthies as they walked around the art room. 

When they returned to the floor with our found masterpieces, We chatted about them. This lead to many more discussions about van Gogh as well as the difference between a still-life, a land and seascape and portrait vs. self-portrait. After this bit of moving around, we were ready to settle in to our lesson for the day. What a great way to get moving, thanks National Walk Around the Things Day! We'll have to do it more often!

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DIY: Creating a Home Studio

 The second big project on my Spring Break To Do List was carving out this brand new home studio space! This was the second big endeavor I set out to accomplish over my break (check out the others here and here) and I'm so excited with how it turned out. This room is our bonus room (dubbed the "bogus" room by me for years as I literally just piled stuff in it!) and it sits right above our garage. It's a big space and filled with light and windows. This room serves many purposes: it's my yoga studio on the 3 times a year I decide to practice; it's a book writing space; a lesson planning and video recording spot and where I host Facebook and Instagram LIVE every Wednesday night at 8pm, CST. While it's always had many jobs, I never felt like this space was my actual studio. My drafting table was in another part of our house and my art supplies were scattered about. Over break, I decided to change all of that.  

 I started by clearing out the accent chairs and the end table that previously sat in this space. If you'd like to take a tour of my bonus room, you can see it all right here. Those chairs are now sitting in a heap in my front room...another space that I've yet to figure out. And, before you ask, no, we didn't just move in to our home. I'm just a VERY SLOW decorator/figure-er out of life-r. I then moved my 1940's drafting table to this space. 

Let's talk about my drafting table for a minute. I scored it a couple of years ago from a Craigslist seller. I had always wanted one after I broke mine in college (how does one break an iron drafting table? These are questions only those in college under the influence of Zima can answer). The vintage light was an ebay find. 

Despite the fact that I like ALL OF THE COLORS  I'm trying to approach decorating my home in a less crazy manner. For that reason, when deciding on framed pegboard and an accent color, despite my knee jerk reaction, I decided to go with ONE accent color...not ALL the accent colors. Yellow was my color of choice. I thought it was bright, happy and would compliment the slate gray of the curtains. My vintage desk lamp was originally gray. After priming it with a white spray paint, I hosed it down with a sunshine yellow. It makes me so happy!

 Now let's talk pegboards. After I decided I wanted to hang pegboards up, I thought they would look better framed. Since this in my house and not my garage, I just thought it would elevate the look. I am a hoarder of all things but frames in particular. When I found three in my stash that would work, I took them with me to the hardware store to have pegboard cut to size. Why not just measure them, you ask? Well because the frames are a touch wonky. I wanted them to be certain the pegboard would fit. I'm glad I did...each pegboard had to be trimmed down at least two times before they fit the frame. 

While at the hardware, they had a couple of pegboard kits. These came with the supplies needed to hang the boards and the hooks for supplies. 

 Here's my advice for hanging pegboard...and take this with a hunk of salt as I'm not handy AT ALL: hang the frames with a heavy duty hook. I happened to have these Monkey Tail hooks that could hold up to 20 lbs. They slide right in to the wall and work fabulously. 

 Now you can't put the frames right up to the wall. You'll need a little bit of space in the back for the backside of the hook. The pegboard kits I purchased came with long screws and a bumper. The bumper goes in the back and forces the frame to sit some distance from the wall. 

 When putting in the screws, you'll want to be sure to put add them to the stud. This will further anchor your pegboard so that the weight doesn't cause it to simply fall off your wall. I used this cheapo thing called a Stud Buddy (heehee) and it worked great at helping me find the studs. It's really just a high powered magnet that finds the nails in the studs. 

 The baskets were a purchase from Target and work great at holding my small bottles of paint. I hate having all of those bottles of paint laying around on tables...this seems to be such a colorful solution.

 As for the tubes of acrylic, I decided to hang them store-style.

 I'm such a visual person who loves to have EVERYTHING OUT so I can see what I've got. These pegboards allow me to do this without having a mess of stuff all over the place. 

 The added bonus is that I can change the configuration of the arrangement at any time. Now I want WALL TO WALL PEGBOARD: for my jewelry, for my sewing room, for my LIFE. 

I also have a stand alone easel that I'm contemplating bringing up to this space also. 

 I did purchase a drop cloth to go under my table as I really don't want to mess up the hardwood floors any more than I already have (ahem). You can see the drop cloth in the basket I've got hanging from the table.

Eee!! Y'all don't even know how happy this new space makes me!

Do you have a home studio space? In what part of your home is it in? What are your favorite parts of your space? I'd love to hear! 

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In the Art Room: Heather Galler Inspired Bouquets with Second Grade

 As we draw toward the end of the school year (okay, I know I'm early BUT in "art teacher years" a couple of months means time for just a handful of projects until the end!), I am thinking about ART.SHOW. Like, 24/7. And my art show isn't until MAY 15TH! I'm trying my hardest NOT to be my usual procrastinating self. So I've been pulling out grade level artwork and seeing what masterpieces we have to hang (we hang everything...if you search "art show" in that search bar on the right, you'll get a taste of our art shows). In doing so, I noticed that my second graders didn't have that one BIG masterpiece. So I pulled out the bingo daubers (yet again) and some huge tagboard and we created these! We did the drawing portion in the first 30 minute art class and we are slowly adding color. These are not finished yet...but the lesson has been so fun that I thought I'd share it with you as we make progress. Here's the lesson video:

For this lesson, we are using our bingo daubers filled with slightly diluted India ink, oil pastels and liquid watercolor. To finish, we'll simply be painting the flowers and the backgrounds...with the option to add color to the vase and table. I rather like the black and white because I find it to be a beautiful balance with all of the color but I'll let the artists decide.

 After our first 30 minutes. It wasn't really a guided drawing...more of a "here's how you can draw some flowers and here's how you can draw some vases and patterns...go to town." We never use pencils first, we just go for it. If they painted something they didn't love, they had to wait until next art class to try again on the back of the paper. This tag board was thick enough for them to do that. The reason I have them wait is because they usually forget about it as they move on. Also...if one kiddo starts over, THEY ALL WANNA START OVER. So, I nip that in the bud.

 Today we began adding color with oil pastels and watercolor paint. It's a big task as the papers are huge. We literally spread all out over the room because only two to three kids can work at a table at a time due to the size. 

 I don't have a favorite liquid watercolor, do you? I find that they are all pretty fantastic. Except the fluorescent ones. They universally stick. 

 I don't dilute my liquid watercolors much...I love how vibrant they are!

I got the great idea from Katie Allain (@mrsallainart on IG) to put my watercolor paint in these color coded cupcake liners to eliminate the guesswork! 

 I'll be sure to do a follow up post on these once complete. I'm so excited! They make my heart happy. 

 Also...this is now my fourth bingo dauber project! The only grade who has not worked with them is fourth and I totally have a project lined up for them using these bad boys. They my fave this year!

 

Are you a bingo-dauber-aholic like me?! I wanna know what you and your young artists have created!

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In the Art Room: Rizzi Meets van Gogh Cities (Sub Plans!)

 The other day, I had to take a day from school. I created a sub plan video for my sub to use with my first through fourth grade classes. My younger kids worked on 9" X 12" paper because they have 30 minute art classes. My older students worked on 12" X 18" pieces of paper since they have an hour. I created this video and a simple handout. When I had returned, the students had gotten as far as tracing their designs in Sharpie. They were SO EXCITED to continue working on these that I put their current projects aside to let them finish. Here are a handful of fourth grader's pieces that have been finished and are in process. 

I'm loving each and every one! Since this was such an engaging lesson for the kids, I thought I'd share it with y'all. If you are going to NAEA this coming week and in need of a lesson, you might consider using this!

In addition to the video I created for my sub, I also made these handouts. That way the kiddos would recall a simple breakdown of the lesson. Feel free to reproduce for your art teacherin' world. 

I also had a production of a James Rizzi cityscape as well as some images of the Nashville skyline. The kids were told they could create ANY city they wanted: real or imagined. Many of my students are interested in the buildings of Nashville since we live so close so that's why I included that visual.

My students were also allowed to use my how to draw books which is why you'll see some recognizable cartoon characters on the buildings. Several of them also used my mirrors so they could create self-portrait buildings or simply see how to portray different emotions. 

I did notice that some students got a little lazy when it came time to create doors and windows. So I reproduced a doors and windows idea sheet from line drawings printed from the internet. This really helped encourage more creativity.

So many of them just went wild with this lesson and they really loved it!

 When I returned, I introduced them to Vincent van Gogh and we spent a lot of time learning about him, looking at his paintings and chatting about his brushstrokes. Then we looked at The Starry Night and used that as our inspiration for our skies.

 For that we used both oil pastels and markers. Once our skies were full of dashed lines, we simply added water!

 From there, we used the warm colors (ahem, well, some of us did) to add color to the sides and top of the buildings. Afterward, water was added. This was a super non-mess way to create a vibrant and creative masterpiece. 

 Unfortunately, my kiddos are in various stages of finishing. Why have we not been able to invent a All Finished At The Same Time Machine yet?! Ugh, the worst. So here as some spectacular almost-finished masterpieces.

This is easily a lesson that ALL of my students adored, from first grade all the way up to fourth. 

 And certainly one that a sub, even if not an "art" sub, could handle.

I know a James Rizzi lesson isn't anything new...but I thought this was a fun and SIMPLE take on it that even a sub (or us...when we are nearing spring break and need that easy project that also keeps them engaged!) could use. 

 Speaking of sub days...who is going to NAEA?! I'm so excited, I've never been to Seattle before.

I won't be leading any sessions but I will be doing TWO meet-ups and I'd love to see you. 

You can join me on Friday in the Activa booth where you can make and take one of these cuties! Or just hang out and chat. 

Or come hang out on Saturday with me and the podcastin' gang from AOE! Tim will be there along with the AOE team so it will be super fun. 

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