What the Art Teacher Wore #96 and Artist/Teachers

Monday with a Side of Cat: We have a lot of wee wildlife activity that happens on our deck. There's the usual squirrels, chipmunks and birds...but lately we've had plenty of visits from the wild turkey in our neighborhood as well as some unwelcome opossums and skunks. It's enough to keep our indoor cat entertained for dayz. dress: vintage, thrifted; belt and boots: Anthropologie; tights: Target; necklaces: DIY made by me, here.

 Hiya, kids! I hope you all had just the best weekend ever. I spent the grand majority of mine hiking with the hubs, watching entirely too many episodes of any and every survivalist show we can manage to find and felting. Oh, yes, looooots of needle felting. I can't wait to share with ya'll the finished mess-terpiece later this week!

Earlier this week, I caught an interesting conversation on the Art Teachers page on Facebook. It was a long-winded convo where, sadly, things got lost in translation and it got a pinch ugly.  Essentially, what it boiled down to was this: a comment was made that drew a line in the sand between "Career Artists" (not my words) and "Art Teachers".  Wait, there's a difference?! It was like you coulda heard all the art teachers suck air in through their tightly clinched teeth.

Maybe Ima speaking for myself when I say this but...I discovered art (and my love for it) first, then art education (and my love for it.) Since finding my love for creating way back in elementary school, I considered myself an artist. I never dreamed of becoming an art teacher until college when my parents (who thankfully footed the bill) suggested an art ed degree. At the time, I was attending Indiana University and currently enrolled in the painting program there. And, boy, talk about a line drawn in the sand! The moment my painting professors found out I was on the path to becoming a teacher, it was like I was no longer a serious artist. The mentality and snobbery strongly reminded me of that Career Artists vs. Art Teachers convo.

Now, in defense of the term "Career Artist", it does mean one that makes a career of creating and selling their own art. And that is not something I do. So, I understand the difference, I get it. However, what I do instead of selling my own art is enjoy creating art for myself and teaching others to do the same. I guess you could call me a Crazy Career Art Teacher. And I'm cool with that.

Do you know of any famous artists that were also great educators? Aside from finding out that Gene Simmons used to be a teacher (wait, whut?!), I discovered that portrait painter Robert Henri was also a Career Art Teacher. 

 Robert Henri, 1907 Wikipedia says that Robert Henri (1865-1929) was an "artist and a teacher," forming the famous Ashcan group (one of my college faves). Robert Henri was a popular and influential teacher at the Art Students League of New York. It's said that he gave his students, not a style (although you can tell some were strongly influenced by his style), but an attitude, an approach to art.

Mary Agnes, 1924 It seems that Henri was always a teacher, a leader, even in his group of artist friends. He urged his friends and students to create a new, more realistic art that was more about their life and surroundings and less about creating Impressionist-influenced works. The paintings by Henri, John Sloan, George Luks, and others that were inspired by this idea became the Ashcan School of American art.

If My Keys Were Always this Easy to Find, Tuesday: This here is the first ever dress I made...with the help of a good art teacher buddy of mine. dress and belt: me!; tights: Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina

 Tam Gan, 1914 In keeping with that notion that artists should be influenced by their surroundings, Henri said: "Art cannot be separated from life. It is the expression of the greatest need of which life is capable, and we value art not because of the skilled product, but because of its revelation of life's experience." I love that. Don't you?

Yes, I Wore this to Work Wednesday: Recently, someone asked me if I actually wear the outfits I post to school. Well...not to sound like an a-hole but the blog post is called "What the Art Teacher Wore". I don't snap too many photos at school because 1.) I find I look less like pooh on a stick first thing in the morning before I leave the house 2.) I take these photos myself with my camera timer. When someone walks in on me snapping away it is Awk.Ward. to say the least 3.) My art room is always a disaster! I mean, look at those mounds of zip-locked clay projects behind me on the floor. And that's the "clean" area! sweater, purple top, tights: Target; skirt and shoes: thrifted; necklace:   The Paper Source

Oh! I interrupt all this Robert Henri-ness say, look who I got to meet up with on Wednesday...none other than Erica, aka Art Project Girl! I met Erica through the wide world of art teacher blogging and was so thrilled to visit with her (and her super sweet sis-in-law) while she was in town. It was so fun meeting up with her -- even though we'd never met, it was like we'd known each other forever. So glad to see/meet you, Erica!

Sparkly Thursday: Oh, gotta love a four day week...I thought the occasion called for wearing excessive amounts of sparkles. As should everyday, really. top and tights: Target; sweater: ebay; vintage painted skirt: Buffalo Exchange

The Green Sacque, 1927 One of the things that really strikes me about Henri is that he wasn't just a teacher to his students but to other artists. I felt weird reading that conversation on Facebook because of that line in the sand. Why is there a divide between Career Artists and Art Teacher? Shouldn't we be learning from and influencing each other? I could learn so much from a working artist that could be shared with my students...and vice versa. I did find that there are actually a couple of online communities that work toward just that. One is called Artists Who Teach and another is the Association of Teaching Artists. 

Good, er, Happy Friday!: On Thursday, one of my students said, "Tomorrow is called 'Happy Friday'...right?" After that was straightened out, we all agreed that a day off is pretty stinkin' happy. dress: Anthropologie found at Buffalo Exchange; scarf: Orly Kiely; belt: gift; dotted boots: DIY, go here.

 What are your thoughts on this, ya'll? As an art teacher, do you also consider yourself an artist? Or, because you don't sell your work as a main source of income, does that make you less of one? Do you create artwork with the intent to sell or show? Or simply for your own pleasure?

Could I possibly ask you any more questions?!

Oh! Yes, I've actually got one more! Have you read this book by Henri? I've been meaning to since those aforementioned college when I found out the dude was an artist/teacher. Looks like a summer read to me.

Be back with ya soonish!

Read more »

What the Art Teachers Wore #75

Purplish Monday: This photo cracks me up. Partly because we look ridiculous (and this is actually one of the better photos) but mostly cuz I know that after spending a couple more weeks with me,  Rebecca is gonna be striking this pose right before lifting me up and tossing me on the ground, WWE style. I have that effect on people. on me, dress: Anthro, thrifted with $198 price tag still on it, ya'll!; shoes: Fluevog

Happy Loooong Weekend, friends! I do hope your Labor Day was void of any such labor and full of lounging laziness. Mine certainly has been. Shoot, it's already 4:30pm and I'm still in my pajamas. Like a boss.

This past week certainly was a wild and crazy time in the art room. We tried our hand at Painting Processes with the kids (more details to come) which pretty much meant we were finding paint where no paint has gone before. Yes, seriously. To compensate for that crazy, our kindergarten artists were absolutely rockin' it this week...and then the icing on the cake, or rather, the soy sauce on the sushi, was receiving this huge platter of said goodness from one of the fourth grade kids.

I can only hope that this upcoming week is just as awesome.

Oh! And because I'm being super lazy today, I'm simply including snapshots of this week, no featured artists. I know, bad art teacher blogger. I'll try harder next week ('though I wouldn't count on it!).

Until next time, enjoy your 4-day work week! Yay, Labor Day -- you are simply the gift that keeps on giving.

I know, right?! Mouth watering? Sudden hankerin' for sushi? I just happened to have this huge stash of brand new/still in the package restaurant chop sticks for the kids to enjoy their sushi with. The sweet guy whose mother made the sushi gave us a demo on how to break apart and hold our chop sticks. Watching the kids attempt this was quite hilarious. They enjoyed it so much.

Brown Tuesday: Okay, so I'm wearing these fugly Crocs because my feet were Over It. One of my sweet first grade girls walked in and pointed to the high heels I HAD been wearing and said, "Aw, why aren't you wearing THOSE shoes? They are much cuter!" So, of course, I had to do a shoe change! dress: vintage; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing

Painting Processes! So Rebecca has planned these awesome collage projects for the kids. The first phase was having them create a huge assortment of textured, splattered, sponged and dry brushed papers. We covered the tables, took away the chairs, strapped aprons on 'em and turned 'em lose. Kinda. We attempted control with a train whistle. Pretty sure a taser woulda worked better but the administration looks down on that sort of thing. Softies.

Black and White Wednesday: It's still Color Week in kindergarten which has made getting dressed in the morning So Stinkin' Easy. dress: $20 at Anthro!; sweater and tank: Target; shoes: Crocs

Okay, I love this. Can I have this as a fabric? It's funny, I'm currently creating a somethun-somethun with a very similar motif. I hope to have it completed this evening so I can share it with you this week.

Fave Color Thursday: What you are looking at here are two people who conquered 3 back-to-back 45 minute kindergarten classes WITH NO BATHROOM BREAK and are still standing and smiling. I had my doubts though...especially when I witnessed one sweet VERY allergic-to-peanuts child slathering glue on paper and licking it off. I had to read the label on the bottle to make sure the stuff wasn't made in some sort of peanut-ty factory. dress: vintage, thrifted; belt: made by me; shoes: BC

After completing their line-paper sculptures, kindergarten-town moved onto painting lines. I love the focus of this little dude.

Wear Any Ol' Color, It's Friday, Ya'll!: One of the kids said to Rebecca, "I get to see you tomorrow, I hope you look pretty!" Of course she does, I mean, look at that HAIR! dress: vintage, thrifted and so small it's hardly wearable; belt and shoes: Anthro

Hubs and I have had a super relaxing weekend. We did go one a crazy 8 mile hike (where we saw this sweet little guy) that just about killed me. Which reminded me that I really outta get out more. But next time, I'm taking a Segway.

Read more »

What the Art Teacher Wore #36

Every Dress Should Have a Gradation Monday: I mean, holy moly. It's the ultimate waist slimmer! dress: vintage, picked up in Orange, CA; belt: vintage, gift from a friend; key tights: best little tights shop on etsy!; shoes: Ninewest, thrifted

 I hope you all have had a great week. Mine, particularly the weekend, was just wonderful. I made the long drive from Nashville, Tennessee to my hometown of Wabash, Indiana. It's about a 6 hour drive and I'm the World's Worst Car Traveler. After about hour two, my butt goes uncomfortably numb and my eyelids become exceptionally heavy. Thankfully, I had a frightening book on CD to keep me going (I find that the spookier the story, the more awake I stay) and plenty of candy, gum and caffeinated bevies to keep me going.

I rarely make it home but I just had to this weekend. We celebrated a family reunion on Saturday and the fall weather couldn't have been more perfect. That evening, I caught up with some high school buddies for casual class reunion. I also had a chance to catch up some of my favorite friends and stay with my wacky mom. She and I always have too much fun together. 

But enough about me, let's talk about...well...me. And what I wore this week. I'm also throwing into the mix a fabric designer that I can't believe I'm just now discovering: Celia Birtwell. I love her designs...as well as the story of how she and her then husband revolutionized fashion in the last 1960's. I think you'll like her work as well. 

Until next time, have a great week!

Celia Birtwell was a fabric designer with a strong love for Picasso and Matisse. I think you can see that influence in her work. What I think is especially cool is that later, she and her (then) husband Ossie Clark designed clothes for Picasso's daughter Paloma. That must have felt pretty incredible. Images via pinterest.

Celia was the fabric designer and Ossie crafted the clothing. Aside from Paloma, such amazing folks as Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles wore this couples haute couture designs.

That In-Between Time Tuesday: So it's been cool in the mornings, warm in the afternoons, cool in the evenings. I'm not so sure I'm ready to pack up all of my summer duds yet, so I'm doing this in-between thing: sweaters with summer dresses. It's not going to last much longer...but it's allowing me to put off the dreaded Closet Season Change that is sure to happen within the next couple of weeks. You know, packing away all of the summer clothes and getting out all of the fall/winter. It literally takes me a weekend to make the change. sweater: Anthro, thrifted; dress: vintage, thrifted; tights: dunno, Target?; headband: Peachy Tuesday; shoes: Dolls by Nina

To showcase their designs in the late 1960's, Celia and Ossie came up with the first concept of a catwalk fashion show. They created a runway, had music playing and invited as many folks as possible. Their flowy frocks and tops were best showcased by moving models.

Poochie and Paris Explosion Wednesday: Complete outfit details here.

The artist David Hockney was completely smitten with Celia and considered her his muse. Many drawings and paintings of Celia and Ossie were created by Hockney.

Pencil drawing of Celia by David Hockney.

Flower Power Thursday: I scooped up this Very Brady dress on my trip to St. Louis. I wish I had the pattern for this dress, I love the design. Maybe one day I'll be able to figure out how to create a pattern from a dress...any of you sewing geniuses know how to do that? dress: vintage; shoes: Indigo by Clarks

Ossie and Celia in the late 1960's.

Painting of the couple by David Hockney.

Headin' Home Friday: After school, I hopped in the car and made that trek home. It made for a long day but it was totally worth it. sweater, dress: vintage; belt: gift from a friend; boots: old, Seychelles

Celia and Ossie are no longer together. After their divorce, Celia dropped out of the fashion scene for many years. She's back now. And I highly recommend you check out her designs here, they are simply amazing. Love the fabric, love the flowy romantic designs.

And I love her sketches. These especially remind me of early Betsy Johnson sketches. Another of my fave designers.

Read more »

What the Art Teacher Wore #32

Red Monday: Please pardon the completely distracting and slightly messy background. Because, according to the background, if you do not there will be consequences. And I don't think you want to experience A Long Time Out. dress: picked up at one of the lovely vintage shops in Amsterdam this summer; shoes: Dolls by Nina; belt and bow: made by me.

 Holy Moly Me-O-My, thank goodness for a long weekend. I am currently doing my favorite things: chillin' with the hubs, catching up on sewing projects, celebrating with friends (check out my friend Zach's big accomplishment!)and day dreaming about what the little artists will be creating next week. I couldn't ask for a more perfect end to a very colorful week. Why so colorful, you ask? Well, to help the lil kindergarteners learn their colors, my school wore different colors for each day of the week. In addition to my monochromatic duds, I've added some of my most pinteresting pins.

All of this color got me thinking about my favorite colors. I never really thought about what color I was drawn to until I started my attempts at decorating. It seems I love a very specific slightly-greenish sky blue. Surely there's a better name for the color. I've got it everywhere: in the painting I created in our front room (seen in the background of this post), in the rug I'm hooking, in the countless pillows. And now that I think about it, that was the color of my bedroom growing up. Surprisingly, that color is not very present in my wardrobe. There I have a lot of reds and pinks.

How about you? What color do you find yourself most drawn to? Do you know why you have such a connection to the color? I'd love to hear your colorful comments!

Woman in red Christian Dior dress, courtesy of pinterest.

Yellow Tuesday: I have to say, colors really do evoke emotion. Seeing all my kindergarten friends in their bright sunny yellows really made me quite happy. dress: Buffalo Exchange; shoes: vintage, thrifted; hair flower: made by me

Do you know the artist Raphael Soyer? I love his work. He's considered something called a Social Realist which is just fancy talk that means he liked to paint people living their lives. Doing what they do. Raphael had two brothers, Issac and Moses, who were also artists.

Blue Wednesday: I've really taken to wearing these waist aprons during art class. I have a small mountain of vintage ones that I wear in rotation. This one's pretty groovy because it's just translucent enough that you can see the floral pattern. dress and apron: vintage; shoes: Anthro, coupla years ago

Abstract painter Helen Frankenthaler in her studio.

Green Thursday: On this day, one of my new students said, "You are like a wacky work of art everyday." dress: vintage, thrifted; shoes: thrifted and DIY'ed by me here.

I am currently fascinated with the idea of creating my own fabric. I've had my nose stuck in my favorite fabric design books like Marimekko. I need to jump on this idea because that little voice that likes to convince me that my ideas are foolish is starting to get to me. Do you have little voices that try to talk you down from ledges? So annoying, I just wanna jump head first!

Orange Friday: More like Sherbert Friday but whatever. Turns out I don't have a lot of orange in my closet. So sad, I love the color! dress: vintage, thrifted; belt: Pinky Otto, NYC; shoes: Anthro

And I'll leave you with this orangie goodness. Enjoy your long weekend!

Read more »

What the Art Teacher Wore #16

Monday, Seriously??: The last time I wore this dress one of my students asked, "Are you dressed like the Cleaning Lady today?" So this time I decided to jazz it up with a too-big flower and too-many necklaces. flower hair pin: flower from Joann's, hair pin made by me; necklaces: dunno, Target?; dress: Paul and Joe purchased for cheap a million years ago at Urban Outfitters; shoes: Blowfish picked up at TJMaxx

Hello there! Just a little peak at what I decided was appropriate to wear this week. And by "appropriate" I mean "what's clean and not on the floor of my closet". While scooting around on the internet (okay, let's just say it, there is no more "surfing the net" for us ladies, it's just pinteresting. Am I right?), I came upon these amazing works of art. And because I've been shoveling sugary sweets all week in an attempt to stay upright and perky, I thought I'd share with you some drool-worthy delectables that I have decided would complete me. Hope you enjoy!

Isn't this stunning? I love it. Frida Kalho by Alexey Kurbatov.

Flowery sugar cookies? Can I wear them in my hair and grab -n- eat when the mood strikes? Me thinks yes. Bakin' ideas found here.

Too Pink Tuesday: I am in love with this dress. Mostly because a dear friend who used to wear it gifted it to me. I think the color combination is divine. dress: gift from a friend; sweater: Ann Taylor, thrifted; flowers: H & M; shoes: Anthro couple years ago

Is that a key lime pie I spy? Mmmm, my favorite. Cakes and Pies by Wayne Thiebaud

Vintage wedding cakes, so cute! My fave is mini on the jadeite cake stand.

Wild Hair Wednesday: I swear the ends of my hair isn't really that bad. All my photos this week were taken at the end of some very long days at which point my hair was the least of my worries. sweater: thrifted: dress: vintage, thrifted; belt: made by me; shoes: BC

No where near the wonder of this woman, but I thought her color scheme kinda-sorta worked with mine. Wonder Woman by Nicole Charbonnet You should really check out her stuff, it's awesome.

Wait, what? Is this the grown-up version of candy necklaces? Why am I just now hearing about this?!

Thursday, I'd like you better if you had an FRI at the beginning of your name: Don't ask me what I am doing with my mouth in this picture. Possibly talking to myself. That's what too much sugar will do to ya. sweater: ebay; dress: vintage, thrifted; belt: Pinky Otto; necklace: vintage, thrifted; flowers: H & M; amazing owl sandals: Anthro, last year

I thought this wild -n- wacky Hollywood painting completed my look. A giant hovering In -n- Out Burger cup? With frolicking elephant underneath? Sure, why not? Found here.

The only thing that would make this better would be a wig of cotton candiness.

Friday, I've been waiting for you since Wednesday: Seriously, this week was a long one. That way for anyone else? dress: vintage, picked up for 25 pennies at the by-the-pound Goodwill; belt and flower hair clips: made by me; shoes: Frye picked up at Marti and Liz

The dress had the worlds smallest waist. Seriously, it was 10" wide. And I was determined to wear it. So I added this panel of lace in the back which not only extended the too-small waist but also the too-small bust.

The bold colors at the top of this painting reminded me of the bold flower at the top of my head. Bloom by Meredith Pardue.

Mmmm, nothing says delish like jell-o mold desserts, my favorite! (Ha, I kid, I have a fear of all things jell-o-y). Thanks for stopping by!

Read more »