Showing posts with label art teacher blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art teacher blog. Show all posts

Sunday, May 1, 2016

In the Art Room: An Art Teacherin' Challenge for the End of the Year!

Okay, y'all. Starting tomorrow, The Countdown to the Bitter End beings! Dunno what art teacherin' land looks like on your side of the universe, but if I were a Bettin' Betty, I'd say that it's just as chuck full o' craziness as mine: stacks of half-finished projects, piles of art show prep, a kiln waiting to be unloaded and reloaded, an over-turned coffee cup, paint spills, lost car keys, a missing cell phone...you get the picture. Well, I say that we need not suffer thru this insane time of year alone! Let's attack it together with humor (and adult grape-flavored drink) and more humor! To do that, might I suggest a wee Photo-a-Day Challenge that I've dubbed #WeCanMakeItMay.

One of my fave bloggers and instagramers Art Teachers Hate Glitter did an art teacherin' photo challenge back in March which I had so wanted to participate in. However, my fugly To Do List made that impossible. Here's to hoping I can stick with THIS challenge!

So here's how this works: each day o' May, snap a photo. Tomorrow, being May 1st and all, we'll start with numero uno. Take a picture of your art room (or wherever you work, I don't wanna exclude any of y'all!), pop it up on instagram, use the hashtag #WeCanMakeItMay and be sure to tag me (as well as all your friends, the more the merrier!). Let's share this journey to the end together and have fun while doing it!
I'll have you know that this is EXACTLY what my face looks like every morning I walk into my art room. That's me just looking at all the messes, stacks and piles. I don't plan on sugar coating it for y'all. If you follow me and ride along for this journey, you're sure to see some of the hawt-est, stankiest messes in town. Almost immediately after dropping my bag and chugging my coffee, I go into full blown hustle mode:
 If I only had an Ethel, I'd get so much more done! 

Now, I just did a look-see and, despite the recent occurrence of undesirable behaviors in my art room that leave me making this face:
there's not to be another full moon until the end of the month! I coulda swore we'd been experiencing a full moon of the last coupla weeks but turns out I was wrong. For once.

I have been writing down the random silliness that has been taking place from kindergarteners eating clay (WHHHHY) to another passing so much gas I coulda swore an elephant was in the room. Like, a BIG elephant. Who just ate five pails of beans. Anyway. Share those silly stories with your photos, y'all! We could all use the laughs. After all, it's just a matter of time before we do this...
And wake up at 10am every morning only to stay in our pj's everyday and do this...
Can't wait to make it to the end with some of my favorite people! And, dudes, don't worry if you miss a day, just pick up the following. I'd be willing to put money on it that I'll totes miss a day or five. Looking forward to seeing your snaps of the countdown cuz...#WeCanMakeItMay!

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Saturday, March 5, 2016

Top Ten Things You Need to Survive NAEA 2016

Howdy, friends! Who's ready for the NAEA Art Teacherin' Convention in the Windy City?
Y'all. I'm stoked. I've been preparing, packing and gettin' all kinds of ramped up for weeks. This will be something like my fifth convention and I've learned a coupla things along the way. I thought I'd share them with you in this here Top Ten Things You Need to Survive NAEA 2016!
 So let's hit it!
1. Comfortable Kicks, y'all

Lookie here, kids. I'm a girl who loves her shoes. And I can usually spend a good 8 hours in a pair of heels. However, I learned real fast when making the two block hike from my hotel to the convention center in NOLA last year, that such shoes weren't made for walkin'. Thankfully the convention center was next to a mall that provided me with the most fashion-less and flattest of flats known to man. My feets were happy. My sense of fashion cried itself to sleep at night. C'est la vie, baby.

This year, I'm all sorts of prepared. Chicago in March is a total crap shoot when it comes to weather. One thing is for certain: I'll be walking a lot and my feet will prolly be a lovely cocktail of cold, wet and/or tired. For that reason, I decided to invest in a comfy lil lace up boot and a flat stacked-heel golden sneaker (yes, this qualifies as legit comfy shoes in my book). I've spent the last week or so breaking in these bad boys and I do believe they are NAEA ready. 

Trust me on this folks: Get you some comfy footwear (more on the pencil shoes here).


2. Ditch the Shoulder Bag, Use a Pull-Behind

You guyzz. Last year I scooped up the cutest pencil-shaving themed bag from ebay-ville and thought it'd be the perfect thing to schlep around all my stuff. What I didn't realize was just HOW much stuff I'd have to schlep: snacks, water, laptop, wallet, vendors freebies, you get the idea. Throw in that 20 lbs. NAEA catalog and I thought I was gonna need a shoulder replacement by the end of the first day! (Love this Britto-inspired one!)
I noticed that several NAEA veterans were using a wide variety of pull-behind wheelie bag things. From those plastic fold-out carts to the backpack on wheels, these peeps were zipping around the convention without a shoulder/neck/back pain on their minds. Take it from me: get you some wheels. If you love this one, check it here
3. A Coffee Mug/Water Bottle/Flask 

When I don't drink enough water, I get a headache. When I don't drink enough coffee, I get a headache. When I have a flask, all is right with the world.

I've found that for some wild and wacky reason, getting hydrated at conferences isn't always the easiest of tasks. For that reason, might I recommend BYODD (Bring Your Own Drankie-Drink). It don't matter what it is, you know we art teacher's aren't here to judge. Just make sure you are armed with your go-juice of choice. My fave travel mug is this one by former art teacher turned full time artist My Friend Court!
4. A Miniature Drugstore 

I'm married to a boy scout. Which means I'm married to a man that is ALWAYS prepared. I can't find my a## with both hands but that man can tell me exactly where he keeps his altoids, Advil and Aveeno. Sadly, he won't be coming with me to the convention which means I need to (wo)man-up and create my own pocket-sized drugstore. Might I recommend y'all do the same. 

Here's a short list: 
* gum or breath mints (enough to share, it's nice to make friends)
* headache meds (for when the coffee fades)
* hand sanitizer (like, ew. What did I just touch?)
* hand lotion (like, ew. Why are my hands so scratchy?)
* tissue (for that tear-jerker session!)
* dental floss (cuz you got some spinach riiiiiiiight there)
* GLITTER PILLZ (get you some here)
5. Cash, not Credit

If you're like me, you're all about the plastic. However, being in a big city like Chicago, plastic isn't always your friend. Cash is fast, everyone takes it and there's not a chance that someone is gonna swipe your identity. Loading up on singles is always a good idea so that you can tip (or tuck a buck, I'm not one to judge) easily. 
6. Layers

I'm, like, always cold. Except for when I'm hot. And then I'm REALLY hot. Between the Windy City weather and nervous sweats from presenting, my internal thermamertor is completely whack-a-do. Which is why you'll usually find me swaddled in layers. From a sweater to a scarf to jacket layered by another jacket, I almost always look like a colorful art teacherin' onion. And, if you've got that handy dandy pull-behind on hand, you can just keep your rolling closet with you! You can see more of my splatter paint coat here
7. Un-Business Cards

Business cards are a necessity but they're also a dime a dozen. Because you'll be running from one session, museum, dive bar and tourist trap to another, you'll need a quick and easy way to exchange info with new found art teacherin' friends. But let's be honest: unless that buznatch card is something out of the ordinary, it's gonna hit the bottom of your handbag and more than likely be forgotten. So that doesn't happen to you, might I suggest create a lil un-business card?

Instead of the normal sized shape and size of a card, why not go bigger? This will allow you to showcase more images of whatever it is that makes you unique: your blog, your students work, your art. A nice photo of yourself is also a good addition. I'm terrible with names but I don't usually forget a face. I think most folks are the same.

If you are in a pinch, why not create your own card? Use a die cut machine, stamps, collage, ribbon to create a mini-masterpiece. If you someone something you've made, they are likely to save, cherish and remember who it came from. So clear that dining room table, set up an assembly line and get to un-business card making!
8. Cheapo Camera and Sketchbook

Leave that big and expensive camera at home! It will just cause you neck/shoulder pain and stress (cuz if you're anything like me, you'll be uttering the words "where did I put me camera?!" all too often). I always carry my lightweight and dinged up cheapo point and shoot. I wear the lil strap like a bracelet around my wrist and use it like a mad woman. I prefer it over my phone because it doesn't wear the battery down. (Camera fabric found here!)

A pocket sized sketchbook is also a must. I get a new and shiny one for NAEA every year. I've got a lil collection of NAEA sketchbooks with business cards, notes, thoughts and drawings. I have the habit of uploading photos and forgetting about them...but I always go back and flip through my sketchbooks. 
9. Snackage

When I get hungry, things can go downhill real fast if I don't refuel. Finding fast, healthy and inexpensive snackage at the convention is a near impossibility. That's why I always have on me Lara bars (a healthy alternative to PowerBars), nuts, dried fruit and chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Trust me, nothing is worse than a growling belly in the middle of a session. I speak from experience. 


 10. Patience and Positivity
Okay, here's the truth: you might not make it to that session you had your heart set on because of people traffic, shuttle lines, accidental detours (searching for a restroom without a mile long line will take longer than you'd ever imagine) and conversations with long lost/new found friends. Just breathe, y'all. Enjoy the moment. Slap a smile on your face and know that you are with your people. Those that do what you do everyday: have fun teaching and creating with young artists. Be in the moment with these peeps as the convention will go by in a blink! (and if you missed the emoji dress, it's here). 

See y'all real soon!

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Tuesday, February 2, 2016

DIY: Needle-Felted Decor, Part 1

Might we please have a lil confession time up in here? Cuz I need to unpack some stuff and I don't mean those boxes that have been in my garage since we moved seven years ago (real talk: those boxes ain't never gonna see the light of day, y'all, let's just be honest). 

Confession Numero Uno: Not only am I crummy housekeeper, I'm also pretty sucktastic at that whole decorating thingie too. You can't be good at everything, y'all (hair flip). And I most def have a big fat hairy list of items at which I am no bueno: cooking, cleaning, yard maintenance and, you guessed it, decorating. I mean, I can decorate  an art room like nobody's biznatch but working on our house has me all...
I just can't even. I don't even know where to start. In fact, we've got this one room that normal folk be calling a bonus room which I've dubbed the BOGUS room. It's just one more space for me to not clean and not decorate. I did attempt bedazzling it when we first moved in and painted up these round paintings which have that lovely early-2000's color palette...
AND that's pretty much all I ever did to that room. In fact, every time I wandered into the bonus room with a lil decorating on my mind, I'd take one look around and be all...
Now I know I sound totes ungrateful as many folk don't have a surplus of space. And lately, I've been working on a Super Top Secret Project (details to come!) in which the bonus room has become a great place to stretch out and work. For that reason, I'm really putting my heart into making this space one that I love to come to and work in. And I decided my first order of business was updating those horrible round painting thingies. 
 Now if you've been hanging around this here blog for a hawt minute then you know I love all things Mary Blair. I've created paintings inspired by her, made necklaces, you name it. So I decided I wanted to Mary Blair-ize the bonus room! But I wasn't feeling very certain I wanted to invest a ton o' time into it if I wasn't gonna love it. So I uprooted these white and gold plate/frame thingies I found for cheap at TJMaxx several months ago and decided to create some wee needle felted sketches! The above is what my sewing table looked like before...
And then after. Now imagine that as MY ENTIRE HOUSE and you've pretty much got the picture. Say a lil prayer and light a candle for my hubs, would ya?
After a little bit of playing around, I came up with this! I was super pleased. Y'all know I'm a big fan of needle felting as it's just about the most easiest thing in the world. In fact, I always find myself needle felting to excess in the winter months. Check out last week's DIY
 Just a lil closer look. 
I wasn't as in love with this one but I figured, eh, it's just a sketch. I'm sure to change it up quite a bit when I design the larger format circle. 
 I like needle felting on patchworked pieces of fabric. One of my first wall pieces from needle felting was done that way. I like how it adds just another layer to the design. 
Even though I still had one more little needle felted sketch to complete, I decided to dive right in to the making of my first large wall hanging. Mostly cuz I knew I'd have the help of this bad boy...
What you see here is not a sewing machine but something far more magical: a needle felting machine! That's right, y'all, like a rare rainbow farting unicorn, they do exist! The hubs got it for me for Christmas for not too much dinero on el Amazons. 
I love the thing. All I had to do was just tack some of the roving into place and slide it under the half dozen needles on that machine, hit the pedal and let the machine do the stabbing. It isn't great for detail work so I do resort to my trusty Clover needle felting pen for that. 
 But it's fab at blocking in large areas for me and look!
 One down! Only two more to go!
 C'mon, man! How about a lil power of positive thinkerin'?!
Okay, confession numero dos: this is pretty much how I feel. However, I'm determined-ish to follow this through and have at least one room in our house that looks decorated and finished. I'll keep all y'all posted. 
Until then, y'all!
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Saturday, January 2, 2016

DIY: 15 Favorites of 2015

So I totes wasn't gonna do one of those look-back blog posts as I've done in the past (2012, 2013, 2014) because, I dunno, I had it in my silly lil teased -n- hairspray'ed head that nothing mucho grande had happened in 2015. Until I got all sentimental last night, ventured back in time on el bloggo and discovered that all sorts of shiz went Downtown Julie Brown. And, thusly, I created this super self-indulgent 15 Faves of 2015 for your reading pleasurement. Enjoy and HAPPY NEW YEAR! May it be your very best year yet! 
1. I got to interview Tim Gunn! So I didn't necessarily put this list in favorites order, however, I will say that spending an hour on the phone with the One and Only Tim Gunn was truly a magical experience and my numero uno fave thing of 2015. Special thanks to SchoolArts Magazine for arranging the interview. You can read the 'view in it's unedited entirety here
2. I turned the Big 4-0! Honestly, turning 40 was much easier on me than turning 39. And, let's face it, I don't look a day over 36 so it's all good. I was surprised to find this greeting me on the first day of my forties...
Along with a wheel chair, black balloons and streamers. It took me a while to figure out just who dunnit (turns out my senility has already set in) but it was my buddy Officer Graham, the super duper SRO officer at my school. It truly made my day. 
3. The kids created collaboratives to beautify the school! I've really been riding the School Wide Collaborative train for some time now and I love it (you can read a big fat blog post about SWC's or "schollabs" as I call them here). One creation which was completed this year was out Johnson Elementary has Heart mural with a wee heart created by each child in the school. It proudly hangs in our front office! 
Another schollab was our Village of Kindness installation piece which was home to a town of houses where each door opened to reveal a positive message on the inside. 
My second grade students also worked together to create an installation piece of butterflies! We created these on ceiling tiles and they now flutter down the halls of our school. 
My first graders learned about Henri Rousseau at the start of the school year and created this jungle-y mural that now hangs from floor to ceiling outside of my art room. Which just helps all who enter know: It's a Jungle in Here! 
And, lastly, several grade levels worked to create this backdrop for our winter music program! What I love about this big ole piece is now that the program is over, it hangs in the hallway to brighten up these short cold days. 

4. Barney Saltzberg, author of Beautiful Oops, visited my art room! Y'all. This truly was a surprise and a treat. I'd been chatting with my friend Mark Meckel about Barney visiting my room when he was in town. Y'all might remember that my students had the chance to sing and record the song It's a Beautiful Oops in Mark's studio last year. So it was super fun to have him come, create art and read his book to the kids!
 
Then they all made beautiful oops-y artwork with him! It was such wonderful memory I'll never forget!
5. I was named elementary teacher of the year for my district and the mid-state region. It's super awesome to be recognized by the teachers who you work with and admire everyday. It's even more awesome when your district recognizes your hard work and names you elementary teacher of the year for the district! And then the paperwork begins. I made it through several rounds (and endless edits) and was just a stage away from the final nine before they found out I was a total hack and cut me from the lot. C'est la vie, y'all! 
6. I stitched 16 art teacherin' ensembles! Okay, it was actually a couple more than that but these 16 fit so nicely together I just went with that number. I did have 8 snow/sew days thrown in there which meant endless days of just me, pj's, coffee and my sewing machine. I am sad that I drifted away from my goal of sewing up a dress inspired by a masterpiece every month (in this collection, I only see the Mondrian and two Monet dresses) so I hereby resolve to get back to that! From left to right: Scribble Scrabble Dress, The Artsy Sew Along Skirt, The IKEA Fabric Portrait Dress; The Mondrian Dress
The Colored Pencil Dress, The Stroke of Genius Dress, The I'm-a-Pencil! Dress, The Marker-Tastic Art Teacherin' Dress
The Anna Maria Horner Circle Skirt; The Standard-ized Dress-ting,   The Dress that will Leave You in Stitches, The Pencil Print and Peter Pan Collar Dress
The Palette Dress and Purse, The Shower Curtain Circle Skirt, Summery Monet Dress, A Waterlilies Dress
 7. I attended NAEA in New Orleans! First of all, New Orleans is just so stinkin' fun. I'd never been before and to be there with a bunch of other art teacherin' types was just about the best thing every. It's the one time of year I get to see some of my fave art teachers from far away like Laura of Painted Paper and Nic of Mini Matisse
I had the chance to present a handful of times on such topics as blogging, needle-felting, publishing and my crazy art teacherin' ways. My favorite part, aside from catching up with friends, was attending workshops and learning from some seriously awesome art educators. 
 8. The kids helped a family in need! Teaching compassion has fallen by the wayside in our classrooms and I can only blame that on the over-testing of our students and over-stressing of our teachers. I try to do some sort of give-back art project each year. When my students were talking about an apartment fire that effected one of our families, I knew we could do something to help. 
So my third and fourth grade students created Houses to Help that we sold to the teachers in the lounge! It was a huge hit, helped out and taught my students the power of art. 
9. I taught classes at The Frist Center for Visual Arts! One of my fave places in all of Nashville-land is The Frist. I love taking classes there and, of course, taking in the fab-o exhibits. When I got the opportunity to lead a couple of classes there this summer and fall, I jumped at the chance!
I taught a workshop both for art teachers and artsy folk. Both were all about needle felting...and in one workshop we made needle felted postcards that we sent to loved ones! It was so much fun hanging out with (and learning from) so many creatively minded folk. 
10. I spent a week of my summer with Laura Lohmann of Painted Paper! If y'all have been around this blog long enough, then you know I spend a week of my summer attending THE BEST professional development around: Tennessee Arts Academy! This summer my buddy Laura was one of the instructors and we had the biggest fun!
You can check out all of the exciting and fun art-room-friendly projects we created here
 11. I did a coupla podcasts...one with the heartbreakers from AOE Live! Oh, this was a fun one -- my time in the AOE Live pod cast spotlight with Tim and Andrew! We had a great time talking about passion and, of course, fashion. I kept good on my promise to make the two dudes bedazzled ties (okay, it was supposed to be khakis but I ain't got enough bedazzles for that!). You can catch all the AOE Live podcasts here, y'all!
Buh-ling, y'all. 
The other podcast I did was with Heidi Easley, artist and teacher behind this blog! It was so fun chatting with her about staying creative while creatively teaching creativity. BOOM. I just conjugated "create" three times. Take that, Shakespeare. 
12. With the help of many parent volunteers, our school celebrated another year of awesome art making at our annual art show! I'm just gonna say it: there would be NO art show without my fabulous parent volunteers! AND my crazy mama who drives the long 7 hour drive each year to help out and be there for moral support (thank you, mom!). I wrote my top 10 art show tips here
 13. The kids created clay masterpieces! The kids really churned out a ton of clay projects this year but, sadly, I didn't do the best job blogging about it (or snapping photos, what?!). However, I did chat about this kindergarten bird project here
First grade fish and sea sculpture project here
And these third grade flower sculptures here
 14. I took several artsy/craftsy classes and loved it! If I'm not teaching a class then I wanna be taking a class. I love taking classes at The Frist and this hat making workshop was easily my favorite
Our instructor, Mark Sloniker is incredibly talented, creative and patient. 
Another awesome class I took at The Frist with some of my fave artsy friends was this printmaking class lead by the genius minds behind Sawtooth Print Shop
I made these tiki head prints and now I'm dying to host a tiki party so I can use these bad boys as my invites. Who's in?
My other fave class-taking destination? Craft South. I took this simple top making class with my buddy Bethany and we had so much fun. Being self-taught, I love to take sewing classes so I can undo all of my bad habits and learn me some new ones! I've now made several versions of this wee top, it's that easy! 
15. I spent time hiking, traveling and watching Downton Abbey with this dude and loving it! We've done our share of hitting the road this year but probably our favorite was our annual trip to the Smokies for Christmas. On this trip, we discovered this abandoned resort town that I cannot wait to show you photos from, it is beyond crazy/awesome/creepy! 

Welp, I guess that just about wraps up 2015 for me! What was your fave memory? AND what are you most excited about for 2016? I have some seriously exciting things in the works that I can't wait to share with you! Until then...
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