What the Art Teacher Wore #167

 Marvelous Monday: Ah...this week actually felt like SUMMER! I didn't have too obligations on my agenda except to visit buddies, hit estate sales and do whatever I wanna do. Isn't that what summer is supposed to be all about? dress: sweet little five dollar estate sale number from the 50's. I'm in love! belt: a market in L.A.; yellow Chucks: Amazon; bag: Goodwill Outlet

Hey there, party people! I hope this week has treated you well. It's been a fun and relaxing one here. I've stitched, worked on a couple new projects to share with y'all and in my art room, attended and presented at the Art Ed Now conference, estate sale'd and met up with buddies for coffee and lunch. The perfect summer agenda, says me! 

Next week, the fun really begins: the hubs and I are taking off for Southern California for a short vacation. Then my buddy Laura is flying in for us to join the amazing Patty Palmer at her Deep Space Sparkle Workshop! We are so excited to meet the attendees and share our passion for creating with children. I'll keep all y'all posted. Until then, have a fabulous week!

 If you follow me here, then you know I'm learning to play the uke. I've not played a musical instrument since my sad attempt to learn the violin in college (my apologies to EVERYONE who lived on the second floor in Edmonson at I.U.!). I'm a slow learner but this instrument seems like something I might be able to handle. The end goal is to learn to play We Will Rock You (odd choice, I know, but hear me out) so that I can play accompaniment when we sing Art Will Rock You in my art room! I've been working on more lyrics to share with y'all as well as how I plan to use it in my art room. Stay tuned, I'll be sure to keep you posted! 

 Terrific Tuesday: I've not had much luck shopping for vintage and other goodies at the thrift stores of late. This Anthropologie dress that I scored a while back is still one of my fave finds. I love the vintage cut of the dress! dress: Anthro, found at the thrift; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; shoes: Chucks found at DSW; bag: Enid Collins, antique

 This is the first time since May that I've had a chance to spend time in my sewing room. I have a small stockpile of vintage dresses that I've thrift picked over the last couple of months that are in need of minor repair before wear. I decided to knock out a couple before starting a new sewing project. The red dress (scored for a mere $8 at Buffalo Exchange) just needed to have the elastic in the shoulders tightened up!

 Wonderful Wednesday: And now look at the dress! I am in love with the print and the cut. I also dig how well it matches my Enid Collins bag. dress: vintage, Buffalo Exchange; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; shoes: DSW; bag: vintage Enid Collins, ebay

 If you attended the AOE Now online conference and happened to hang out with me while I chatted about fiber arts in the art room, then you got a sneak peak of my sewing room! This is also where many of my Art Teacherin' 101s have been filmed of late (y'all should subscribe. New videos about all things art teacherin' drop every Wednesday). I'm fortunate to have a space to sew. It'd be a lot  bigger of  a space if I didn't cram it full of fabric, felting supplies and patterns. But these things make me so happy. And, like a true hoarder, I like to surround myself with everything, all at once, all the time. 

 Thoroughly Thursday: I managed to pack so much into my Thursday it was bananas. Early morning estate sales, Art Ed Now conference and chat, Indian food, afternoon coffee with an art teacherin' friend and her wee baby and thrift store shopping. I love a packed day when it's filled to the brim with funness. dress: vintage. It once was a stained white before I dyed it fuchsia

 So, funny lil story: for the Art Ed Now conference, I needed to be available to chat and take questions during my session which was around noon. A storm was rolling in so I decided, five minutes before my air time, to run out and clear our deck of the furniture I didn't want damaged in the storm. And wouldn't ya know, the dern door locked right behind me. I was LOCKED OUTTA MY HOUSE. I could see my laptop on the kitchen table with Jessica about to introduce me and I literally screamed NOOO! 

Seriously. That was me. Dustin Hoffman. Thankfully, I'm married to a Boy Scout who is ALWAYS prepared and happened to have a spare key in a hidden spot. I made it inside just in time for my first question. Whew! Crisis averted. 

 Fabulous Friday: Lunch with a friend was the biggest item on my To Do list this day. Not to shabby after the mountains of To Do's I've been climbing of late. A girl could get used to this. top: vintage, Buffalo Exchange; circle skirt: vintage, estate sale; belt and yellow Chucks: Amazon; bag: made by me, details here

This weekend, I've decided to dive right into my first Back to Schoolin' dress with a mash up of five dress patterns (eep!) and some fab fabric found at Joann's. Stay tuned! I hope to have this complete by next week to share with y'all!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #166: A Feature in Threads Magazine

A while back, I was contacted by Threads magazine about a feature in their magazine. I was beyond flattered and thrilled that this publication, which is for some super serious sewers, thought of crazy ole self-taught-stitcherin' me. Now that this issue of the magazine is no longer available on newsstands (this article is from their April/May issue), I am free to share it here with y'all. 

Now if some of these photos look familiar that's because they were the ones snapped by Nashville Arts magazine for this article! The other dresses were more current creations. For that reason, I boxed 'em up and shipped 'em to Threads magazine so they could take pictures of them. Because the copy is super small, I thought I'd share with you what Stephani L. Miller and I chatted about here. Enjoy!

Cassie Stephens: An Art Teacher Fashions Fabulous Outfits to Inspire Students

Cassie Stephens learned how to sew just a few years ago. Since then, she's graduated from ready-to-wear refashions to attention-grabbing ensembles that she wears to support her art lessons in the classroom. The Nashville, Tennessee, elementary school teacher's motivations is to encourage her 400 students to get interested and learn about art. She makes outfits inspired by artists and cultures to engage her students' interest and show them how art can be applied to life. Cassie has found that wearing something she's created nearly every day is a great way to start conversations with students and spark their creativity. 

Threads talked to Cassie about using sewing as a classroom tool, and how linking her creativity to her teaching fuels her passion for both.

Threads: What first inspired you to sew something for teaching?

Me: I needed an apron to wear while teaching, but all I could find were aprons for chefs. So I stocked up on fabrics from a thrift store and an old pair of jeans. I sewed an apron that looked like I was wearing a shirt and jeans, and I appliquéd a guitar - complete with faux tuning pegs and strings - across the front. I embroidered a patch onto the jeans that read "Art Rocks". I had so much fun creating it that I started sketching more ideas and attempted to bring them to life. Rock Star Apron, here. 

Threads: What was the first thing you sewed specifically to support a lesson plan?

Me: In the beginning, I was unsure of my sewing skills, so I eased into it by repurposing thrift store clothing. My first masterpiece-inspired dress was based on Katsushika Hokusai's woodcut print, The Great Wave at Kanagawa. I appliquéd the entire scene onto the front of a thrifted white dress. I likened appliqué to collage, and I feel very comfortable with that medium. My students and colleagues responded so well to that dress that I decided to create more. The Great Wave Dress, here. 

Threads: How do you plan your lessons and outfits?

Me: Here's how my ADHD-fueled mind works: Planning lessons leads to sketch outfits to accompany the lessons. From there, I start scouring the Web for the perfect fabric or media to make my lesson-inspired outfit. Then, I finish lesson planning. It has become an integral part of my teaching method. When I first began teaching, I focused solely on educating my students. I read every book written. I worked tirelessly on my lessons and in my art room, but I stopped creating. And I became very unhappy and even bitter toward teaching. But when I decided to marry my passion for creating with teaching, I became excited about teaching again. I realized the using my ability to create and educate was what art is all about. I became a whole lot happier when I started to connect as many dots as possible in my teaching and creative lives. I need to create to teach and teach to create.

Threads: How do the students respond to your outfits?

Me: My students are very curious about my clothing. Many of them have never seen a sewing machine and are unaware of the concept of making their own clothing. In their world, clothes come from a store, and how they are created never enters their minds. We have many conversations about how my clothing is made. And they'll often come in with an outfit they've altered based on something wacky I have worn.

Threads: How do you translate an art inspiration into a garment?

Me: When an artist has inspired me to design, I think of what medium would best translate their style. For example, when I sewed my Andy Warhol inspired Cambell's Soup Cans dress (here), I knew appliqué would be the best medium. When I wanted to create a dress featuring Claude Monet's Water Lilies (seen here), I thought needle-felting would best showcase his Impressionist style. Sometimes, I get lucky and find fabric featuring an artist work, like a Piet Mondrian print (here). When that happens, I use that fabric to sew a dress.

Threads: How do you hope your students remember you?

Me: I hope they remember how much I love teaching them. I have a sign in my art room that reads, "My job is to love you." I hope I convey that love by my actions, my lessons and my wacky clothes!

Thanks for reading, y'all! 

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Art Teacherin' 101: Episode 6

In last week's episode of Art Teacherin' 101, I shared with y'all what art supplies I order each year. I briefly mentioned glue bottles and my distaste for them (in fact, I do believe my words where "glue bottles were created by the devil meant to be stabbed to death by small children"). I commented that I long ago stopped using glue bottles which received a handful of questions as to how my students use glue instead. So, in this episode, I thought I'd share my solution with you!

For what we call glue cups, I use little resealable cups available at the grocery store. After a couple of weeks, the glue near the top begins to dry which can easily be pealed away and the container once again looks like new (not to mention, it's ultra satisfying pealing away that dried glue, I have kids ask to do it!). For brushes, we use those plastic bristle junk brushes that you can purchase by the millions. As for the container, I just happened to get lucky with these but really any plate, tray, whatever would work. Cover the glue at the end of the day, soak those brushes at night and never have to fiddle with those pesky bottles again! PRAISE BE.

Of course, that doesn't mean that this won't happen in your art room. But it will prevent these bad boys...

From becoming a weapon of mass glue bottle distraction. ETHEL, DON'T DO IT! RUN, ELMER, RUUUUUUN!

And hopefully this solution will mean that you and your students can return to using glue for the true reason it was intended...

Love to hear your solutions for getting out of that sticky mess that glue can be!

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In the Art Room: Abstract Painting with Fourth Grade

Confession: I'm not an abstract artist. By any stretch of the imagination. I just can't seem to unwind my mind enough to even think that way. So teaching abstract art kinda sorta freaks me out. However, with the help of Nashville artist Hannah Lane, I was able to happily, easily and, if I do say so myself, successfully introduce my kids to creating abstractly. 

For this three class period project (with an hour class time each), the kids learned about the artwork of Hannah Lane, met Hannah and then wrapped up their work with me. And, by the looks of how colorful and happy these pieces are, I'd venture to say that this was one of their fave projects this year. 

Because Hannah visited one fourth grade class, I only did this project with them. My other fourths were neck deep in other projects so just giving this lesson a test run with one group seemed like a good idea. I will definitely be doing this project again next year...with a bit of a twist. 

But first, let's talk supplies. We used the following:

* 8" X 8" canvas board (although gessoed cardboard would have worked)
* Warm and cool colors of tempera paint (I like Sax Versa Temp)
* ModPodge 
* Collage papers
* Stencils
* Puffy paint

The week before Hannah arrived we looked at a prezi I created about her work. We talked about her series of paintings and her style. I fielded a bunch of questions from the kids to ask her on the day of her arrival. Shortly after our chat, we painted monochromatic-ish paintings in either all warm or all cool colors with an abstract design. Here's an example:

The next art class, Hannah arrived. She brought her large crowd series painting (shown above) as well as a huge box of glorious paper scraps that the kids went gaga over. Once she shared more about herself and her work, the kids began collaging the paper in any manner they liked onto their canvas board. We used ModPodge to adhere the papers. 

I loved how each unique paper was precious! I heard lots of squeals at finding just the perfect paper. 

Hannah was so sweet with the kids, they truly loved her! I secretly thru some shiny fabric scraps into the mix just to see how that would work. I can't wait to use up my fabric scraps for this in the future!

The room smelled of ModPodge and excitement (which also smells like ModPodge, in case you are wondering). 

At the end of all that collaging, many pieces looked a little something like this...

They made me so happy! And the kids were thrilled.

After we said goodbye to Hannah, I was left with a bunch of happy artists...and collaged canvas boards. What to do with them from this point? I felt like they needed something more. Hannah had spoken about how she reworked her canvases after the collaging stage and I felt like the kids needed to do the same. Enter stencils and puffy paint.

Earlier this year, I had a huge assortment of stencils donated to the art room. For the occasion, I busted them out along with my sponge stampers. After a quick lesson on stenciling (as well as a chat about composition), the kids went to town. 

My students all have a deep love for puffy paint. As do I. It's the New Black in the art room, y'all. We had used it the previous week for our diner sign project (more to come!) and I knew they loved the stuff. I did have to remind them to show restraint and not go bananas with the stuff. It's like the salt and pepper, sugar and spice for your art work, kids. Not the main course. Don't get carried away. 

And they didn't! Seriously, these bright happies are my new fave! I see so many possibilities with future projects based on this. 

Have y'all done abstract collage/painting with your students? What have they created? I'd love to hear more!

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What the Art Teacher Wore #161

Hello, Monday. Let's Do This: So much to do...so little time. Story of my procrastinating life, y'all! I ride the struggle bus everyday and wonder, "just how does the other half live?" Oh, the life of an unorganized hawt mess art teacher. The fun NEVER ends. dress and necklace: made by me! here; sweater: thrifted; belt and crinoline: Amazon; shoes: Marshall's

Oh, y'all. Don't let the smile fool you. It's that wild -n- crazy time o' year: Art Show! Thankfully I am backed with The Best parent volunteer reinforcements. These volunteer mamas of mine show up Every.Single.Day. to mat, frame and hang some of the best masterpieces in Tennessee. My fave part...they are NOT procrastinators like myself and the show is actually ahead of schedule! Like, what the whuuuut? I'll be sure to post pics after I regain consciousness from my post art show coma (art show is May 17th. If you are in the 'hood, consider yourself invited). Not only that, but we've had all sorts of other artsy mayhem going down. Because when it rains, it pours. And beautiful colorful rainbows are the result!

In other news, seeing your #WeCanMakeItMay snaps on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram seriously MAKE.MY.DAY! Thank you so stinkin' much for playing along. If you've not joined, jump in now! Follow me here to find out more.

Second grade ceiling tiles are up, thank you to just one of our fabulous custodians, Mr. Scruggs! Lil known fact: Mr. Scruggs is also our in-house DJ. How many of y'all can boast that? I seriously teach at the best school, y'all. More details about our ceiling tile project here. 

 Tuesday, I Kinda Thought You Were Friday: When you wake up with that feeling, you KNOW it's gonna be a long week! This week actually zipped by...mostly because I just stayed so crazy busy. dress: made by me, here

So our theme for the art show is diner...which is why the kids have made a ton of clay food (if you follow me here, you've seen it all!). When one of my students acted like he was eating his food, I got the idea to snap photos of the kids in The Diner (a mural they have been working on) with their food to use as adverts for the art show. They have had the option of dressing as a customer (themselves), a chef or a server. It's been so fun. I can't wait to share what we've created with their photos!

 Only Clean Spot in the Room Wednesday: Like, seriously. The only reason I took a couple snaps of me standing in random other places is because THE REST OF THE ART ROOM IS TRASHED, Y'ALL. It's all of my own doing. Welllllll, I did have the help of about 400 artists. But, whateves. It's worth it. Although the mess is giving me a bit of an eye-twitch...and I have an exceptionally high tolerance of messes. So that's when you KNOW it's bad! jacket: Gap kids; dress and tights: Target; boots: Frye

 I did manage to escape my art room occasionally to see what the parent volunteers had been up to...look at that first grade display, y'all. It makes my small heart grow ten times it's size with this amazement! Just a lil over a week til the big day. I'll def share all the gory details. In fact, this coming week's Art Teacherin' 101 will be all about who we hang the work on that there deer mesh.

 Paint Splattery Thursday: Because I am COMPLETELY INSANE, I decided that I needed a new ensemble for the art show. AND I decided that the kids should paint it. So I laid down some cold hard cashola for a canvas-esque drop cloth from Walmart (they claimed it was canvas, I beg to differ) and some house paint from Home Depot (BIG shout out to Dave, QT and Ms. Mary for cutting me and my students a great deal for this project. Go to the Home Depot in Franklin, y'all. They are awesome!). For the occasion, I thought I'd wear something which was already pretty painty. This way, when hit with paint-splatter shrapnel, I wouldn't be so sad. dress: painted by moi, here; tights: RIGHT?! Amazon

 Lord. What kind of art-makin' animals have I created?! Notice how I snapped this photo from a VERY safe distance. They had entirely too much fun. Meanwhile, the rest of 'em were in my room "working"...aka going bananaz. It's that time of year! 

Oh, but look at the result. I couldn't resist cutting into the fabric and starting my ensemble this weekend. Looking forward to sharing with y'all soon. 

Friday in the Diner: The kids are nearly finished painting the diner mural...I've had so much fun taking photos of them there! I can't wait to show y'all. I'll be so sad when the art show is over and this comes down. dress: Buffalo Exchange; necklace: Anthro

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In the Art Room: Art Scouts, Update!

Hello, art teacherin' friends! Thank you SO MUCH for all the Art Scouts love, y'all. We are beyond thrilled that so many of you have signed on to be a Scout that our Tennessee camp is officially SOLD OUT! Because we wanted to share the Scoutin' love, we decided to open up a second Art Scouts Camp in Laura and Ginger's home state of Ohio! Here's more...

That's right. I'm giving Leo a run for that Oscar with my emotional performance, y'all. 

Because of how quickly Scout spots filled in Tennessee, if you are interested in our Ohio camp, might I recommend you act fast. Both camps will be the same, just different scenery. Registering is easy but if you are a visual person like me, you might appreciate this lil step-by-step-to-register process...

We have been having so much fun putting together our badge-earnin' activities for y'all! If you are as excited as we are, you might wanna take a look-see at what our Camp will entail:

So, we hope to see y'all Scouts real soon!

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