In the Art Room: Mexican Sun/Moon Weavings

You know, as an art teacher, I just can't seem to teach short and simple lessons. I ain't braggin'. It's a real problem. I mean, what you are looking at here took us 4 weeks of art class to complete (that'd be 4 hours). What with the metal relief, the coloring, the puffy painting, plate painting and weaving, I thought the entire thing would never end. However. Looking through the stacks of these masterpieces and reading the kid's artist statements about their work (as well as the sweet notes that my second grade kids wrote them about their artwork), I like to think it was all worth it. That being said, you had better believe our next project is gonna be, well, less than four weeks. Like, maybe three and a half.

So just how did this whole project come to be? Well, I go the idea for the metal design from Denise Logan in her book and on her website, she shares the lesson of creating a Mexican sun. I love her lesson but decided to take the process one step further by adding the woven edge. This is the same group of fourth graders that created these stitched creations. Their fingers were itching for more fibers arts so I thought, why not give the kids what they want?

The process for the sun/moon plate was much like the one my third grade students created for their dots. To begin the project, on our first day, we reviewed what we new about Mexico with this prezi. Then, I introduced the ceramic work of the artists in Metepec, Mexico with this prezi. 

After that intro, the kids were given this sketching sheet to hash out some ideas. I set my Time Timer for 7 minutes and told them to meet with me again when the timer went off. 

 By the way, here's a lil shopping list for you:

• Cheapo Styro Plates. I mean the really cheap kind. Two for each kid.
• Cheapo Foil.
• Spray Glue. 3M's my jam.
• Ink Pens. They work best on styro as they don't cut into it like pencils.
• Face Template. Hate me if you wanna, we used facial parts to trace for those who didn't feel confident in drawing their own facial pieces.
• Circle Temple. 

Once the timer went off, we met again to talk about how to make our sketch a reality. First step, cut out two circles. One will be for the face the other, the parts.

Trace template pieces or create your own template pieces on your sketch paper. Cut those out and trace around them. I discouraged the kids from sketching directly on the styro as they couldn't erase those lines.

 Start gluing those pieces in place. By the way, I don't use glue bottles in my art room as they are the Root of All Evil (I remember the moment I saw a child attempt to use the blade of a brand new pair of scissors to unclog a bottle whilst another proceeded to bust off the tip of his pencil lead during his stabbing/unclogging attempt. Forever after that, it's been glue in a cup and paint it on.) 

This was about all we managed on that first day. Each kid was given an envelope to put their pieces in for the following art class.

 During our second art class, the kids finished cutting out and gluing pieces. The kids could decide if they wanted to make a sun, a moon or a combo of both. When they were finished, they came to see me at the Super Amazing Spray Glue Table where I spray glued their work and placed foil atop. IF they wanted a sun/moon, I sprayed their styro face and gave them yarn to lay on top however they wanted it.

Massage the plate but do not use your fingernails. That will tear the foil and make for a super sad art teacher. 

From there, color was added with Sharpie. Now, I did have to make one muy importante rule: The background of the face needs to be ONE color (unless it's a sun/moon). Here's why I did that: I noticed the kids were picking colors at random and they were losing the face completely. I told them that the raised pieces could be any color they wanted but that the background was to be one solid color. No one's creativity appeared to be crushed during the enforcement of that thar rule. 

Once coloring was complete, the kids entered Puffy Paint land. WHICH they loved, according to their artist statements. 

 During our next art class, the kids painted the outer edge of a large Chinet plate (I suppose if you wanted a shorter project, have the kids create smaller faces and use smaller Chinet plates? Just a thought). That only took them 15 minutes which gave them more time to finish their coloring and puffy painting from the previous class. I did have a couple early finishers who began our next project: Ojos de Dios!

 The following class, the paint had dried so the kids cut their plates and started weaving. I gave the kids a template with 19 notches cut into it. They laid the template on their plate, cut the notches and started to weave. I do a weaving project every year with my students so a quick reminder that weaving is over and under and they were off running.

Me: Oh my goodness, I love your sun/moon! Can I ask what's on her lip?

Student: She has one of those sores that I get in the winter.

Me: Um, like, a cold sore? 

Student: Yeah, that's it! I wanted her to have a cold sore.

(OMG, I die.)

Once the kids wrapped up their weaving, they were to write an artist statement. We chatted about how we could either write about the process, the product or something we learned. Once those were complete, they were glued to the back of the weavings. Reading those statements was hilariously enlightening.

So apparently the kids like puffy paint. I did have several kids write about something called "puppy paint". Um, what?! Do they think I'm so cruel that puppies were harmed in the making of said paint?! Guess we need to have a chat. OR I need to do a better job enunciating. 

My school district is joining in on a Be Nice Campaign. The kick off was this week. So I decided to have a weekly Give Nice a Try post in my art room. Sometimes we'll have time to give it a go in the art room...however, often times, I'll be counting on the kids to do this on their own time. This week, it worked out for my sweet second graders to write a nice note to the fourth grade about their finished pieces. 

Here are the second graders writing their nice notes to the fourth grade.

 
I double checked all notes before giving them out to the fourth grade. I wanted to be sure they were nice. This one was especially sweet.

The fourth graders were pretty stoked to get feedback about their artwork. I had them write thank-you notes to their new second grade friends. This note really showed the impact of our letter writing campaign. 

And there you have it! Even though this project took us forever, did involve relief sculpting, Sharpie coloring, painting and weaving (oh, and puppy paint, ha!) all while learning the history of the Metepec suns of Mexico. What's your fave long-winded art project? Please tell me I'm not the only one with million-year art projects, y'all!

DIY: Super Sparkly -n- Simple Holiday Decor

I dunno how y'all entertain family when they come to visit but I'm guessing you take 'em to see the sights, feed them and do whatever good hostesses do (meanwhile, all I know about Hostess is they make a KILLER Twinkie). As for me, well, I like to put 'em to work. For zample, when my dear ole moms, mom-in-law and her sister (my aunt-in-law? Nah, she's just Aunt Rose to me) came to town, I decided to have them help me create some holiday decor (added bonus, a DIY blog post, yippie!). And I'm so glad I did cuz now I have this super feathery wreath and ultra divine wall hangings (um, scroll down-eth) just in time for Feliz Navidad (er, I guess it's just Navidad in this case, huh?). Here's how the whole process went down, Charlie Brown.

I started by informing each of my charges that they WOULDN'T be fed again UNTIL crafting was complete. At one point, Aunt Rose (seen above in what she dubbed her "White Trash Honey Boo-Boo Apron") said something along the lines of this being like a labor camp to which I replied, "WHY ARE YOU TALKING?! You can't craft while your lips are moving now hush it and get back to glittering!" 

They pretty much behaved after that. Family, I tell ya. They really are just like a class of kindergarteners. 

Oh, you know I'm only (slightly) kidding! We had a great time crafting it up. Even my mom who has crafting-phobia (is there a thing? Hold on, lemme check...um, all I could find was something called "unicorn-a-phobia". Why do I have a feeling this is wrong? On, like, so many levels) was all elbows deep in glitter, glitz and Martha Stewart paint. So just how did I come up with this lil craft?

Well, a coupla weeks back, Anthropologie had it's little "craft get together" (which truly is a labor camp but it's all good. When it's crafts, it's a labor of love. Plus, there's booze. Which washes down the glitter so well) where we did a super similar craft. They had us cutting out feathers, paint them and then glitz them up with glitter and gold leaving. 

I just so happened to have donated to me a wee mountain of different colored card stock. I created a couple of feather templates for the fam which they traced and cut. From there, I busted out the sea foam and sky blue paint which was dry brushed onto the feather. Once those were dry, we added gold paint and/or glitter. 

Of course, where there's this much glitter, one risks Glitter Lung.

It's a chance we dedicated crafters must take. 

Oh, gah, I just hacked up a disco ball.

Now the menfolk opted not to partake in our craft-tastic ness as glitter is kinda like dude kryptonite in case you didn't know (ladies, just dab it behind your ears on those nights that you, well, just aren't in the mood, ya feel me? Works like a charm). Instead, they went hiking and brought back this mountain of turkey feathers. WHICH we promptly covered in glitter. We might have been a little dizzy from all the glitter-induced coughing fits. When hubs walked into our crafting lair (aka the dining room) he was all, "You just ruined all my turkey feathers!" Ruined? Really? It's called Bedazzled and you outta look it up, yo.

 Since my labor force was so motivated by hunger, they created so many feathers, I was able to bust out a couple of these wall hangings too. 

I used old canvas stretches and some AMAZING gold-leafed yarn I scored at JoAnn's. Just dry brushed the stretchers and added the glitter feathers. Cake, y'all.

Glitter Cake. My fave.

Now covering the world in glitter was not the only thing we accomplished. We also made these feather-tastic beauties!

Twas super easy, y'all. This is a similar craft as that Leaf Relief project I shared a while back. With matte board, paper and spray glue, I cut out the feather, sprayed the board with the glue and attached my paper feather. Then I hit the board with glue again and covered in foil. Finally I sprayed the whole thing with the world's cheapest spray paint. 

It's the dollar spray paint from Home Depot. It works the best cuz it sucks the hardest. Trust me on this. 

While you're at The 'pot, don't forget to pick up some ultra fine steel wool. That's what you'll use to burnish off the spray paint. These are my mom's craft-phobic hands. I think she's doing pretty good, don't you?!

And mighty pleased with herself too. As she should be. 

While we were sitting and painting, I noticed how pretty everyone's paper towels where from wiping the paint brushes. So I gave everyone a little 6" canvas square to just dabble and clean their brush on. Today I added mini-feathers to the painting group. Top left is my mom-in-law, right is my mom's, bottom left is Aunt Roses and right is mine. I've got em all signed and dated.

And there you have it! So the next time that fam of yours comes to visit, remember: withhold food and put 'em to craftin' work, y'all! You'll have a Super Sparkly Time, I promise! 

What the Art Teacher Wore #121 and Art Room Craziness

"Super Hero" Monday: I know, y'all have seen this here get-up before. You can read all the gory, near-death-by-applique details here, if you can handle the scandal. dress: vintage DIY dealio here; tights and wig: (yes, it's fake. So realistic though, riiiiight?) Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing

Hey, kids. How are ya's? 'Twas Spirit Week on my art teacherin' planet which is code for Dress Like a Crazy Person All Week. However, when you are the crazy art teacher who abides by this rule all the time (The Dude Abides, y'all. And I only say that cuz I JUST saw The Big Lebowski for the very first time. I know. I live under a rock. From the 1990's.), well, it's just another week. And the kids totally agreed. For 'zample, on Monday, aka Dress like a Super Hero Day, I was asked by a fourth grader:

"What super hero are you supposed to be, Mrs. Stephens?"

"Uh, I dunno. How about Super Crazy Art Teacher?"

"And how is that different than any other day?"

For this I had no words. You got me, kid. You got me.

Sometimes I wonder if these children realize the sacrifices I make for them. Do they even know how difficult it is to get into one's car and drive down the road in a 12" high wig? And don't even get me started on the complexities of navigating an elementary school restroom without bouncing one's foamy-wigged head back and forth on the stall walls like some sort of bizarro Super Crazy Art Teacher pinball game. It's all for you, kiddos. 

Speaking of crazily dressed art teacher, HOLY COW, Y'ALL! Did you check out the Dress Like a Famous Artwork/Artist Contest?! If not, y'all have just one day left to vote so, what are you waiting for?  Look for your faves then get out the vote. You can vote for more than one art teacher as it's just too tough to pick just one. 

In other non-crazily dressed news, I thought I'd share with ya's just a snippet of what the wee artists in my world have been creating this week. I'll be sharing complete posts with art lessons to come but I was just too stinkin' excited with what was goin' down this week not to share a snippet. What excitement has been happening in your world this week?

Oh! AND, I almost forgot to mention, I'm now on twitter! If you follow me, I'll follow ya right back. Chat soon, y'all!

 'Kay, so I really don't know what's cuter, this dude, that toothy grin or the artwork. My friends in first grade-land zipped right through this project and loved it! We spent the first day using our Gelli-Art plates for printmaking and created these leaf prints on fabric. Then we hit the sewing machines, stitched the two pieces of fabric together and added the Sculpey-beaded hanger. I'll be sharing the complete -n- detailed lesson here next week.

 "Dress Like a Farmer" Tuesday: Look, I dunno who came up with these days but this particular day certainly reminded me of high school. I attended schoolin' in rural Indiana surrounded by acres of corn fields (still have the corn-detassellin' hands to prove it) which was great and I loved it. I do recall that there was always one day outta the year that was called something like "Drive Your Tractor to School Day" (couldn't even make this up, y'all). I never owned a John Deere (hence my low high school standing) but if I could travel back in time, I woulda totally wore this get-up. Cuz at the time I was prolly either in my goth- or hippie-phase. Neither of which were as farmer-chic as this. blouse: thrifted, Anthropologie; jeans: Target; boots: Seychelles, old; leg warmers: dunno

 I decided that our word of the week this crazy week would be "popular culture". This was just perfect as we chatted about Roy Lichtenstein on Monday (whilst wearing that Super Hero thangie), Grant Wood's American Gothic on Tuesday and, well, for Rock Star Day we chatted about Warhol. It was so easy and super fun to tie in these artists with our wacky attire. I could totes do a wacky dress day every day of the week! Oh...wait. By the way, can you even think of a better farmer than the one in Grant Wood's painting? I wore it MOST of the day EXCEPT when I needed to use the restroom. Lesson learned from Monday, sigh. 

 I'd not revisited my tree weaving lesson since first sharing it with you a coupla years ago. I decided to give it another go with this group of third graders and, of course, they loved it. Mostly cuz the kids love weaving. It's that tactile thang, you know? My early finishers then learned about the history of Ojos de Dios and began creating their own...

 Holy mackerel, yous guise, I can't get these kids to STOP weaving! They love it. And for some reason, giving them the option to weave on the floor, standing up, walking around the room (without your scissors, please and thank you) is like a party for them. I'm just hoping they'll be cool with taking a break from 'em next week to begin a new project...if I can get the dern things outta their weaving-manical lil hands!

 "Dress Like a Rock Star" Wednesday: So I pretty much think Katy Perry is the bomb what with her super fun throw-back to the 80's style and pop-y tunes. Although, truth be told, I'm a die-hard Springsteen, Beastie Boys and G-n-R fan. Unfortunately, since none of those dudes qualify as "cute", I opted for the pop star look. nasty-kids wig that pinched my scalp and made me question my life's choices: Walmart. Barf; jacket and dress: Modcloth; tights: Target; boots: Lucky Brand; crinoline: Amazon; necklace and headband: made by me. That headband is made from the scraps of Monday's dress!

 Of course, my second grade was not to be left outta the Ojos de Dios loop. They created these guys in just under two 30 minute classes. I have a giant box of donated bells from India that seemed to be the perfect addition to these God's Eyes. 

 "Dress in Your College Colors" Friday: After spending most of the week feeling slightly under the weather, I decided to give myself a break on Thursday. Howeverness, there ain't no way I'm dressing in my boring college t-shirt. Nah, that sounds like a snooze fest. Instead I opted for more Mexican attire as we are still neck deep in our journey through Latin America. blouse: Olvera Street; skirt: thrifted, vintage; belt: Anthro

 Here's another project that the kids are wrapping up this week, the fourth graders relief-sculpted/Sharpie-colored/painted and woven Metepec-inspired Mexican suns! All the gory deets to come. I'm just glad they muscled through this lengthy project. They are pretty stoked with the results!

In the Art Room: Jane Shores, Skirt-Stitcher Extaordinaire!

Hey, y'all! After how well-received my lil interview with Rebecca Tenpenny, first year art teacher (and my former super-amazing student teacher), I decided to add a monthly Art Teacher Interview to this here blog. So this month, I'd like to introduce you to Jane Shores, elementary art teacher outta Texas! I "met" Jane via the Art Teachers group on Facebook. What caught my eye was that Jane had recently started stitching up funky-fabric'ed skirts to wear in her art room. I thought it would be fun to see Jane's collection of skirts and learn the story behind how she got started on her stitching adventure. So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Jane Shores!

Just who are you, where do you teach and why do you dress so crazy?!

First of all-thanks so much for the opportunity to share and talk about what I love! Somehow my sons aren't as interested in looking at my new fabrics, admire my new stitchings, ogle over the new trim I found, weird, huh?!  Maybe my next sewing adventure will be artsy boxer shorts-ha!

I'm Jane Shores. I have two super cool sons (20 and 17), two kitties and one doggie. I'm a K-8 art teacher at a private school in Dallas.  I've taught about 18 years, starting in public elementary in VA.  Now I teach private K-8 in TX. I also taught 2nd grade for 5 years! i LOVE teaching at my current school and all the different grade levels but especially the littles who are so sweet, give hugs and think everything I draw on the board is a masterpiece!  I've always had a kind of plain school wardrobe since I get messy in the art room and comfort is an absolute must.  In the past, my typical school wear would be different colored Jean Capri pants and solid color tees or polos -not much to think about in the morning! Since I discovered the fun of making art skirts, I realized I could make cute, fun skirts that I can pair with  a solid tee or polo-super comfortable, way less hot than pants(Texas you know!) and I've gotten tons of compliments on my new skirts from colleagues, but especially the kids!!!  So fun to see their amazement when I say I made it! (But sometimes I think the little kids think I actually wove the fabric too!!!)

I LOVE teaching at my current school and all the different grade levels. But I especially love the littles who are so sweet, giving hugs and thinking everything I draw on the board is a masterpiece! 

I've always had a kind of plain school wardrobe since I get messy in the art room and comfort is an absolute must. In the past, my typical school wear would be different colored Jean Capri pants and solid color tees or polos -not much to think about in the morning! Since I discovered the fun of making art skirts, I realized I could make cute, fun skirts that I can pair with  a solid tee or polo. It's super comfortable and way less hot than pants (Texas, you know!). I've gotten tons of compliments on my new skirts from colleagues, but especially the kids! It's so fun to see their amazement when I say I made it (but sometimes I think the little kids think I actually wove the fabric too)!

Tell us a little bit about what got you started on stitching these amazing skirts. 

I started following the AMAZING Cassie Stephens' blog just a few months ago and was completely inspired by your creations. Once I started checking out fabrics I fell in love with all the cool art related prints I found: tangrams, Dia de los Muertos and Mondrian-like print. I love retro stuff (as a child of the 70's I particularly like things reminiscent of that era) and found some cool fabrics printed with old style phones, cameras and cassette tapes. I thought: what a fun way to liven-up (and artsy-up!) my art teacher attire! I've always loved to sew. My mom taught me when I was little and I loved to hand stitch clothes for my Barbies (my favorite was a denim "Levi's" mini skirt!). I took home-ec in middle school and learned a bit more and sewed a snazzy apron! I've taken quilting classes in the past and hand stitched a few sweet quilts-but wearable sewing is so much more fun!  Oh yeah, I almost forgot, most of my skirts cost only about $10 to make and take less than an hour to sew. Can't beat that!

Lastly, I'm a big fan of "Project Runway" and like to fantasize about being discovered as a fashion designer. Never too old to dream, right?

How have your students reacted to your funky flair? 

I actually started making artsy jewelry first which is a fun way to show my style and things I like. Both boy and girl students would comment, "I like your earrings!" and were amazed when I'd say, "Thanks! I made em!"  Now I try to wear at least one thing I made each day since my students expect it!

They LOVE my style!  It has made dressing for school so much more fun too. I must say, some students seem a little disappointed when I wear a "plain" outfit, ha! The first skirts I stitched were my Dia de Los Muertos skirts since I found this way cool fabric and I do related projects with my 2-8th graders.  I've always loved skull art (as a die-hard Grateful Dead fan!) so naturally am attracted to Dia de Los Muertos art.  I was also inspired to make some jewelry to complete the ensemble!  My fave thing is to walk into the cafeteria and have kids I don't see that day in class comment on what I'm wearing. Great to feel like a celebrity when I get my iced tea!

A few funny reactions: when I first wore my "watercolors" skirt, an especially intrigued and artsy 4th grade girl came up and bent down to read all the different color names (in the middle of my instruction time!). During a 2nd grade class, I overheard heard a sweet little girl say, after I walked by in my Dia de Los Muertos skirt: "I wonder if she can make them in OUR sizes!" Hmmmm...interesting idea...!

Can you share with us what pattern you are using for your skirt? Do you have any advice for new stitchers who would like to do the same?

The jig is up...I must admit I'm a hack sewer! In other words...no patterns, just guess sizing, cut, sew and adjust! I don't even pin, partly cuz I'm lazy and partly cuz I'm so excited to see how it turns out! Once I got the right size/length, I measure my new fabric against that skirt. I guess one of these days I'll get around to using some bulletin board paper to create a pattern so I don't have to guess every time, but that may take some of the fun out of it! 

I consider my art skirts to be cute and fun, but not seamstress professional! 

So, basically, I start with a big rectangle (extra wide to have gathers) make a casing at the waist for elastic I use (1-inch wide, no-roll. Maybe one day I'll get fancy and do zippers!), adjust the width as necessary then stitch it up! I use "Heat and Bond" to make an iron on/no sew hem (I do need to invest in an ironing board since now I iron on a towel on my granite countertop!). But my fave part other than choosing cute artsy fabrics is adding fun trim at the bottom. So far I've used bias tape (not fun but makes nice finish at hem), Pom Pom ball trim (my fav 70's trim!), rick rack (2nd fav 70'strim!) and fringe. I have seen some way cool trims like hanging beads, coins, feathers, sequins, that I'll soon venture out to try. Biggest bit of advice: my first skirt I made with some cute floral fabric I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby. So, buy some cheap fabric and don't be afraid to make up your own pattern and experiment with fabrics and trims!

 

What are your favorite places to shop for fabric? What sewing machine do you have?

The coolest artsy fabrics I've found are from fabric.com. It's fun to scroll on my iPad the zillions of fabrics and add to my "design wall", a tool on fabric.com.  I am lucky to live near a great JoAnns Fabric as they always have 50% off fabrics and other stuff (got a great Ott Lite floor lamp recently way discounted!). I had a Kenmore (Sears brand) sewing machine for ages but it started acting up so I got a Brother (by Cassie's wonderful suggestion) from Walmart. A $400 machine for $150, I love a bargain.

Here's a question I get a lot...When do you find the time to create?! Between family, lesson planning, teaching, how are you also able to squeeze in skirt-sewing?

I'm a great creative/ADD multi-tasker! Some of my best plans start as I peruse Pinterest, fold laundry, watch HGTV, and of course, create jewelry and art skirts all at the same time! Don't you always come up with great lesson plans and ideas as you're just livin your life? I do!  As far as time, it does help that my boys are (pretty much) grown and do their own thing.  I feel like my brain is constantly looking for lesson ideas, but I've got the art teacher thing down well enough now that I can get most of my work commitments done during the school day, so my evenings and weekends are available for creative fun!

What sewing plans do you have for the future? What would you like to stitch up next?  

I just ordered some cool retro Christmas fabrics from fabric.com to make some skirts for December! I would love to create my own fabric patterns through printmaking (just got my first gelliarts printing plate, love!) that I could then sew into wearable art. I love knitting and weaving too, so maybe I can incorporate yarn arts into wearable art.  Too many cool ideas out there to try, too little time to git em done! And of course, who  knows...maybe you'll see me some day on Project Runway!

Thank you SO MUCH, Jane for taking the time to chat with us and share your super cute skirt-tasticness! Isn't she fab? Please be sure to tell her so in the comments! What I like the most is that she makes it so easy. So none of y'all can use that excuse that you "don't know how to sew" as Jane just shared that you can break those conventional sewing rules and just start creating. Thanks, Jane!

Are you an art teacher with something unique that you create/do/wear/whatever that you'd like to share? Then shoot me an email and send me a photo (because I'm visual, after all) at cassieart75@gmail.com. Thanks, y'all!