What the Art Teacher Wore #154

Totes Tuesday: Well, we actually returned on Monday but that was kinda a rude awakening and I just couldn't seem to pull it together enough to snap a pic. You didn't miss much, lemme tell you. Just sitting-in-meeting 1950's vintage wear. You know, the ushe. But on Tuesday I was feeling a lil more up to form. Getting back into a routine of not staying up til midnight and beyond and rising late in the morn takes some easing into, y'all. sweater: thrifted vintage; skirt and boots: Anthro; scarf: gift from a student; tights: Target; bracelets: street market in Cali

Well, it happened. We went back to school. This year our district provided three glorious days of PD which I totes enjoyed. Not only was our art professional development fabulous (check it out here and here!) but it also helped us all ease back into the routine of things. I was stoked to have a couple of days to prepare my room for my Art Teacherin' Resolutions (part 2 coming next week!). In fact, so many things have changed/updated/whatevered that I decided to create a brand new Art Room Tour for y'all! 

There are still a TON of things I want to do to my magical art teacherin' space (like, A.TON. Is our job ever done?!) but until then, this is as good -n- groovy as it gets. By the way, many of the items you see me pan over in my artsy joint will be spoken about in detail at AOE's winter online conference where I'll be talking about how I attempt to Maximize my Minutes in the Art Room. And until next time, have a great week, kids!

 Wonderful Wednesday: We had the chance to work in our rooms and get caught up on teacherin' life on Wednesday. What a wonderful gift! Not surprisingly, I didn't manage to get everything done but do we ever? I sometimes wonder if/when the day will ever come when I leave my art room and think, "Welp! I got everything checked off my list, all's done!" Instead, I just close my door on the mess, shake my head and walk away super fast. I'm sure that makes me look like a nut on the security cam! sweater: made by me, DIY here; skirt, boots and belt: Anthro

 Bring 'em in, Thursday: The kids came back on Thursday and I was ready to throw all kinds of new things at them. You can read about some of those routines in my Art Teacherin' Resolution post (update this next week!) sweatshirt: Forever21; dress: made by me, DIY here; shoes: Payless with shoe clips made by me

One of my resolutions was to film myself instructing and play that for the kids. This allows me not to forget any details I need to share and frees me up to prepare supplies and drink my coffee (because, priorities). I was worried that the videos wouldn't be as effective and the kids' artwork wouldn't be as awesome as it usually is, but...

 Check out these cityscape printing plates! The kids and I were both thrilled! I have since created a video to walk them through the printing process which they'll see this week. Here's a peek: 

Feel free to use this lesson and these videos in your art room. And any feedback would be much appreciated. Third grade was my test pilot this week. Because it went over so well, I will be making more videos just like this. If you are interested, y'all can subscribe to my youtube channel to keep up. 

 Friday Already?!: That was fast! Teaching only two days a week will do that to you, I guess! It was a fun week and I'm looking forward to the next. I hope y'all have a super duper upcoming week as well! blouse and sweater: thrifted; palette belt: etsy; palette skirt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; tights: Target; shoes: Clarks

Oh! I have to share this sweet image with you! When my kindergarteners were finished with their paintings on Friday, I threw down this piece of fabric I purchased at IKEA and asked them to color it with my fabric markers. When I told them it was going to be sewn into a dress, they were thrilled! I overheard my sweet little friend in the blue on the right tell the other kids when they came to the floor, "Mrs. Stephens is going to make this into a dress and wear it! We will be famous!" They are so funny! 

In the Art Room: 3-D Letters!

Hey, y'all! I'm back, as promised, with the other awesome project I did during my fab-o art teacherin' PD this week! In case you missed the "I Am" books post, let your fingers do the clicking and check it here. In the afternoon, the leader of our PD, Daryle Grenead, taught us how to make these super fun 3-D letters! 

Full disclosure: a good buddy took Daryle's class a while back and gifted me her half-finished ART sign (thanks, Deb!). So I got to skip several steps and fly straight to the papier-mâché and painting. You know, the fun stuff. But don't you worry, I took several photos of my friend Jennifer's hands while she worked away on creating her letter so I could share them here with y'all. She's a glorious hand model, that Jennifer. You'll see. But first! 

Check out the inspiration that Daryle created and shared with us! He recommended doing this project with middle schoolers. He also mentioned that if they do something like their name, each letter takes about one art class to tape and papier-mâché. For our time's sake, each of us did one letter (well, except for me). 

To start, Daryle recommended using stencils to help the kids cut out their initial. We simply laid the stencils over the cardboard and traced. Two will need to be cut out with box cutters, one for the front and the back. Daryle said he cut the letters out for his younger students to save on instructional time and for safely issues. If you are doing an entire word as I have, you simply lay out the letters of your word on a large sheet of cardboard. Make sure each letter is touching, tape the letters together and trace onto the cardboard. This way, when you cut it out, it is one solid piece of cardboard, not multiple pieces. 

 Once you've cut out your two letters (or your complete word, cut twice), lay a piece of heavy duty poster board beside your letter. The width of the board will determine the depth of your letter. As you lay the board beside the letter, add tick marks as each corner of the letter. This is where you will fold the poster board. 

 As my friend Jennifer's lovely hands are demonstrating. 

 Once that is complete, fold the paper along your tick marks. 

Which is easier to do if you score the board first with a dull pencil and then fold over matte board. 

 Ta-da! You can start to see the shape of the letter! 

Using masking tape, start taping the edge of the letter to the poster board. You'll need to use a couple pieces of poster board to complete the letter so be ready. 

 And have tape ready. 

While Jen was taping away, I started snapping pics of my buddy David working on his R. Notice that when he was done with one side, he fitted the other cut out into place and started taping that down. Also, don't forget to create that super fun inside piece! 

And bring on the snotty papier-mâché! Layer the whole stinkin' thing. Now you see it would take the kids multiple days to do just a letter. A great art club/after school/summer camp kind of project, says moi. 

 I love that some folks skipped the letter idea and did things like this and symbol and we even had a dollar sign!

 Of course, you can see here, I was pretty spoiled by my friend's half finished efforts. I just had a lil work to do and let it dry over night. 

For the more advanced set, Daryle had created these amazing pieces for our TN football team. 

 Before painting, Daryle suggested painting everything with a coat of white acrylic. Then add color and seal with a clear coat. 

 I couldn't wait to get to school the next morning and finish my sign! The best part was splatter painting it. Seriously, y'all. I now know why ole Jackson had a thing for paint slinging, it was a blast!

And now it hangs proudly at my Art Supply Store. The kids loved seeing it today! 

In the Art Room: "I Am" Books

Well, welcome back, my fave art teacherin' friends! I know most of y'all are back to schoolin' even if the kids aren't there. My most amazing school district has decided that we ease back into the routine by providing with us three days of professional development before The Return (of the Chillins). Today, one of my favorite art teacherin' buds Daryle Grenead came and demonstrated two awesome projects to bring back to the art room: I Am books (shown in this here post) and 3-D letter making (to come on Thursday, stay tuned). 

These books are a barrel of fun and so easy to make...not to mention they tie in so much literacy, it's enough to make your reading specialist's heart grow three times it's size! Daryle recommended doing this project with the fourth grade and up set. I can't wait to give it a-go with my favorite wee artists.

Let's start with the best part of this here accordion-style book: the cover. We used the same relief-style method that I've shared in this blog post where we used leaves. 

To start, we each had two pieces of square 5 1/2" pieces of matte board. Very thin poster board (or heavy weight paper would work as well) was used and a collaged design was glued into place with good ole Elmers.

Once finished, we used 8" X 8" pieces of foil. DULL SIDE UP (that's super duper importante, hence the ALL CAPZ), spray adhesive was applied to the foil and our collaged piece was placed face down. The edges of the foil were then wrapped around the backside of the matte board. 

Using a cotton ball, the surface was rubbed until our design appeared. To get into those hard-to-reach places, a q-tip was used. 

BOOM, y'all! Because heavy-ish gauge foil was used, designed could then be drawn into the foil with a dull pencil. And no foil was harmed in the process...an art makin' miracle!

Look, maw, no punctured foil! 

Using that super cheapo $1 black matte spray paint from your fave hardware joint, lightly dust those bad boys. 

And buff off the spray paint to reveal your incredible design. Prepare yourself for the oooohhhhssss and ahhhhhhssss, y'all. Cuz they're coming...

 Like, right? I done tole you.

 Now, let's talk about that writing portion. Daryle provided us with an I Am poem prompt that inspired our narratives. 

There are truck loads of examples of I Am poems online. If you ask Mr. Google, he can help you out. 

 Now, prepare yourself as I share my poem-writing soul with you. You're welcome. 

We used heavy duty watercolor paper for this portion. The paper was 5" X 30" (me thinks. Don't quote me on this. I'll deny everything). 

 Read on, my poetry skillz are pretty much unmatched. 

Just got the memo, I've been named Poet Laureate. Who is Laureate, anyways?

And there you have it! Have y'all done these kind of books with your students? I'd love some more ideas. And Happy Back to Art Teacherin'!

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...