What the Art Teacher Wore #158

What's a "Monday"?: I've not been to school or seen the likes of a Monday in almost two weeks due to some art teacher conventionin  and spring breakerin . It was hard gettin' my Monday-on but with the help of my new most favorite sweater in the world, I did aight. head scarf, blouse and skirt: thrifted; sweater: Buffalo Exchange; belt: Amazon; tights: Target; boots: Anthropologie

I'm not even gonna sugar coat it for y'all: This was the best/worst week I've seen in a long time. I sprouted more gray hairs and counted down to summer/retirement more times than I'm proud to admit. But the happy highlights like an amazing visiting artist and a happy write-up in the Tennessean balanced out the cray. Thank goodness. Cuz it turns out I got a whole lotta years before I can start slingin' back the Metamucil and hangin' in my pj's all day (which is how I plan to spend my retirement. Don't judge). 

Let's talk about the good stuff, shall we? A coupla weeks ago, our local newspaper, The Tennessean sent photographer Shelley Mays and reporter Melanie Balakit to my art room to snap some pics and do some interviewing. Melanie and I chatted at length about my love for creating artist-inspired clothing that I wear in my art room. You can read the article here. Shelley even came to my house and visited my sewing room (pictured above) which was so fun AND meant that I spent a good part of my Saturday frantically cleaning my otherwise disturbingly messy abode before she arrived. It was such a wonderful opportunity to chat and share what I love. Special thanks to Shelley, Melanie and The Tennessean for making me look and sound less crazy than I truly am! 

 Murphy's Law Tuesday: Y'all. If it was gonna go wrong, it most certainly did on this day.  Between an assembly, a fire drill and a visit from the Fire Marshall herself, the day pretty much imploded after the first bell. I just kept applying more red lipstick and attempted to smile thru the trauma. In other news, CAN YOU BELIEVE HOW FREAKISHLY PERFECT MY ART TEACHERIN' DRESS IS?! sweater and scarf: thrifted; dress: vintage, etsy; belt: Pin Up Girl Clothing; tights: Targs; shoes: Fluevog 

Wednesday, Whatever: After Tuesday, I was all, it can't get ANY worse. Brang it, Wednesday. sweater and headscarf: Anthro, thrifted; skirt: Anthro, not-thrifted; belt: Amazon; tights: ya know, Targs; shoes: aren't they the best thing everz? Aldo

 Thursday, I Always Did Like You: As a kid, Thursdays were always my fave because that's when the Cosby Show aired. Not gonna lie: highlight of that show was seeing what wild outfit Lisa Bonet (aka Denise) would be wearing. She was always my fave. splatter paint dress: made by me! DIY here; sweater: thrifted; shoes: Clarks; palette hair clip: DIY here

 A big part of what made my Thursday awesome was a visit from artist Richard Heinsohn! He's an abstract artist from Nashville who had plenty to share with a third grade class. The absolutely loved him! I mean, check out these smiles...

 After learning about Richard's style of abstract painting, the kids got a taste of their own. I can't wait to share with you what they created. This is the second time my artists have had the chance to learn from a local contemporary artist and I'm so happy that they've had the opportunity. I can tell it's going to have a lasting impact. 

Fri-YAY: Thank goodness. I love my Fridays as they allow me to really catch up. I've started sorting, stacking and framing student work for our GIANT annual art show which is gonna go down in a lil over a month. Routine panic attacks have already set it. Awesome! pencil dress: made by me, DIY here; pencil sweater: needle felted, more here; giant pencil: made by fourth grade, blog post to come!

In the Art Room: Springtime with van Gogh and Charley Harper

So here, in middle Tennessee, we pretty much decided to do winter for about 10 days and move straight on to spring. It's been a mix of rainy, muggy and/or sunny (sometimes all in one day!) every since! For that reason, the first graders and I decided to create these Vincent van Gogh/Charley Harper mash-ups!

Now, I'm sharing this lesson with you in it's in-between/van Gogh-y stage. We started it right before I was absent for several days and then we promptly entered into Spring Break-ville. For that reason, my firsties are actually finishing their Everybody is a Star project. Once that's complete (fingers crossed that we wrap it up this week!), we'll start the Charley Harper portion of the project. 

Ah, van Gogh. It was fun sharing with the kids that I'd seen his work in Chicago while at NAEA. I left out the part about the exhibit being so crazy busy that all I truly saw were the backs of people's heads. If you are like me, you have a coupla fave van Gogh paintings that aren't The Starry Night. Personally, this Almond Blossom painting is one of mine.

You can see the influence of my good friend and fabulous art teacher Laura Lohmann in this lesson what with the painted paper and textures. She's the best! 

Here's a list of supplies we used:

* 12" X 18" paper. We recycled our messy mats but you can use construction paper for added color.
* Paint. Because I see my kids for 30 minutes, I premixed the tints of blue. 
* Brushes, texture combs.
* Sponges or paint brushes for cloud texture.
* 1" X 2" pieces of cardboard for printing.
* Scrap paper for collage.
* Scissors.
* Glue

I created a video that introduces my students both to van Gogh and Harper as well as walks them thru the process. Feel free to use it! I've been creating weekly lessons here so all y'all should subscribe. Like, now. 

Because I see these kids for 30 minutes, I break stuff down into bite sizes for them. On the first day, we were able to get about this far.

Love all of the colors in this one!

The following day, we learned more about van Gogh and printed tree branches!

We did wait a day before printing out flowers and leaves. I thought they'd smear with the brown paint. 

Now, we totes coulda stopped here. But I have a sweet college student who comes to my room every Monday. She said, "Have you seen the Portlandia skit 'Put a Bird on It?' I think they should!"

We put birds on things!

This idea lead me to the artist Charley Harper. If y'all have not been to the Charley Harper website, you need to check it out. I can't wait to share the animated version of his work as well as the studio tour he gives Todd Oldham. I also plan to play this live bird feed from Animal Planet while the kids work. 

Funny/tragic story about Charley Harper: a frame shop was going out of business about 15 years ago and gave me a TON of stuff. Among that stuff, three Charley Harper prints. At the time, I had no idea who he was but I loved the prints. Because two were duplicates...I GAVE ONE AWAY TO A FRIEND (I knoooooow). Wait, it gets better. Then I CUT THE BORDER OFF ONE TO FIT IT INTO A FRAME (TRUST ME, I KNOOOOOOOOW). His prints are worth big bucks. Pretty sure his chopped into ones aren't worth squat. Now I can't even hang them in my house because every time the hubs walks past them he says, "Aren't these the prints that are worth a lot of money? Which one did you cut up again?" UGH. These are the things that happen when you are an idiot. Moral of story: Don't be an idiot. Now, let's move along, shall we?

Grace, the sweet college student, started collaging birds inspired by Harper. This here is a teacher sample. Cuz, if you were paying attention, you'd know my firsties haven't gotten this far yet. 

And here's the one I create in the video. I'll be sure to share with you the kids' creations as y'all know they will come up with so much awesomeness. If you decide to do this lesson as well, I'd love to see! Be sure to tag me here on Twitter or there on Instagram so I can check it out. 

In the Art Room: Spring Breakin'/Conventionin'

Hey, friends! Now that the spring breakerin'/art teacher conventionin' dust has settled, I thought I'd share with y'all just what went down in sunny Cali and windy Chicago. I gotta be honest with you tho: I was terrible at documenting both! The lack of photo shooting (and sharing in social media town) was not intentional. I seriously just never seemed to have a moment to bust out my camera/phone! The fun of meeting so many folks, making so many friends and just chatting the night away was all encompassing. And I wouldn't trade that experience for the world!

So what I've got here in this post is a meager offering of images of what was a fabulously good time. I'm actually sharing these pics in reverse order of my adventurin' as we just wrapped up a brief trip to Southern California this past Sunday.

We shopped, hiked and, of course, Disneyland'ed our days away. I could totes live in SoCal if it weren't for the traffic. And the fact that I'd need a mountain of mulah to afford all the amazing restaurants and shops I'd be gettin' myself into. I always feel so happy after a visit to California. I mean, this amazing canyon hike starts in a Ralph's grocery store parking lot. THAT'S HOW MUCH AWESOME THEY HAVE. "Oh, yeah, man. See some canyons get some canned goods. It's how we roll." 

But let's rewind to the previous week when I found myself in the sunny (altho, true to it's name, windy) city of Chicago. The NAEA convention was all that and a bag o' nuts (and by "nuts" I mean Nuts on Clark, y'all. Holy cow! I love the carmel and cheddar mix!). This here photo was taken outside the Lego store during my one afternoon of shopping adventureness. I managed to do some serious damage in the MOMA section of Uniqlo. Y'all should check that out if you've not already. 

So the NAEA conference was held in this enormous and confusing maze of a mammoth called McCormick Place. Y'all. This joint could hold, like, 25 Chuck E. Cheese'es (I have no idea why that is my chosen reference of measurement but 'tis. Mostly cuz I've no idea what the size of a football field is but El Chucko, I do). Need some perspective? Not only could it hold about 5000 plus art teacherin' types but also a C2E2 convention (which is kinda like ComicCon but not. It was explained to me why it's not the same as ComicCon but I fell asleep after the first coupla minutes. I was all, wake me up after the story of Princess Peach, would ya?)

POKEMON! Just now noticed the handy place to hang a badge. #thickneck. #genius.

One of the highlights of my Chicagoland adventures was getting to see my fam. You see, I grew up right outside of Chicago in Joliet. My aunt Judy (who is actually my age...you decipher that fam tree) lives in Chicago and my mom lives in Indiana. We had a great time going out to dinner, staying at mom's seedy dive of a hotel and catching up. My mama even went with me to see the van Gogh exhibit! Along with my three thousand closest friends...

Holy moly, y'all. Who knew folks be so excited to see a bedroom. I wonder if anyone would even pay a dollar to see mine. I can promise you it's not nearly as neat as van Gogh's. 

At the convention, I presented three times which was a thrill. I was ALMOST as excited as my buddy Tracy there in the front row (heeeeey, Tracy!). I presented alongside blogging buddies Phyl and Laura all about, you guessed it, blogging! If you missed out, go here for the deets, y'all. 

I also had the honor and pleasure of presenting with Janine Campbell. We chatted about student legacy projects. Janine actually inspired me way back at the convention in San Diego when she showed one of her legacy projects. Since then, I've been a big fan of big collaborative pieces. She was such a great speaker that I felt like her crazy sidekick. I mean, just look! Does it look as though I am performing an exorcism or what?!

One of the highlights of the convention was getting to lead a hands-on needle felting workshop! Each participant had the opportunity to needle felt an apron (I chose green because the event was held on St. Patty's Day!). Many got a solid start and had a ton of fun. It was like hanging out with 20 of my newest best friends!

After a super brief needle felting intro, each dived right in. All participants had such creative and unique ideas. I loved each one!

 My favorite part was just getting to know each participant. 

 I mean look at that table of colorful awesomeness!

Most folks worked on their aprons but I love that others decided to work on sweaters and even one person even worked on a coat (it looks fab, Lisa. Can't wait to see it finished!).

 I mean. Really? Really. Awesomeness. 

It was such a wonderful experience. I'm so glad to have had the chance to meet so many amazing folk and share what I love the most in the world: ART! (and art teacherin'). 

In the Art Room: An Art Teacherin' Mix Tape

I did my time in high school at the height of Mix Tape Era. I musta made and received dozens of the best doggone tapes my lil Walkman ever played. Tell me I'm not the only one who would put their heart and soul into each mix tape made. Kids these days (OMG, did I really just say that?!) will never know what it was like to receive a plastic case of musical treasures which said everything an angsty teen just didn't know how. 

I'm no longer an angsty teen but an occasional angsty art teacherin' type. Sometimes I feel that, in the course of one day in Art Educationville, I experience all the same emotions I had as a teen: surprise ("Did you really just eat the papier mache paste?!"); happiness ("Y'all, we're actually gonna be on time for P.E. today!"); anger ("Okay. WHO GAVE THE PAINT BRUSHES HAIRCUTS?!"); and despair ("Between snow days, field trips, assemblies and absences, y'all are gonna have exactly two works of art in this year's art show. TWO.")

Despite all of that, we know, deep down in our paint splattery hearts that we have the best jobs in the world. So, for all y'all art teacherin' types, I give you my heart and soul in 12 tunes or less: An Art Teacherin' Mix Tape. 

Now, this here mix is in chronological order, from the start of our wild and wacky day to the sticky-icky, how-did-that-painted-handprint-end-up-on-my-butt end. If you're like me, your day usually begins under-caffeinated and over-slept which means it feels as high energy as this...

1. Breakfast at Pee-wee's

Do y'all love Pee-wee as much as me? He's actually my art teacherin' inspo! Sometimes, when certain stuff is about to hit the proverbial fan, I stop and think "What Would PeeWee Do?" and attempt to just go with the flow. Especially with kindergarten. Okay, always, with kindergarten. 

2. Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf

Nothing sets my drive to school on fire like a lil "get your motor runnin', head out on the highway, lookin' for adventure or whatever comes my way!" I also like to play a lil medley of metal (G&R's Welcome to the Jungle) and rap (Beastie Boy's Fight for your Right) to get me in the art teacherin' mood. I ain't proud. 

3. 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton

Y'all know once you get to school, it's nonstop: preparing paint trays, cutting paper, sharpening pencils, writing your I Can statements, washing paint brushes, unclogging glue bottles, you get the idea. I swear some days, I'm worn out before my first class even arrives. And when they do, y'all know they better...

4. Think by Aretha Franklin

"You better think about what you're saying. You better think about the consequences of your actions." Oh, yeah. Aretha is who I try to channel when I need to spark a lil comin-to-Jesusness in the art room.

5. Respect by Aretha

Getting respect is pretty hard to do when you are wearing a rainbow wig or a hat shaped like a paint palette. But a girl can always try to get a lil R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

6. Celebration by Kool & the Gang

On those days when there isn't a full moon or a highly-contagious, vomit-inducing flu epidemic going around, then you know that calls for celebration! 

7. We Are Family by Sister Sledge

I try really hard to instill this idea in the kids. We're all in this art making, imaginatin' business together, y'all! We are family. 

8. Sabotage by the Beastie Boys
HOW. How do they always know when Ima bout to be evaluated? WHY. Why do they always decide it is then to go all Men-in-Black/flashlight-in-their-face and erase their memories clean of everything taught? I'm tellin' y'all, it's no accident. It's sabotage. 

9. Girls Art Teachers Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper
Evaluations, evalu-shmations. Grades, shmades. Gag me with a spoon, y'all. Art teachers just wanna have fun! 

10. Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog

Can you tell I'm an 80's child yet? I love that I got to grow up on a steady diet of The Muppets, The Electric Company, Sesame Street and School House Rock. Kermie wants to know why are there so many songs about rainbows but the art teacher in me wants to know, why aren't there more?! The lover, the dreamer and me will never know. 

11. Shout by Otis Day and the Knights
Now waiiiiiiiiiit a minute! You know you make me wanna SHOUT! Sometimes happily. Sometimes unhappily. Regardless, art teacherin' never fails to bring out the emotions and the hootin' and hollerin'. In other news, this is my second song featuring John Belushi and that would be because I lurves me some Belushi. So deal wit it.

12. Harper Valley P.T.A. by Jeannie C. Riley
Don't get me wrong, I have a fabulous P.T.A. that has yet to send me a letter in the mail about my ensembles. However, this here song is a great anthem for any of those times you find yourself standing up for what you know to be best. Git it, y'all.

13. This is How We Do by Katy Perry
In our house, we love some Katy Perry (read: the hubs really loves him some K.P.). This song just had to make it's way into the mix because the video, y'all. THE VIDEO. I love Katy Perry for the imagination and creativity she brings to everything she does as she has a heavy hand in her costumes, videos and overall look. Love her, love this video. 

14. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive by Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers
We all have those days. When you say the wrong thing. Do what you feel is a lousy job. Struggle to keep your head up. It happens to us all. And, if you are like me, you sometimes allow those negative thingies to play on a permanent loop in your mind. Don't do it, y'all! To end this here mixtape, I leave you with this: 

You've got to accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene 

(lyrics by Harold Arlen)

That's all, friends! Hope you enjoy this here mix. Love to hear in the comments your fave art teacherin' tunes (or just your fave tunes in general!). Til next time, I'll allow these kitty cats to take it away. 

In the Art Room: Creating Videos!

Hey there, best buddies! Like most of y'all, I enjoy trying new things: zumba class (um, turns out you have to be able to gyrate your hips in ways that my genetic makeup won't allow); Japanese delicacies (so, like, fish ovary is as tasty as is sounds [drive heaves, again]) and not starting my day with coffee and dark chocolate (that experiment only lasted 10 minutes as it turns out coffee and dark chocolate are the only reasons I get outta bed in the morning). 

Despite my many adventures in new-thingie-fails, one thing that I have been doing lately and lovin' is recording video content for my art room (and for y'all!). I believe some folks call this a "flipped classroom" but edu-buzz words aren't my thing. Now, if you subscribe to my youtube channel (do you know how funny that is to say?), then you know I have created videos for my sub and for various projects as printmaking and embroidery. A whole bunch of y'all have asked me how I'm making these videos and I've totes hesitated telling you because I am...

Like, seriously. Just ask my P.E. teachin' buddies who bust me all the time for never checking my email (but, you guyzzz, they changed the format and it's super confusingggg). Anyway, you've been asking so I thought it was high time I delivered. 

Here's a lil list of what I use. Please note...this is for recording with a camera not an iPad. I can't afford one of those, y'all:

* Cheapo camera. Most cameras have a video record function. I used to use that Canon Powershot before the hubs upgraded me to some other Canon thingie. 

* Tripod or a stack of books. Don't let not having certain tools keep you from getting started. Just do it! 

*Access to iMovie. 

I recently set up a place to record at home. They were pitching these maps at my school (I KNOW) so I took it off their hands and hung it as a backdrop. It's not perf but it's better than a video of the big booty T.V. it's hiding. 

And here's my school set up. Not the best lighting but it works for what I need to share. The camera you see at the bottom of this photo is on a tripod. 

If you can't position yourself in front of some windows for good lighting, then you might wanna pick up some of those cheapo clamp lights at your local hardware joint. This, of course, would be getting a pinch fancy (if you'd call the above fancy!) as you don't need this to make your video. Like I said, don't let not having "the right stuff" stop you from giving this a go!

When I do my hands-on demos, this is how I sit. It's a great way to see what you are doing on screen the entire time. It's also great because your mouth is so close to the camera that the sound quality is good. My cameras don't have a mic plug in...but it's not necessary when you sit this close. 

If you watch the video, I think you'll find out just how easy making a video can be! I'll go over the steps quickly here but I think I do a decent job explaining in the clip. If I did miss anything, please feel free to drop me a line in the comments. Again, I am a newbie at this...so take everything I say with a salt lick, skip the grain of salt.

1. Upload your videos from your camera to your laptop. Save to your desktop.
2. Open iMovie. Import your videos.
3. Open "create" in iMovie to start making your movie. Choose a theme for your movie. I always go with "no theme".
4. Double click on your film strip (that's the individual video clips you have imported) to highlight them. Now clip, grab and drop the video into the movie strip at the bottom of the screen.
5. Continue to do this until you have all of your content.
6. To add transitions, look to the bottom left of your screen. Double click to highlight then click and drag to drop in between your clips.
7. Add titles in the same way!
8. To save, decide on where you would want it to go. I always save to my desktop and YouTube.
9. Give this part sometime, it might take up to 5 minutes before it to show up on your desktop depending on the length of the video.

(Special thanks to my former student Griffin Phillips for showing me how to make iMovie!)

And there you have it! I hope you find this helpful. Again, lemme know if you have any questions, y'all! Unless it's about checking your email. I can't help you with that one ;)