Where I am instead...

Hello, kind and sweet and wonderful and lovely readers of this ridiculously neglected blogsite. Perhaps I should offer an apology (and further beg of your forgiveness) for not being here but I don't believe that to be acceptable since... I'm actually not sorry for being so very not here. And I say all of this not from lack of appreciation but much more of absolutely pure honesty. 

Since last year about this time (maybe even a little earlier), I've had a great deal of challenge in my personal life. Much of this has to do with information I'm not at liberty to discuss openly (because it's information that technically belongs to other people) but some of it belongs to me as well as I have had my own share of some amazingly challenging health issues. This has included (but is not limited to) me having to see quite a number of medical professionals and even have to go through a biopsy in order to determine that I do not have cancer. (I repeat: I do NOT have cancer. PRAISE. THE. LORD.) I have been found to have other things though but... they aren't things that are new and are simply things that I've somehow always had but that still require some very focused, immediate, and steadfast medical attention. *sigh* It's not been fun or easy but I'm happy to report that I'm feeling so much better than I have in a very long while despite the toll it's clearly taken on me (and, in turn, this blog). 

All of this said, I've not stopped teaching art and/or creating it myself. I've simply being doing it in a capacity that is not so openly shared here or other social media conduits I have previously kept up. While not sharing is not so much "fun," it's been enormously instrumental for me and the continued movement that I make toward greater wellness and more solid ground. Not having the requirement or feeling or urgency to share has helped me find much more very real joy in my life and helped me to invest in being less of a producer of moments and a better of enjoyer of them. I'm more truly invested in life and it's paid off in dividends beyond what I could ever count. Basically? I'm less wired into a virtual world and more connected to the real one that always immediately surrounds me which has created richer relationships and greater value across the board and what I do have in my life? None of it is superficial or in excess in a way that I either want to or need to purge to make things more "manageable" let alone more enjoyable. 

The way it's all happened was certainly never planned (by me at least) but I'm happy that it has happened just the same. One any given day I can (and I do) look at my life and feel a beautiful and and wonderful peace which is always followed but a strong but quiet thankfulness. This is because I GET TO HAVE this life that I have. I've not been relegated to it and it's far and away from something that "is what it is." This is something that is beyond what could have been brought by mere luck or coincidental happenstance. Something this good can't and doesn't just happen - per my opinion or experience. And all of this brings me to the latest "development" of the place that I've been so blessed to find myself reveling in...

This was done with prismacolor colored pencil (a 72-count set) and blended with gamsol and then defined and dimensioned with Micron pens. I did not prep the pages (though you can do that) but I did do a light sketch to layout what you see. Also, no - the image or mediums did not "shadow" or bleed through the pages so they are perfectly readable still!

This is my Bible. And other than my family (which includes my husband, child, and our small menagerie of creatures), my Bible is the most treasured thing I own. I actually have a lot of Bibles but this one is very special to me because I bring it with me as much as I can in order to look at it whenever I might want to. Is it odd that it happens to have a huge illustration across the pages? Well... that's called Bible Journaling and it's something I have discovered over the past year where you study it in a way that allows you to visually illuminate the understanding (or even questions) you have right there in the place where it so originated.

Bible journaling is something that I'm only just starting. Prior to this I would highlight and annotate and do very quick drawings in the margins in pen for the sole purposes of explication. Bible journaling is something that I've been watching from the "sidelines" as it's been taking the world of social media by storm. (So... though I haven't been a participator and active contributor? I've still been reading blogs and such to not be totally out of "the loop" with things). In recent weeks though, I've decided to jump into Bible journaling myself and I gotta tell you - it's AMAZING and I love it SO Much because it's reinvigorated my understanding of scripture as well as ignited my enthusiasm to partake of The Word in ways that I don't think I have ever experienced in my whole life. This is something that I feel like I have been waiting for and I'm so glad that it's happened that it's now in my life.

So... this is what I'm doing these days and I'm still not sure that I will be sharing it on here the way I have today or that I will be returning to this blogsite any time soon but I just wanted to say "Hi" at least and say that I haven't totally forgotten about this place (where I once spent so much more time). Thanks so much for the patience, understanding, and support for me to have done what I have been able to do and keep doing as I am doing.

Save the Dry Erase Markers!

At my school, we don't have blackboards and instead we have white/dry-erase boards. When I first came to this school over five years ago I was really excited about this fact because in public school I had blackboards that I had a real love-hate feeling toward for all of the reasons you might imagine if you have any experience dealing with blackboards. Still, having white/dry-erase boards wasn't nearly as awesome as I thought it would be. They soon became just as annoying to me as the blackboards were but just in different ways.

(Now, I understand this is totally a "first world problem" that I am referencing but just please bear with me.)

One of my biggest issues with having a whiteboard in class is the marker issue. Markers go missing all the time but if they aren't missing, we have issues with them because the ink seems to run out very quickly. For this reason, I barely use my whiteboard and I'm almost always fussing about not being able to actually use it.

All of this in mind, a week or so ago, I started noticing that even though I wasn't using my board, the markers would always be arranged and positioned the way they are pictured above. While it seemed a little strange that they were like that (and seemed to always be put back to be like that), I didn't think much of it and I wouldn't disturb them either. Then the other day, I found the individual who was putting them like that! It was a STUDENT ARTIST!!! And almost every day, if the markers weren't like that, he would arrange and position them like that. While in the midst of him doing it, I commented and laughed and said, "Oh YOU'RE the one who is doing that! I was wondering what was going on!" The student artist, who is actually also one of our star football players and who is a really big and burly guy and sits very close to my teaching station in the front of the room, smiled sheepishly and said, "Yeah... it's me." And then I asked him why he was doing it and he said, "Well... Mr. *so-and-so* does it all the time and it makes a big difference and makes it so the markers always have ink. It really does make a difference so I was trying to help you to have markers that wouldn't be so hard to use."

I gotta tell you - when he said this and said why he was doing it? It just about made my whole month and I feel like it's one of the nicest things any student has ever done for me - however small it might seem because it makes such a big difference. And OF COURSE it works, y'know? Because it helps to keep the ink flowing toward the writing tip vs. having it settle in the middle of the marker. Why didn't I think of that?

Anyway, surely you all have been doing this and I am the only one not doing this but I just wanted to share this little "feel good" anecdote because this kind of stuff is always nice to hear about in my book.

Lesson Idea: All Creatures Great and Small | 2D Design

This work was done almost three semesters ago by the 2D art and design students and I never got around to sharing it with you all! While it didn't pan out entirely as I had planned it would, I feel like the final works are still interesting and provided a great in depth study of lots of the principles of design and elements of art. I called this project endeavor "All Creatures Great and Small" since the subject matter was animals.

The inspiration of this project endeavor came from Heather Galler's Art on etsy. Clearly the students saw what Ms. Galler did and took a whole lot of creative liberties but I didn't have the heart to tell them not to be quite so ambitious and adventurous.

The students worked on poster board support and then used solvent based pens and markers to draw and color each of their works. I stressed the importance of using the positioning and arrangements of the patterns in order to show correct form as much as possible.

Giving YOU the good stuff :: Prang Marker Giveaway

Thanks so much for sticking with me through this week of belated Dixon Ticonderoga's Prang product reviews. As promised in all of my reviews, I have a giveaway for you of my most favorite Prang product that I was so blessed to have try this week. And it is? The markers!!!

via

Just to be completely clear, this is not a giveaway sponsored by Prang (meaning: they did not give this to me to giveaway) and rather it was inspired by my experience with all of the Prang products that I reviewed. Also, to clarify things, I did not review the fine line markers but I do own them at my home studio (shared with my 5 yo daughter) and I made the decision to buy them for our supply inventory because of my very positive experience with the Prang broad tipped markers.

Anyway, I am giving away the 96-set of Prang fine line markers just as you see them above to anyone who wants them whether you are an art teacher, working artist, homeschooling teacher, etc.

Here's how you enter to win them! Leave a comment on this posting telling me the following: 

What was your favorite product from Prang/Dixon Ticonderoga that I reviewed this week and why?

And that's it. That's all you have to do. You don't have to tweet anything or follow me on any social networking conduits. Just answer that question in the comments below and then I will pick a winner randomly next Friday. That means if you missed this whole week of of reviews and and need to go back and read them all then you have time to do that and then still enter the contest!

For your convenience, here are links to all of the reviews that I did this week:

• Prang watercolor paints vs. Rose Art watercolor paints

• Prang broad-tipped markers vs. Crayola broad-tipped markers

• Dixon Ticonderoga standard pencils vs. Wal-mart standard pencils

• Prang colored pencils vs. Crayola colored pencils

And that's that! It's been a long while since I have done a giveaway on here and I hope that this isn't the last one for a long while but it honestly all depends on you! If it seems that you all are receptive, perhaps I can manage to do some more and more often. Remember! You have until next Thursday at midnight to enter the contest and I will announce the winner next Friday, November 1, 2013 at 7am Eastern Standard Time. 

Apples and Oranges sure are hard to compare :: Prang Ticonderoga Product Review

Disclosure: Compensation was provided Dixon Ticonderoga company. 

Opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative 

of the opinions or positions of Dixon Ticonderoga.

So, I might have hinted to much of what conclusions were drawn with this review simply by the very cliched title I selected but... well... here's the review. 

It's another Prang vs. Crayola showdown and I am impressed (yet again) that Prang opted to send me a Crayola brand product instead of Rose Art or something. I feel like this says a lot about Prang's confidence in their product and I really appreciate that. Upon initial inspection of the packaging it's almost like looking at some throwback (of just a couple days but still) pictures of the marker review. Everything I noted before of the packaging is about the same but this time Prang didn't trump Crayola's palette by more colors... or wait... does it actually?

This showdown (of two pencils) was almost a DRAW :: Dixon Ticonderoga Product Review

Disclosure: Compensation was provided Dixon Ticonderoga company. 

Opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative 

of the opinions or positions of Dixon Ticonderoga.

To be quite honest, I almost didn't want to do this particular review. This is because I pretty much already have my own opinions formed of Ticonderoga pencils (which is that they are the best pencils EVER) and this isn't for lack of experience with them. I've had quite a number of experiences with standard wood and graphite pencils and I have yet to find any other pencil/brand that can come even close to touching the awesomeness of Ticonderoga pencils. And for all of these reasons I haven't wanted to really review the pencils. I mean, clearly I am biased toward them on top of the fact that I am a brand loyalist on top of the fact that Ticonderoga pencils are the best! (Period)

It's like a duel of the most unexpected two subjects ever. Who will be the winner and who will be the lose?

All of this said, I still did the review and I must say... I was quite surprised by my findings about how a Walmart brand (of all brands!) was able to stand quite strong up against the ever favorite and popular Ticonderoga brand. 

Too Good to Keep to Myself :: Prang Ticonderoga Product Review

Disclosure: Compensation was provided Dixon Ticonderoga company. 

Opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative 

of the opinions or positions of Dixon Ticonderoga.

Dixon Ticonderoga sent me the Prang Marker set alongside a competing set by Crayola.

One thing I noticed almost immediately was the fact that the Prang set included (2) more colors beyond what could be a standard 10-color set in addition to the fact that the Prang set had both French and Spanish translations on their packaging. Crayola's only notes that they are preferred by teachers which I cannot lie that I know quite a few art teachers (me included) who swear by Crayola brand anything.

New and sale products too good not to tell you about

I don't order supplies until summer (about July - it's just how it goes around here) but it's my understanding that a lot of you all submitting your supply orders now. I've noticed a spike in my blog stats/readership that specifically hits pages and sections of my blogsite looking at lesson ideas as well as the materials page - both links to page can always be found across the top header of my site.

That being said, I am getting bombarded with sale catalogs and emails from supply companies and thought I would alert you all to some of the neat things that I will either be ordering in small amounts (to try out for the classroom) OR ordering in order to replenish because it's such an amazing deal and I know that it will used well.

Note: I am not being compensated in any wayby any of these suppliers OR product makers and I am plugging all of this purely of my own volition. That being said? If you are  interested in me reviewing your product/service that is visual art related, I might be open to such an opportunity and please don't hesitate to contact me directly for me to consider it. Thank you!

SKETCHBOX TABLE EASEL - originally $150, NOW => $35

image snagged from Dick Blick's product listing

Right now Dick Blick has dropped the supply on this amazing tabletop sketchbox easel (see left) that we use in the advanced studio classes at my school year after year. We have 18 of them and they are so great for the students to use because they are solidly built of wood AND they have built in storage. They can also accommodate canvas sized of up to 32"!!!!

The are originally priced at around $150 but they are on sale right now for about $35 (and they have limited quantities on hand, of course). Can you believe that price?!!! That is SUCH A DEAL!!!!! And if you want a class set or even just want one for yourself? I can vouch for the fact that one would have been a real deal even at $50 per piece. Don't delay and pick up one of these before they sell out. Seriously. I can't imagine they will last and I don't understand why they are getting rid of them OR how they are lasting this long at that price anyway. Buy it from Blick HERE.

Playcolor brand Water-Soluble Solid Tempera Sticks - on sale!

Are you a fan of Tempera paints? I am very much so. I use the tempera cakes at home with my

daughter and I use jugs of tempera at school for projects that I know cannot risk sun bleached color work - sadly, something that frequently happens in the student art gallery. The only thing I don't like about it is how it can be so dry and flaky after it dries. I like it so much though that I just ignore that part.

Anyway, I have just stumbled upon some tempera paint that is in solid state form! It is by a brand called Playcolor and it is reminiscent of oil pastels a little in that you can blend it, layer it, and it stays highly saturated in color presentation. Something else though? Unlike painted tempera it apparently doesn't crack!!! I LOVE THAT. I mean, I don't know if it actually works like that but it appears that it does. Here is a promo video for it that (of course) presents it in the most positive way possible but I feel like it's at least worth a trial run for me at home with my almost kindergartener daughter...

I have never used this brand and/or product before but right now School Specialty has it on sale in their print catalog that I just received. For whatever reason it's not on the website but Dick Blick does have a listing for it but they aren't on sale like they are in the Sax Arts printed catalog. Sax's sale price is a little less than $2 off the listed price on Blick and regularly in the printed catalog. My plan is to get a 12 count of the standard palette and I will (of course) let you know how it goes once I get them and put them through some trials. 

Lesson Idea :: And so they prayed - Illustrations :: 2D Design

This lesson idea is not my own and was inspired by the book I so love called Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists. The book suggests a creative exercise that challenges you to draw something silly or funny that someone says. I have seen this sort of thing elsewhere on the web (but I can't seem to find it to connect it here) and I have always loved the idea of this but I have never done it. This year and this semester's 2D Design class seemed to be the perfect time to take the idea for a spin.

One of the biggest challenges for me were collecting silly quotations said by kids that could be colorful and interesting enough to yield super imaginative drawings. You would think such a thing as this would be easy but actually it wasn't. A lot of the collective I found online featured "kids say the darnedest things"-type items that included bad language or otherwise very suggestive things that is just inappropriate for my high schoolers to attempt to take a part and then reassemble. After struggling to find maybe a handful of appropriate things I considered using my almost five year old daughter for fodder and consulting this small book that I keep with silly/funny things she has said or done. Surprisingly, only a few of them fit the bill for what I was looking for. Many of them were darn near impossible to try and imagine much less visually interpret in mixed-media works. The ultimate winner for me was when I stumbled upon a collective of cute and silly prayers that kids have said and people have submitted to online collectives. It was totally appropriate for my purposes because 1) it was faith-based and I teach at a Christian school and 2) none of the prayers had anything inappropriate but all would definitely guarantee some colorful and imaginative depictions.

Below are some of what the 2D Design students came up with along with the prayer snippets that they randomly picked from a bag. The goal was for them to be as literal as possible with their visuals in order to properly illuminate their prayer snippets. They used watercolor and ultra fine sharpie ink pen on aquabords.

"Dear God, thank You for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy."

"Dear God, did you mean for giraffes to look like that or was it an accident?"

"Dear God, did the unicorns miss the ark? Too bad the skunks didn't miss."

"Dear God, I heard the moon was made of cheese. Tonight half of it is missing. Did you get hungry?"

"Dear God, I heard the moon was made of cheese. Tonight half of it is missing. Did you get hungry?"

"Dear God, I know you see everything. Please don't tell my mom about my bad test grade!"

I don't know that I will attempt this project idea again but if I do I might likely do it as one of the first project endeavors for the 2D Design or Graphic Design class. It seems to have great potential to serve as a bit of a pre-assessment sort of tool for the purposes of gauging skill/technique in beginning artists and it also is fun without sacrificing the opportunity for the students to really gain something important from it which is to force themselves to think in the most colorful and imaginative ways possible.

YouTube is the BEST :: Drawing with Anna

How often do you use this youtube? Never? Well... allow me to possibly change you mind about that!

Back up a little bit: Do you ever remember your days in school when you would walk into class and standing at the front of the class where the teacher would be was the coveted and adored A/V cart? (A/V=Audio Visual). You know what I'm talking about, right? The tall metal cart that had a television and VCR (and later DVD/VCR combo) secured to it that basically meant one thing - VIDEO DAY IN CLASS!!!!!!!!!

Well, using Youtube videos are just about the equivalent to having a video day in class for any kid. Seriously. They almost don't even care if the youtube clip is hokey or not. Most of them will watch just about anything you present to them AND enjoy it AND remember it. Which is the BIG kicker!)

For the purposes of visual art instruction, I am a hardcore believer in the power of demonstrations. I mean, what better way to explain something than to SHOW them how and what to do, right? But in all honesty, demos kind of drive me crazy sometimes. For whatever reason, they require an immense amount for me to set up for both my classes and myself to experience together. I mean, I suppose I could just set up the demo and do it and have the kids do nothing but sit and watch but I have found that to be unproductive to a point because they will get side tracked and just generally do their own thing and waste materials. Also, if they need/want me to repeat a certain step after I have gone beyond it? Well... most demos that I do are very prohibitive of that being able to happen.

Enter the Youtube's Drawing with Anna!!!!!

Perhaps you already know Anna very well and I am behind the times but if that's not the case, join me and get with it!!! Drawing with Anna is AWESOME!!!!! She has only a handful of instructional videos but they are very useful and I have recently used two - the Continuous Line Drawing video and the Blind Contour video:

I used both of these videos in the 2D Design class that I am currently teaching and while Anna can be a little hokey for high schoolers - she is honestly pretty sweet, an awful lot like someone's really nice mom, and she does a pretty decent job at teaching the general jist of both Continuous Line drawing and the Blind Contour drawing. It was also nice to be able to have a video that I could stop and start and back up as I needed to in order to specifically speak about different things that are relevant to what I am doing with my students and their project work currently.

So there you have it! I am a fan of Drawing with Anna. And now you can be too!

Lesson idea: Extra-dimensional | 3D Design OpArt study

It's been quite a while since I shared a lesson idea and/or a video with you all so you all are in for some real treats today!! ;)

This lesson idea is a spin on something I have been doing with the 2D Design classes (OpArt studies) that pairs with things I have seen on Pinterest as well as it being something that has made the rounds on the art education blog circuit. It takes the geometric 3D form (the cube) and  expands on the idea of dimension by applying Op-art patterns and designs on the different faces of the cube so that the finished piece looks incredibly dimensional. You can see some of the works-in-progress of this project HERE and also HERE.

This project was incredibly labor intensive for all of the student artists because OpArt needs to be so carefully thought through and then even more carefully created and colored. Whenever I do OpArt projects it always takes me a lot time to evaluate the work because looking at it makes my head spin and I have to take a whole lot of breaks. I told the students this and they thought I was being dramatic but when they started working on their pieces? Well... they totally understood. Ultimately, the project ended up taking almost a solid month for us to complete (including a bunch of random days when our class time got shorted for one reason or another). Just the same, I was fine with it. I'm doing my best to just go with the flow these days.

While I could show you only still photos of the finished pieces of student work, I don't feel like still photos will do the presentation of this lesson idea the justice it deserves. As a collective and the way it is being displayed is quite something to see in real life and the closest way I can come up with to show it to you would be to do a video. And so? Here it is! The school's senior visual art prefect joined me for this one and in the video I will be sharing with you some of the inspiration behind the overall collective of work. It's quite thought provoking in the way it all came together and it might be my most favorite exhibit we have done so far. Go figure - it's pretty much another exhibit of installation art!! (It just happened like that.)



Just in case it was hard to see the student work, here are two stills I also took in the midst of taking the video...

And because outtakes are always fun and it IS Monday, here is a quick outtake that otherwise would have ended up on the "cutting room" floor because I am so bad at using my video camera on my phone. *shrug* ENJOY!!! (at my expense)

TICONDEROGA PENCILS. Forever and ever!!! (And ever and ever.)

What kind of pencils do you use in your classroom? Do you have a favorite brand? I do. I am ALL ABOUT the brand loyalty and the pencil brand I am most loyal to is Ticonderoga...

This shot reminds me of the movie "You've got mail" with Meg Ryan when she mentions how the beginning of a school year makes her want to have a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils.

Now, I try not to be an elitist and equal opportunity when it comes to the supplies that are used in my artwork and with my classes but in all honesty? When it comes to pencils, I have learned my lesson that there definitely are some very inferior types and brands of pencils especially when compared to the amazing standard (of superiority) set by Ticonderoga brand pencils.

The thing about Ticonderoga pencils is... well... what ISN'T there to love about them? Seriously! The wood casing is so well structured and of high-quality material that it doesn't splinter or split very easily (if at all). The lead itself applies itself beautifully. Even the erasers are awesome!!! Also, they sharpen really REALLY well and the pencils themselves don't ruin pencil sharpeners the way so many other pencils do. Just this year I got myself a heavy-duty and quite fancy sharpener and though I have (fiercely) protected it by locking it up so it's not used and the engine is burnt out by the whole school (Seriously. I used to have students interrupt the goings-on of my class to sharpen their pencils!!!) - the sharpener is STILL holding up like a champ. I am convinced it is not only because I keep it locked up but also because I am not allowing for low-quality pencils to be burning it out and dulling the blades. Anyway, the pencil sharpener I got is pictured below and it is called the Stanley Bostitch QuietSharp6 Electric Pencil Sharpener. I ordered mine from Dick Blick HERE at the beginning of the year with my annual supplies order.

Pencil sharpener with the pencil organization system everyone on Pinterest also uses.

I feel like this is the first year (in four total) that I have pencils AND a pencil sharpener that are going to hold up against the general wear and tear (and beatings) of the year and if you are in the market for a new brand of pencils and/or sharpeners? Consider both Ticonderoga brand and the Stanley BostitchQuiet6 Sharpener. Both brands will set you back a little bit in terms of time but consider the fact that the money you spend is an investment that will pay itself back in dividends since (at the end of the year) you will easily still have a working pencil sharpener as well as a stock of pencils that don't get eaten up and easily split from regular use.

Life as an art student | Day 17 of 20

Weird start to the day and week (the last one for this class - boo!) as this area was hit in a seriously bad way by all of those storms that hit the huge chunk of the mid Atlantic coast. I was blessed enough to lose power no longer than 24 hours but had a place (my parents' house) to stay in that had electricity, wifi and central air. Others in my area have not been so fortunate and are sitting at day three without any of the aforementioned. It has been projected that many of them might not even have power until this coming weekend! No bueno especially with regard to the record breaking temperature highs this time of year.

Anyway, all of this had me completely unsure if I would even have painting class. This last week was going to be focused on more landscape work created en plein air like last week because (with the 4th being no class) we only really have two days to paint since the last day (on Thursday) we are going to do a bit of a presentation of each of our collectives of work. Well, when I went to the picnic grove on campus where we have been working, I found the place looking pretty much like a war zone. Trees done, metal picnic tables damaged beyond repair, and nobody in my class (including my professor) there. I started emailing my professor and he eventually showed up to look at the damage and then made the executive decision to just go to the studio classroom. Thus, it was decided that we would do self-portraits after all. So, that's what we did today.

We started it all with a big discussion about what the expectation was for our output and then talked about how we get to that point. Today's working goal was to do a straight line drawing in charcoal of ourselves on paper with a focus on only the planes of the face.

Tomorrow we are supposed to be able to get right into painting. I am really jazzed to paint vs. do charcoal work and I am finally going to get to use the canvas I stretched on the second day of class.

Lesson idea: StampART for Black History month

Said it before and I'll say it again: I LOVE doing things to recognize the holidays that come and go!

My every intention was post this at the tail end of last month but it just didn't happen because of all of the set design and painting for The Sound of Music. *shrug* What can I say? I should make the tagline for this blog "better late than never."

Anyway.

This project was one I did to recognize Black History month. I stumbled upon the idea by way of This is Collossal when they highlighted the work of New York based artist Molly Rausch. I loved the way it drew in the nostalgia and real history of postage stamps as arts while also touching upon the idea of how important it is to "see the forest from the trees" since a postage stamp - while small and well designed - is such a small snippet of an illustration of a persons while big wonderful life.

Each of the students was allowed to pick whomever they wanted within Black History and I also allowed them to utilize the tracing table because, for some of them, this is their first studio art class in all of high school or in many many years.

This is a very VERY small sampling of pieces that were completed and I wanted to photograph a lot more but a combination of laziness and running out of time has yielded only this much. You get the idea of what we did at least with this much.

Fun tidbit of this project: The edging of the stamps (that were about 4"x5" in size) was done with this handy-dandy paper edging machine that my artsy-craftsy grandma gave me last year in a bin of other random art materials. The machine is specifically for card making and scrapbooking but I'm not into either one of those things so the only times I get to use the machine is during seemingly random times like this project.