Are you an ARTIST teacher?

This series of images documents the ongoing progress/process of a very large in-class demo of oil painting.

Just this past summer, I had the great honor and pleasure to meet one of my blog readers (Hi, K!) in part because they were doing their graduate studies capstone research project on the matter of not just teaching art but being an artist who just as well teaches. The whole idea was so curious and intriguing to me because I never stopped to think about what kind of teacher I am and even seek to be other than just trying to be the best professional art educator myself. 

Still, it got me thinking - have I been an artist teacher? What does it take to be an artist teacher if you aren't one? And, if you aren't an artist teacher, should you seek to be? And if you are an artist teacher, when do you stop being an artist and start being a teacher of art - or are those identities/roles so beautifully braided together that they don't beg to even try to be separated?

When I met with my blog reader, the intent was to be interviewed by them about the whole notion of being an artist teacher but it ended up turning into a very interesting and thought provoking conversation about that plus many other things. At one point they asked me something along the lines of if I wasn't an artist teacher or even an artist, what would I call myself. I sat and thought for a moment and then I declared that I am "curious" and that's what I believe that I am. Even now, months after that interview/conversation, I feel like "curious" is the best way for me to both explain, define, and identify myself. 

Last year, I believe I struck upon something incredibly important that has truly changed the trajectory of what I was trying to do when I first became an art educator five years ago. I realized the importance of process within the creation of art and I also started making a great distinction between the notion of CREATING art vs. making art. I did this not only in my own life but I also stressed this within all that I was teaching my student artists. 

I believe it's because of this that I finally started seeing more original, interesting, thought provoking, intentional and REMARKABLE artwork from my student artist more than I ever had before. It was incredible and the difference between what I did last year with my student artists and years before? You can totally see how much more on a different "level" it was and then continued to be with each next step they took with their learning and project endeavors. The difference between the two was that I made my teaching objective and curriculum a lot more about them (so, student-centered and inquiry-based) and a lot less about me (lecturing, deliberately steering each of them through very narrow paths of techniques for making things rather than creating them).

This year I tried something even more adventurous than what I did last year with an even greater emphasis on the importance of developing and having a creative process in order to be a more intentional artist and designer. While I have readily used in-class demos before, it's been in a way that kind of disconnects me from the process for the most part - meaning, I don't really show them much other than just demonstrating specific techniques. In my own experience as an artist though, I have learned that process isn't just figuring out and refining technique. It's about the perseverance, the critical thinking, deep emotional investment and personal connection with whatever work of art is currently in the works. All of that is even more integral to the creative process than refined technique but if I don't show the students that I go through this? I fail to show them some of the most important parts of the creative process and any finished work of art I might show them that I created seems to just appear vs. it being something that they truly see and understand was a labor of love (if you will). 

Finally got the stem and leaf (on the right) done the other day! Now to keep myself from going back and messing it up.

I have been working on a giant oil painting of a Hoa Quynh flower for weeks and going on months at this point. To say that it's been slow going would be an understatement and this is as much because I can't spend a ton of class time on it because I am constantly circulating and interacting directly with the student artists and their artwork as much as I have been just avoiding painting as I am wont to do even in my home studio. I am committed to pushing the painting through to the end though and even though the students have now finished their oil paintings, I refuse to give up on finishing mine because there is still so much process to share with them for them to learn of that I know will help them in their own journey to find and use their unique artist voices.

The Interactive Notebook :: Creation beyond the Art classroom

Did you know that before I become the private high school art teacher and blogger that I am I was a 6th grade core subjects in the public schools? Indeed I was! I spent two years at a public middle school teaching Reading/Language Arts and then Social Studies and then - praise be to GOD(!!!!!!) - I was given the opportunity to be where I am doing what I am now. And while I love what I am doing now and wouldn't ever want to go back, I still remember all of the ways and days spent getting bit by the bug that helped me to find my heart for teaching and then follow it to where I am now.

Last week I really got to reminisce and revisit that time when I started teaching by facilitating a professional development workshop at an inservice event done by my school every year. I don't know when this inservice event started but in the four years I have been here it has been formally named "Brainfest" and we have invited other local area private schools to join in the day that includes at least two teacher-led workshop sessions for professional development purposes and then a wonderful catered lunch. Just about anybody who is in attendance can jump on the side of being a facilitator and you're allowed to instruct/speak on just about anything you want to. Last year I paired up with a colleague and did a workshop focusing on the Millenial generation in the classroom. This year I single-handedly tackled the AVID Curriculum's brilliant idea of the Interactive Notebook that I used to use and LOVE daily in my early teaching career days of the core subjects. Ever heard of it? Well! Let me just tell you about one of the most awesome ways to teach AND learn on any content area and grade level EVER.

In a nutshell, the Interactive Notebook is multi-dimensional vessel for a student to collect knowledge every day and then be able to take and CREATE something with what they have learned. Every page of a student's notebook becomes completely unique and is created to have a specific purpose for something else to springboard off. Also, many of the pages require action in order to access the material/information on them. Students have to lift, fold, tuck, adhere, or color just about every page of the book so that their notebook becomes (for lack of any other way to put it) a POP-up version of what was once a boring school notebook easily lost, forgotten, or despised because of what it contained. Each project or double-page spread is a mini-project unto itself that only serves as encouragement to keep doing more and more and MORE pages and spreads. You want to talk about good return on investment? The Interactive Notebook is absolutely worth it's weight in Ticonderoga pencil leads!

[via] This person can't get enough of the Interactive Notebook either and I don't blame them.

I LOVE the Interactive Notebook and before I was able to be in a classroom that allowed me to create without bounds, the Interactive Notebook mostly satiate the unquenchable thirst I have to be creative AND create. And because I can't help but remember where I came from, I fully acknowledge that were it not for the Interactive Notebook, I probably would have quit teaching forever and maybe even never made it to where I am now.

As a visual art educator I feel like I am always having to "fight" for and assert my position that I am a "REAL" teacher. So sad that I even have to acknowledge such a thing but it's the truth. *Shrug* Doing this session for my colleagues last week at the Brainfest was a great way for me to really prove and SHOW that cutting, pasting, coloring, and CREATING has a place not only in the art classroom but also in EVERY classroom and content area. It also showed - without a shadow of a doubt - that I am not simply "hanging out" with my students everyday "making stuff." It was a blessing to be given the opportunity to share what I love with everyone I work with and help them to see that what I love aligns and scaffolds beautifully the things they do in their classrooms.

I don't have the full presentation to show you about how/what I did at my session because it was a very hands-on step-by-step process that I did alongside them where I helped each of the attendees make their own "take-away" notebook page-by-page by way of showing them demonstrations with a document camera. Every attendee was from a different subject area - core subjects and electives alike(!) on ALL grade levels - and not one of them had ever tried something like this before in any of their classrooms. By the end of the session each of them was very SOLD on incorporating it into their classroom goings-on and they were very excited to do so even despite their hesitation just because this was something different than what they have ever done.

I am a visual art teacher but I also know I am so much more than that and that goes the same for YOU. We as art teachers know we are something special (seriously - it's OK if we toot our own horns to others and not just sit in our art rooms being misunderstood!) but nobody will know that if we don't show them. I mean, we teach our student artists everyday the importance of SHOWING over telling. So, I implore you all to do something similar as what I did - you don't even need a special event to do it - and teach one of your colleagues how powerful folding, cutting, pasting, and coloring can be. And if you need any help? Here are some awesome links for you to help be a better teacher of teachers yourself...

• An entire book in PDF version of Foldables from the awesome Dinah Zyke who is the pioneer of foldables
• Foldables just for Mathematics in PDF form
• Another PDF link for Foldables for Social Studies
• Foldables for Language Arts on a teacher's wikispaces site
• A whole site just for Science Foldables 

I shared the above links with the attendees of my workshop and I hope they are useful to you or a colleague you might know. Here's to spreading the LOVE for CREATING a type of learning that will only greatly expand upon itself. 

Special delivery from Jerusalem - Pt. 1 of 2

While the title of this posting could definitely suggest something different since we are officially in December since the next major occasion cause for celebration is the birth of Jesus Christ? That's actually not what I meant. Just the same, it's hard to ignore how timely what I actually am talking about is regarding the aforementioned.

That picture up there is of a package of some items that I ordered around the time I announced my (now old news) retirement from being a working visual artist of the photographic sort. I had just finished "The Covenant" painting and I was feeling both uplifted and overwhelmed by the prospects that the Lord had something different for me to do that would still allow me to answer His calling to be an artist for Him. On top of all of that, I was getting to oil paint again - the one medium of art that I love more than anything else - and I was just in all kinds of bliss because of it.

While I was reveling in the things that the Lord was doing, I was careful to try no to forget to give every ounce of it back to Him. I knew that the only reason why I was suddenly able to create the way I was - the new style and technique of painting, the materials to be able to paint, the time to be able to paint, and the newly established peace, love and support in my life to inspire and encourage me - it all came from the Lord above. And because I am a firm believer that whatever He gives is a gift to us and what we do with what He gives us is our gift back to Him, I prayed and waited for direction about how and what He wanted me to do with it all.

Do you know what it's like to have your prayers answered in such a way that there isn't a shadow of a doubt that God has really heard your requests and cries for help? How about when you can really feel His presence in a moment where you are needing Him? How about when you can really feel His presence AND see Him so much that it feels like the time has stopped and the world has stopped moving and you feel like it is so carefully designed and then orchestrated that it couldn't possibly be happening? Do you know any of these moments? I (and some others who are believers) know them to be "God-moments" and while (in the past) they have been rare - I mean, moments so special as that can't just happen constantly because I am convinced that our hearts and souls couldn't take it - they happening to me and it has only affirmed and confirmed the fact that the Lord is here delivering on His promises and then making even more to deliver upon. The special delivery from Jerusalem? It was all of this put together.

To be continued...

Discipleship for the Christian visual artist

My first student for this discipleship experience that I am offering! He is doing a mastercopy of a Peter Max work while our amazing custodial staff looks on. (They are teaching ME Spanish! I am kind of bad it though.)

This year I am trying something new: Private art instruction paired with a discipleship relationship for the young, promising (and hungry) Christian visual artist.

Private instruction you probably know about but are you familiar with discipleship at all? In the Christian faith, it is a very special and highly regarded path that a follower of Christ takes in their journey of walking in faith. (Here is a little bit of detail about it.)

I don't know how many people have ever ventured into the world of visual arts discipleships before but I wouldn't be surprised if I am one of the few, if not the only one. *shrug* I don't say this to toot my own horn or anything but perhaps rather to say the following...

1. Where was such a thing as this when I was looking for it?!!
2. Why are there not more distinctively Christian visual artists who do this sort of thing? Because (as mentioned in #1) I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS FOR SO LONG!!!
3. Is the reason why this exists only because I am starting it? Does this mean that I am crazy for doing this? (Don't answer that.)
4. Who in the world do I think I am trying to do something like this? I mean... I have never been in a discipleship myself, how in the world can I possibly think that I am a good candidate to disciple others?

*shrug*

To answer all of my own questions as posed:

1. There is likely not something like this and hasn't been something like this ever though I don't entirely know why it's like that. I suspect it's because artists tend to be islands unto themselves without hardly trying. 
2. Distinctively Christian visual artists are hard to come by for a myriad reasons that I might present for discussion based upon my own observations and unique experiences. Distinctively Christian visual art galleries are certainly few and far in between so it's no wonder that it's so hard to find artists to fill them up! 
3. Yes. I might be the only one starting this. Yes. I might be crazy. However? Well... most of my "craziest" ideas have turned out to be some of the best ever!! (This comes from other people saying so and not just me.)
4. Uhmmm... I don't really know who I think I am. Honestly? Sometimes I see myself as the most unlikely person to disciple others. I'm certainly no Bible scholar and I only became a devout believer in my mid-late 20s. I have been told that I have very abstract and even uniquely mature understandings of the gospel and though I take that to mean something positive about my walk in faith (so far), I don't know. I guess I always try and sell myself short by not believing enough that whatever I am/know/can do is enough so this situation applies for that as well.

Anyway. All of this is to say that I am wholly investing myself in this process of trying to disciple some young (and willing and eager) student artists who are wanting to learn how to oil paint. (We don't offer oil painting at my school.) As with all that I do during regular school time, I am attempting to use the vehicle of visual art in order to teach them more about the gospel in order to be able to apply it to their own walks in faith in trying to be distinctively Christian visual artists. This doesn't mean that we are only painting things of Christian subject matter though. Rather, my main goal is to help them steer through understanding and using the creative process as colored and framed out by the gospel. My goals are other to teach them how to develop good technique and then refine it so it is of very high quality and they are (in turn) producing beautiful artwork that can then be connected back them them, a visual artist who seeks to glorify the Lord with what they are creating.

Other things I am doing include:

• Helping them to heed and answer the callings that they feel are being given to them to be creators as they truly believe they have been called to create.
• Helping them to see and embrace themselves as distinctively Christian visual artists.
• Showing them that with the Lord's infinite wisdom, intervention, and supremely uplifting inspiration, they can really create things that are both anointed by Him and are astounding to behold - both in its actual creation and when it is viewed in its finished state.

I offered this discipleship opportunity up to a select number of students that are mostly upperclassmen. This is because I was attempting to maintain certain structural elements that other discipleship "programs" (if you will) already have within the school and local church communities and because this is how it's been done and worked and I haven't done this before, why reinvent the wheel? The other thing of doing this with primarily the older students is that it doesn't limit them/me as much since most of them can drive and have greater liberties within their schedules. I also have built relationships enough with a lot of them that they feel comfortable with me already to steer them in the very specific way that this discipleship experience requires.

As things are going, I only have one student who has started (the senior student pictured above who is painting) but I have another student (another senior who is female) will be joining in after choir season finishes its big concerts this weekend. There is a possibility of an alumnae from last year coming in and also giving a go at it in addition to informally shadowing me to figure out if she wants to perhaps go into art education. (I think she would be a GREAT art teacher so I am really praying that she entertains the opportunity for both discipleship and shadowing!)

I will admit to you all that I am intimidated by what I am doing (for all of the questions and answers I have posed already) but I am just as much certain that this is what I am supposed to be doing and this is part of why I retired from my former career as a professional photographer. I'm delighted to report that this path that the Lord is now inspiring, leading, and enabling me to take is an answer to prayers because I have had the thoughts in the not so recent past in the way of, "Well... if I am not a working visual artist in the way photography work the way I have always known myself to be - what am I?!!!"

I know. I know. I am lame and silly at convincing myself I have to BE something specific to be able to identify myself so specifically AND that it has to be something of visual art. What can I say? I am petty like that and my silly little ego cries out for feedings more often than I care to admit.

Whatever and however the case, GOD WILLING - I am DOING THIS.

(I'll let you know how it goes, of course.)

Give Handmade | DIY Sharpie Mugs

So this is kind of unoriginal of me but that isn't the point. You know those Sharpie mug tutorials that are all over pinterest and the DIY crafting blogs? (Perhaps I am behind the times and they were actually all the rage last year or something. Whatever.) Well, last week I made some of them as gratitude gifts (just in time for Thanksgiving!) for the three gals from work who I call my #bffl (best friends for life, if you didn't know).

Some things about us:

• We call ourselves many things including the "Multi-culti Crew" but more often "The Unicorn Club" because it seems so girly and middle/high school-ish and silly.
• We sometimes talk in hashtags to our kids and to each other because it is ridiculous, annoying, and also endlessly entertaining/amusing.
• We are all so fluent in the language of sarcasm that it might as well be our native tongue at this point. 
• Last year we used to do this thing on Thursdays (when we all had a planning together) that we called "Thursdates" where we would skip out and go and get ice creams or smoothies or coffees of whatever. The point was simply for us to just get off of campus for a little bit on a day that was almost Friday.
• We are all so different but at the same time very similar and we have a unique and wonderful bond where we can be somber and (sort of) crying for one another in support as much as we can pray together as much as we can busting our guts and laughing in the next moment. 

I love these ladies like nothing else. I really do. They are such a God-send and I am thankful for their friendship every day!!! And for all of these reasons, last week I made them all some gifts of gratitude where I made some giant Sharpie mugs with personalized designs for each lady. See below...

This was for the original unicorn of the group. On the side of the mug you can't see it says "#unicornstatus"

This was for the original unicorn's little sister. I have mentored this lady in the ways of professional photography and she is an outstanding talent in the way of portrait photography especially! 

This is the mug that actually started it all. I posted the one mug I made for a student on instagram and this lady saw it and showed it to her awesome mom and they laughed for 15 minutes straight and then she told me she had to have one. 

It's hard to tell but these mugs are actually gigantic. I got them all at Michael's and I have been scoping them out for (literally) years. You can't just give a gigantic mug to someone though, y'know? I mean... you can but it can be taken in the wrong way or at least not fully appreciated. For my fellow unicorn ladies though? I knew that they would appreciate them completely AND they would use them!!! It is this reason why I did gigantic mugs and not just standard ones. The point was that they mugs would make a statement and that's why I opted to make them as big as possible. (See below the picture of me holding the one. That's not forced perspective, people. The mug really and truly is that gigantic. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?!!!)

See the giant mug in relation to a standard sized one? I tell you what. Gigantic mugs RULE. 

I might only do Sharpie mugs in extra-large/gigantic size from here on out. Seriously. I mean, they are awesome but (also?) I always automatically enlarge things so the larger surface area was a lot easier for me to work on.

So there you go. The Sharpie mug on the gigantic scale. If you are interested in making some for yourself you can pick them up at your local Michael's or other arts and crafts superstore. I would hyperlink them here but I can't find where to buy them online. They were about $10 in the stores though if that helps you at all.

At the home studio with my (from work) art students

Yesterday I told you a little bit about how I decided to take my first day off/day of leisure (in I don't know how long) and invited to of my senior art students to my home studio to celebrate one of their birthdays with a day of painting and then a feast of Vietnamese food. I don't have pictures of the trip to get VN food but here are some pictures of what my students painted! I will share pictures of what I worked on in my next posting.

This student painter is the (now) 18 year old birthday girl and she is actually nationally ranked rock climber in her non-student and non-artist time. Her place of grace is definitely in the mountains and scaling ridiculous rocky terrain so she opted to work on a 16x20 canvas knife painting with acrylics to make an inspired piece of some rocky mountain ranges. She blocked out her painting in Portfolio-brand pastels and then she painted over it all.

She is quite accomplished and gifted in painting even though she is not currently an art student because her advanced placement course schedule does not permit any. She does serve as the school's peer-elected visual arts senior prefect. 

This student artist opted to do two smaller canvases and the one below is the second one she did. She was very inspired by the colors of autumn and her previous small one was in the whole rainbow spectrum. Her plan with her pieces was to take both small pieces home and develop them further into mixed-media works of art using tissue paper and ink on top of the painted layers.

This student is also an advanced art student but her gifting is more in drawing so she is in the year-long intensive drawing course. She is especially good with "zen doodling" and anything that is geometric and graphic. 

Because no occasion can pass (by me) without me giving something handmade. I did an inspired Sharpie-ed mug design (and then baked it) of a design I originally saw on either Pinterest or Etsy. (Can't remember where but this is my way of saying this is not an original design idea.)

The birthday girl and I always joke about how to be a TRUE hipster so she is wearing a disco necklace (a silly costume prop from Party City) and holding the mug so you can see Lionel Richie on the front of her (green) tea mug. Below you can see the back of the mug that reads, "Hello. Is it Tea you're looking for?"

This image collage was made with the iPhone app called PicStitch. (I think)

In tomorrow's posting, I will show you what I worked on while my art students were working on their things.

How to make a rainbow any ol' time you want

I am a total kid at heart. Are you too? I have found that many visual art teachers and artists easily are.

That being said, since I have entered my adult years of bill paying and mortgages and yard work and health insurance and talking about politics (I actually don't really do this one) and and and.... well... you get the idea. 

Anyway,  I have found that it's easy for me to get wrapped in the adult stuff of the world so much that I forget about the fact that I truly am a kid at heart. Thankfully, being a teacher (even to high school students) and having a teeny-tiny little person at home (who is my 4yo daughter) helps me to reclaim childlike wonder any time I might need to. For lack of better way to put it, my students and my daughter help me to "keep it real" and maintain the childlike wonder that makes life so much more interesting vs. being overly adult and bogged down by the daily drivel.

Something else that helps me to "keep it real" is by doing very intentional things in my life that regularly force me to have perspective to see the world in the way a child would. One such thing that I did recently was buy into my first Groupon shopping deal when I picked up the Uncle Milton Rainbow In My Room night lamp for my daughter. Her night lamp is on the fritz and I had had my eye on the Uncle Milton Rainbow maker for quite some time but I had resisted the urge to buy it because of the price. When Groupon had it available for $10 I couldn't say no and I quickly bought one. This is even despite the mixed reviews it got!

Many people who have reviewed it have said that it was cheaply made and they were annoyed because it ate through batteries and didn't come with an AC adapter and the illuminated (and projected) color wasn't very strong/vibrant. Thankfully, the one we got was not a lemon, hasn't eaten through the batteries and I feel like the illumination and colors are more than sufficient. See for yourself!

I took this picture in my daughter's room the other night.

Some of the reviews have fussed about the fact that the color only stays on for 10 minutes but I think this is actually kind of a good thing rather than it being annoying. This is because I will turn on the rainbow light right after my daughter's bedtime prayers and then "When the rainbow goes out" she KNOWS it is time for her to lay herself down for the night and not stall any longer with trying to get to sleep. It's a good visual cue for her just as much as it allows her a reasonable amount of time to decompress a little before she quietly falls to sleep. 

If you are in the market for a night lamp or you just want to inject a little bit of child-like wonder into your life/your family's life, I HIGHLY recommended picking up the Uncle Milton Rainbow in my room light. Please note that I have note been compensated for trying this product in any way and the reason why I am endorsing it so strongly is because I really and truly do like it. 

The crucible of painting for The Crucible

Yesterday was my first day back to school after two days of cancellations for Hurricane Sandy and I ended up having to ditch out on almost all of my classes because of set painting for The Crucible.

(-__-)

Well... I didn't really ditch out on all of them, some of them I were drafted to join me in the endless pursuit of dry brushing every surface to make it look like distressed wood grain. Also, my department head covered some of my classes (like study hall) and I took some of her students in addition to some of the ones I had and drafted them into painting as well.

TOGETHER, WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!

The official shirts for this production are so choice. Praise the Lord for a marketing and design team that shares the same vision as I do by doing things stylistically in a minimalist fashion and VERY WELL at that. 

As it turns out, we have sort have been doing what we've been doing wrong and after much contemplation, I am going to try and turn this set building ship on a dime and lighten up the wall panels so they look more like the three separate vertical planes (on each side) that we wanted them to be to begin with. It just makes more sense that way!

I was sitting back in the sound booth and it just occurred to me that it should be done but rather than being the killjoy and telling the students, "OK... we are going to have to do at least two more... MAYBE three... more rounds of dry brushing to light the value on some specific sections."

Before I made them all do it, I took a picture with my phone and then burned and dodged it in photoshop to have an actual example of what we were going to be doing when we changed it all up. I say: Work SMARTER not HARDER!! 

This might be the most frustrating and rewarding set design and painting I've done so far. It was conceptualized to be as original as possible - though the two faculty directors/producers did cull and give me inspiration images to (literally) draw the set designs from. The craziness that was Hurricane Sandy has definitely set us all back a little but Lord-willing we will make this all happen and it WILL be AWESOME.

Ready, set, PAINT!!! | Set Design for "The Crucible"

The one thing that holds true for my job as a teacher of visual arts is that I never ever EVER have a boring day at work! The thing that is making my days exciting these days? Well, it's the set design and building for the annual Fall play. Last year my school did The Diary of Anne Frank and this year we're doing "The Crucible."

As with all things set design and building, time is of the essence and even when I work hard with my teammates (the faculty advisors, directors, and producers) and don't actually procrastinate and leave things to the last minute, it just seems like "crunch time" happens and I have to toss my daily lesson plans in order to facilitate things like set painting. That's pretty much what happened yesterday.

The view from the stage among the paint cans, paintbrushes, and sound equipment for our weekly chapel service.

While I will never voluntarily put myself front and center on stage, in front of the big bright lights for performance purposes, I will almost ALWAYS volunteer to be a part of the behind-the-scenes creative process of making the big performances happen. Last year we worked with some stage plans in order to create the set we had but this year? Well... the set design was kind of composited and maybe even improvised a little.

One thing I learned (from my department head and faculty director/producer/advisor for all things performance arts) is that the most successful set designs derive from the perspective of the protagonist of the piece being performed. For "The Crucible," I worked with the other two faculty advisors/directors/producers in order to conceptualize the inspiration for the set design. The inspiration was that the set would look like a rogue/alternate universe/reality that was minimalist and uncomfortable by how it made you feel when you look at it. (Does any of that make sense? I am terrible with explaining things with words sometimes. Obviously.)

Anyway, the creative direction (for the set) was established and then I sat and literally drew up the abstract ideas they had (the two faculty advisors) into a visual representation/plan that the set building team then took and turned into reality! So impressive that they took what I was only told to draw (which was pretty abstract) and then turned it into something real. Here are some sneak peeks of the different parts of the set at the students are painting and "dressing" it...

And at the end of day one this is what I looked like in all of my beautiful MESSY glory. Why paint with the paint you have been given to paint with when you can WEAR the paint you have been given to paint with. I guess you could say I truly get into my work and want to blend in with my surroundings...

The crazy thing about me being so a heavily painted is that this is not abnormal for me even on a regular basis outside of play season. I am pretty much always a walking mess OR a mess waiting to happen. *shrug* Such is life as an art teacher!

We have just barely a week to wood grain and detail every surface of the set and it might be the most back breaking style of effect painting I think I might ever have to do for the rest of my career as an art teacher/set designer and maker. It's all worth it though. I really do think so.

It's here!!! The Dream. Pray. Create. Lesson Planning Template!!!

It's here!!! It's here it's here it's HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRE!!!!

As I have said before, this year I decided to be a first year/sixth year teacher and it has absolutely transformed everything about my classroom. If you have already forgotten what I am referring to I will tell you again that it has all come from my implementation to do inquiry-based teaching with a teaching model I designed and discussed HERE.

Approaching teaching and learning in this way has done the following in my classroom: renewed me with fresh inspiration, empowered and encouraged my students to be more autonomous and personally accountable in their creative efforts, and given both me and my students much needed structure in order to have a working studio art classroom that is more like a "well-oiled" machine than I ever might have dreamed it could be.

I am calling this teaching model "The DreamPrayCreate Teaching method because I can't think of any other way to call it. *shrug* (Seriously.) Calling it "A Framework for teaching Visual Arts Education + The Creative Process" makes it sound so dry and official and while it has become a very official thing for me to use that certainly does provide an amazing framework for Visual Arts Education it jus seems like it could be called something a lot more colorful, imaginative, and inventive (in what it suggests it does for teaching/learning.

The template itself is not necessarily six pages (as seen below in the snapshot of the multi-page view in Microsoft Word) but when I typed it all out for the Our Common Threads | Intro to Printmaking lesson idea, it ended up being longer than the 3-4 pages it started out with in it's blank state.

I have (for you to download and use!!) both the BLANK version of this lesson planning template as well as a completely useable and fully articulated lesson plan for the Our Common Threads | Intro to Printmaking project. Both versions are being stored online in the Google docs folder I set up to be able to share documents with you all...

• DreamPrayCreate Lesson Planning template worksheet in word document (the most recent/up-to-date version of word docs - (3) pages - as well as in PDF format
• DreamPrayCreate sample lesson of Our Common Threads | Intro to Printmaking in PDF format (6 pages) and HERE it is in word document as well

Regarding the visual formatting of the above documents, the word version of the Lesson Planning template worksheet should be downloaded and not just modified in Google docs because it is definitely off in how it is viewed via the Google docs web-based platform. The correct visual formatting is viewable only via the PDF formats for both the lesson planning worksheet AND the sample lesson.

I invite and welcome you to use both of them AND share them with others in an effort to (perhaps?) inspire, invigorate, and reshape the teaching and learning that happens in your art classrooms. Still though? I feel like this could work just as well for any other type of content-area as well so share it with your non-art education colleagues! What I have designed and created is something that definitely is indicated to be for a classroom/school of Christian faith, the section that indicates the connection to a Christian worldview could just as well be thought of us being a Character trait connection so that the teaching of Visual Art is a vessel for learning principles and values like integrity, perseverance, selflessness, etc.

As for me providing lesson ideas in the future in this format? I am undecided. This year is a curriculum review year for me at my school and while writing up everything in this lesson planning document for each of my lesson ideas would certainly align with the assessing and revamping of my curriculum area, well... I have a lot more to do for this process other than writing lesson plans (micro-level type planning) and I have to focus on the big picture and the long-term/far reaching goals of the visual arts program at my school. While I would like to say I am "that good" and I can both stand a little bit in one place while also making leaps and bounds in every direction, I am realistic in knowing that I cannot do it. Still, it doesn't mean that there might be some lessons/lesson notes that I won't sometimes present in this format. I mean, now that I have it it is certainly a lot easier for me to implement/use/share with you all so perhaps I need to just TRUST in the Lord that He will steer me and provide for me so that I am using it - especially if it is helpful for you all.

I see what I am doing as a little bit of collaboratively planning with you all and I am happy to do it as long as the Lord Almighty provides a way for me to do so. Let me know how you like this lesson planning template and/or how you think it could be modified to be more useful! I know I'm not perfect and so I am always open to constructive feedback of how to make what I'm doing better.

An armature for Visual Arts curriculum and instruction

While it's not ready yet, I just wanted to give you all a heads up of a very special something to come!

This year (at my school) it is curriculum review year for my content area and this is really informing my planning and teaching decisions that have largely contributed to my inspiration and motivation to create the inquiry-based teaching and learning method I have been using with my classes. Because I am also doing graduate studies in the Masters of Arts in Teaching program, I am learning the importance of having a good solid armature for my instruction and curriculum and really making an effort to plan ahead and NOT rely solely on teaching on the fly. I mean, definitely the ability of teaching on your feet and being able to go with the flow is important but ultimately? I know (for me as a teacher) I am much more effective in the classroom when I have really thought about what I am going to do before I do it.

All of that being sad? The above image is a sneak peek of what will be unveiled tomorrow so come back and see me then! I will have not only a little bit of an explanation behind the inspiration behind it but I will also have an empty/blank one for you to use (that can be downloaded and/or shared collaboratively) as well as one that is fully articulated and aligns with a lesson idea I did just this year with my 2D classes! This means that you will have my lesson notes for one of my project ideas!! See you tomorrow!!

Just for Fun: The no-sew Superhero cape | Give handmade

Do you sew?

Strange to lead off a posting (on here) with such a question but it occurred to me the other day that of all of the kinds of handmade arts that are out there, the kind that involves or requires sewing does not appeal to me. I don't know what it is about sewing but I am just really REALLY not into it.

Now, this doesn't mean that I haven't attempted to sew or like sewing in the past. I have! And pretty much every time I've done it, I have pretty much failed miserably.

Well, wait a minute... one time I DID succeed (in grand form) when I made a giant teepee out of PVC pipes and Harley Davidson fabric for my nephews for their Christmas/Easter present (no pattern - it was all improvised from pictures I found online).
So, correction: I can sew and I have done it in the past but usually it's for purposes of novelty and/or amusement and not usually things that can be/are intended to be worn.

Anyway, all of this sidetracking is my way of sharing with you all something I stumbled upon in my avoidance to sew (ever). I would like to introduce you to the No-sew Superhero cape!!!!! (see above for a picture of one)

To make the No-sew Superhero cape, you need the following supplies:

• A crew neck t-shirt (this will be the cape itself) - any size but if you do something much larger than the person's standard size, you might have to cut the neck strap and treat it like a tie-on cape
• A pair of sharp scissors that can easily cut through fabric
• A marker or fabric pencil (to outline your cutting line) 
• Things to embellish/decorate your cape - fabric markers/paint, sticker appliques, fabric glue etc.

And this is how you CUT (not sew!) a t-shirt into a pretty legit superhero cape! Check out this... the dotted line is the path that you need to follow with your scissors in order to cut the t-shirt into a cape shape...

And here are some actual pictures that I took doing this myself...

This cut line of the back view of the t-shirt - so the cape portion that flows down the back..

And this is a cut line of the front of the shirt at the neckline.

Something really important to remember when doing this is to not cut too close to the neck ribbing and leave a little bit of extra fabric outside of the seam (where the ribbing is sewn to the body/torso of the shirt) because the ribbing with a little bit of fabric (maybe a quarter inch?) helps to add structure to the neck strap so it's more comfortable to wear and lays nicer when it is worn. Also, make sure not to cut off the bottom hem of the shirt (in the back that is the cape part) because it helps to provide structure in the way of being a little bit of weight to hold down the cape. The hems of t-shirts are usually tacked with a serger so it should be an issue that the fabric unravels itself OR comes undone all that easily.

In theory, you could use a pre-printed t-shirt with a superhero graphic printed on it but I kind of like taking a plain shirt and embellishing it with fabric paint/markers, etc.

I did this with a whole summer camp of children (ages 4-13) two years ago for "Superhero week" and while it was a lot of prep work for me - making sure every child brought in OR had a t-shirt to begin with, pre-cutting or tracing out the cut-line for the younger kids, having all different types of embellishments (to make a sort of embellishment "bar") for the kids to go crazy with and decorate their capes! All told, I think we made over 150 capes that week at summer camp. It was pretty rad (in the words of my kids).

So there you have it - the No-sew Superhero cape!!! And if you didn't have a Halloween costume planned for yourself/your kids? Well... now you can be your own kind of Superhero and NOT have to deal with the pesky chore of sewing it. Last-minute doesn't have to be a pain, right?

Just for fun: The College Board | Interactive Community Art

Do you have any favorite traditions within your school community? I recently shared the tradition that is Field day as my school does it (in the beginning of the year vs. the end). I in the past I have also shared about other traditions like Spirit week (that happens mid year to kick off second semester) in postings HERE, HERE, and HERE (This last one was really good because it has a video of one of my past students. He had made himself a transformer costume that actually transformed!!! BRILLIANT!!!) And there was that one posting I shared right around prom when I helped one of my senior students take a decidedly visual and creative approach when asking his date to accompany him to the big event in this posting.  (the guys asking the girls in fun and original ways is also traditional at my school.

For as much as I consider myself to be a very non-traditional type who prefers to not celebrate or acknowledge the usual traditions in my own personal/family life - like the fact that I/we don't do trick-or-treating or Elf on the shelf or Santa Claus or the Easter bunny, etc. - I really REALLY love all of the traditions that are kept at my school year after year. In my experiences the traditions draw people together every year that they happen and they also really make people (like alumni and family members) want to come and join in the community and remember what makes the school and its community so amazingly special and unique.

One tradition that I have not shared yet is the infamous College Board that hangs in the academic building (we have three buildings and if you came on our campus you might think we were a small college because that's what facilities suggest). Here is this year's college board hanging in the hallway...


The College Board is something that is used only by the seniors but admired by all of the rest of us. It is interactive and participatory and gives a place for senior students to "graffiti" their name as well as all of the colleges where they are accepted and/or decide to go.

Every year the board has a new design and theme and that is determined by the Visual Art prefect (a senior student who is elected by peers to be a leader of specifically defined areas). The senior prefect works with me and other faculty advisors to conceptualize their visual design (that should illuminate a little about what makes their senior class so unique and special) and then they paint their design on the board. The board is a giant piece of plywood that is primed and painted year after year after year which means it's the same board since when it was first started. (Maybe seven years ago?) It is pretty huge physically - approximately 4' by 6' in size. Here is a closer look at this year's design...

 

The Visual Arts prefect did a phenomenal job this year on the College Board and she just presented it the other day to the whole school during our weekly assembly time. She worked so hard and I am ridiculously proud of the job she did. An incredible amount was spent both thinking about what apps would be included as well as the inspiration behind just using the iPhone itself as subject matter. Some of the apps included don't actually exist but the student did a beautiful job thinking critically about what they would look like if they did exist and then making them happen.

The student worked all summer on it and I stopped in to see her (at her house/home studio! She is VERY serious about her art and her parents are so supportive - such a blessing!) and I know that in addition to her also learning how to go about creating such a major piece of artwork she also learned a lot about technique as well. She learned the importance of preserving the integrity of her marks as well as thinking about creating and depicting the essence of something and how that can be way more powerful and accurate instead of trying to paint it exactly - which, sometimes, results in a painting looking so far from what it actually is a painting of!

If you don't do something like The College Board at your school, I absolutely suggest it as a very awesome thing to try at your school! It truly does take visual art out of the classroom and then it also serves as a catalyst to draw the school community together in order to celebrate and acknowledge the hard work and achievements of the students.

When work isn't really work

Do you have any traditional school events that you participate in and look forward to every year? I do. It's my school's Field day!!!

Normally, events like Field day occur toward the end of the year versus at the beginning of the year but I teach at a private Christian school and we do a lot of things different than how other schools do it. Field day is one of those things. For us? Field day happens within the first month or so of the school year and it is a REALLY BIG DEAL. But before I explain how and why it is a big deal, here is a little bit of background in order to fully explain field day.

I, along with every other faculty/staff member, serve as a mentor to a group of 10-12 students (usually same sex until senior year when there are mixed groups). The group is comprised of the same 9th-11th grade students year after year and I meet with them once a week (the time is within the class schedule) in order to connect personally with them and just generally form a solid (closer) bond/friendship within the school community. Basically, it's like the idea of a homeroom or advisory class/group but on a whole lot more personal level. I am permitted and encouraged to share my testimony of faith with them, guide them through devotionals and scripture study, lead them in prayer as informed by their requests or notations of gratitudes, in addition to just serve as an older (and wiser?) individual in case they are having challenges of any sort - whether personal or academic.

(OK. Now I can explain Field day a little bit better!)

My school does Field day at the beginning of the year instead of the end because it is intended to serve as a bonding experience for each mentor group from the get-go. Each mentor group competes against other mentor groups and team-building/oriented type activities (rather than just competing grade against grade) AND each mentor group also dresses by a group-decided-upon theme! My group has always been Team Elle Woods (like from Legally Blonde) because of my last name and also because it's meant to be kind of silly and fun and funny since I am far from girly and frilly the way the Legally Blonde Elle Woods is known to be. The point of dressing up though is to be a little crazy so my group of girls (who were deliberately matched to me and my personality) and I have great fun dressing up head-to-toe in pink, purple, and all things super girly.

So. That's basically Field day. And we just had ours recently and it was SO much fun. This year was even more fun though because they changed things up and added a community service component to the front half of the day where each mentor group worked together for a few hours in the local surrounding communities to be good stewards of our time and talents and help out in ways that others might have really needed it! My group was able to have the great blessing to work at a local playschool center finishing a mural that was in desperate need of more hands and feet to finish it! Here is my group hard at work...

This was the first year that we did a morning of service before an afternoon of pure fun and silliness but the service morning was such a hit that we are absolutely going to be doing it again next year. The other day I did some debriefing with my mentor girls and they said that even though the service morning as a lot of work and really tired them out by the time the afternoon rolled around, they really REALLY loved putting their hands, feet, and hearts to work at helping to lift up our surrounding communities.

Give Handmade | The gift of Giving

Don't forget to enter the contest 

of this blog's first ever giveaway of my "favorite things!!!" 
It ends TONIGHT at midnight EST so I can announce the winner TOMORROW on the blog!!!!

REMEMBER: You have to leave your comments on the original blog post that announced the contest found HERE VIA THIS LINK (click this to access it!!) in order to be officially entered and considered in the final count to be randomly chosen for the prize package. Don't forget that there are (2) ways to be entered in the giveaway and the cut off time/date is TONIGHT - Tuesday, Sept. 25th at midnight EST!!

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******* Warning: This is a photo heavy posting not about classroom art education!!!*******

Something I really enjoy doing (but rarely get to do) is crocheting amigurumi. I fell into the artform when I was a new mother to my now four year old daughter and I needed something to do to pass the time and occupy my hands while I would wait for my little girl to wake up from naps to nurse in her infancy. (I have a hard time with NOT having something to occupy my hands at any given time)

I taught myself to crochet (after four years of my childhood best friend trying to teach me) in two weeks of watching youtube videos and reading online tutorials on other peoples' blogs because I was so enamored by amigurumi. (They are so charming!! How could anyone NOT fall in love with them.) I joined a social networking site that is purely meant to connect crafters of knitting and crochet called Ravelry.com.

My time when I was really into crocheting was before I was able to be an art teacher so I think doing such work fed my need to create. I started off with patterns but eventually learned that creating my own original works inspired by real objects was a lot more fulfilling for me. My first major undertaking ever without a pattern to guide me was this Thomas the Tank Engine for my daughter's first ever friend as a going away gift since he was leaving the daycare she attended when she was a baby.

The above took me so many hours and so much trial and error that I felt like a total champ when I was done and I become that much more inspired to try my hand at free-form soft sculpting more amigurumi toys. I naturally have an issue with following patterns/directions and so free-forming it really worked well for me. I would look at pictures of things online and then take what I like from multiple versions of an amigurumi idea and then try and make my own version of it. Below are some of my free-formed crocheting adventures.

Little girl elephant

Baby Harp Seal

Maryland girl crab

Baby Lamb doll

Little Girl giraffe without spots

"Sherman" the gnome (made this right around the time Gnomeo and Juliet came out in theaters)

A baby chick

I also made fun and silly hats (for novelty and amusement of my own) for my daughter. I have always been a HUGE fan of the Tom Arma babies in the face of what Anne Geddes was trying to do (Because come on! The Tom Arma ones are both hilarious and adorable all at the same time!!!) and making silly hats was my way of drawing inspiration from him. I have made hats for babies in the family but mostly I just make at least one hat for my daughter every year. It all started with the baby viking hat for me that I made for her around Easter.

And then it just took off from there. My personal rule for crochet has become that I don't do anything that can be functional (like sweaters or scarves or afghans) but I will do a hat if it can also be a little bit of silly art. My dream is to (at some point) crochet a yoda hat. Until then, this is all I have done so far. I have free-form crocheted all of the below.

Koala with red bow from two Christmases ago for my daughter

 

 

Blue monkey hat with flaps for my daughter's cousin two Christmases ago

Aviator style hat with flaps and goggles in heart-shaped (to make it more "girly")

20s style clochette hat with a flower for a cousin's little girl

Pink pig hat made from variegated pink and orange chenille yarn 

I was making toys and hats long before my daughter learned to appreciate them and the other day (in her mess of a toy room) she came upon a little turtle I made for her long ago in one of my very first every amigurumi endeavours. It looked like this:

This was made with a pattern found HERE from when I was first learning to crochet

My daughter had no clue I made it and when I told her I did she was blown away!! And she she promptly asked me if I would make her a pink shelled turtle who could be the "mama" because the above is teeny-tiny and handheld. I could not say no to her sweet request and last night I finished this up for her just in time for her to take it to show-n-tell today at playschool.

Much larger than the original and went along with the idea of the original but it was free-formed really.

I cannot tell you just how delighted my daughter was when she woke up (EARLY at that!) to her new turtle. She, of course, didn't hesitate to ask me to make a purple one that could be the "daddy" turtle. I... well... I would like to make her another one but I don't know when it will happen. *shrug* I get bored with doing the same animal over again (especially when it immediately follows one I just did) and I might be more inclined to try my hand at making her an Olivia piglet doll instead seeing as how that is her latest obsession and I am very charmed with Olivia myself.

Anyway, I guess all of this is nothing more than me tripping myself down memory lane (so to speak) with all of my random crocheting adventures but I thought I would share it just the same since it's the latest in my effort to give handmade this year. I have actually tried to teach students to crochet to try and get a little bit of a fellowship group going at both schools I have taught at (in my career) but many of them don't seem to have the patience it takes to learn the craft and then perfect it in order to be able to make (especially free-form) any of the things I have shown you above. I do have one student who graduated last year and is bound and determined to learn eventually but mostly? I am on my own with my quiet obsession and adoration for crocheting purely for my own amusement and novelty. If you are into it though? You just consider joining ravelry!!!! (My username on there is stuffshemakes if you want to connect with me) in addition to leaving me a comment on this posting so that we can connect and maybe be "accountability partners" in our crocheting endeavors. It is the one thing that is such a great stress reliever for me and I know that I probably should do more of if I can help it. Perhaps it works that way for you as well and if we are both doing it together? Well, there are two less stressed people in the world.