What I Did Last Summer

Actually, what I am doing this summer, but "What I Did Last Summer" sounded so much cooler. Finished cleaning the two art rooms at school, had family visiting and a trip down the shore and am now back to artwork, working on my room, hanging out with friends and school prep. 

Probably have a list of about 15 things to do in my room. So far I have painted my room, bought new window treatments, painted my closet which meant emptying my closet--huge task that involved sorting clothes and parting ways with 5 bags of clothes and shoes.

Today's project was re-covering my piano bench. Below is the before pic. I had painted it a few years back and covered it with this green and pink fabric.

I went to Joanne Fabric and bought these two fabrics.

Went with the more classic piece. Had a friend advise on this. Will use the more contemporary fabric for pillows.

Here is the finished piece. Can see my wall color: Clear Skies from Benjamin Moore. Still need to do trim and doors. Don't mind the linoleum floor. Room has been measured, just need to pick my carpet. Hoping to use a remnant to save some money. In my dream world the floor would be wood but that isn't in the budget. Cost for bench is $5- fabric plus staples. Bought the wire baskets at Marshalls. They were $18- total.  I'm not sure what I'm putting in them yet. Possibly magazines?

Photography Apps

Original photo

WordFoto

Vintique

Percolator

Have a bunch of photography apps that I never had time to try out until now. Ran out to the garden and took some pictures of the garden with my ipad. Takes a decent photo! I think I could use these with my 8th graders when they create their self-portraits. Also planning on making some new posters for the art room.

Original photo

Vintique

XnSketch

Percolator

Original photo

Percolator

Vintique

Original photo

WordFoto

Middle School Bulletin Boards

I like to get my bulletin boards done at the end of the school year. I cover them with newspaper for the summer so they stay nice for September. I've totally switched over to fabric for my backgrounds. Can be used over and over again, doesn't fade and is easy to handle. Last year my colors were purple and orange so to make things easier I kept the purple and added blue. I love the combo together.

 

These three posters were all pinterest finds. Love the way the word artist is used to base art room rules off of.

This will be my elements of art board. Not quite finished but close. Today was our last day so I will return next Monday to hopefully finish all my boards.

School Supplies

Just wondering how many of you love to order supplies or loathe this part of the job? I love it...love seeing what is new, anticipating clean watercolors, and feeling special when I get all those boxes to open!! What I hate is doing inventory before I place my orders.
So to make that part of the job more enjoyable I give in to one of my favorite things, Starbucks. I know some of you may go to that other place but for me Starbucks is it. I love the atmosphere, bring in my laptop, sip my yummy latte and get my work done. The other thing I love about Starbucks is that they have soy milk!!
So, back to supplies. I think it is time for a list of a few of my favorite things-supply style.

ONE 

Love these liquid watercolors from Sax.

TWO

Dick Blick acrylics...have tried other brands but these give great coverage and are easy to mix.

THREE

Nothing beats Sharpie for graphic work. Great saturated colors and the kids think they are so grown up using a permanent marker.

FOUR

It took me a while before I realized how the quality differs in construction paper. 

Tru-Ray is stronger and has deeper color than any other brand I have tried.

FIVE

Have tried to save money by buying other erasers but have found they are too hard or too soft.  Pink Pearl is just right!

The Art Show

I have always wanted to have an art show where I teach and felt this past year I was finally ready to do this. There was no way I could do this alone. So thankful for all the work a small group of parents and teachers did to make this a success.

I scoured teacher blogs, pinterest and images on google to get ideas. Thankfully the panels you see were available from our high school which made displaying the work so much easier.

We didn't have a lot of expenses but were happy that a few family businesses helped out with the materials we needed.

Our cafe featured coffee, tea, water, cookies and rice krispie treats.
Tables for enjoying the treats were my art room tables covered in black paper.
Fresh tulips from the grocery store added color and a wonderful group of students served.  

Activities included sticky note answers, photo op area, painting part of a mural and sewing cards and puzzles.

Students volunteered to play background music. We had piano, clarinet and violin.

We used the panels, music stands, the walls and tables to display the artwork. Hoping to make "walls" with pvc for next year.

Overall I was thrilled with all aspects of the show and especially with how many people came out to support the arts. We ran our show for one evening and the next morning me, the principal and the dean started to take artwork down and the 7th/8th grade chorus helped out halfway through their practice. I put all artwork in piles according to homeroom and sent students out with carts. It only took about 45 minuted to take down. Putting it up probably took 4 hours plus all of the mounting on black paper and labels. Every student was represented at least once and projects from other classes besides art were also on display.

I'm looking forward to being able to improve this show next year and have people more aware of how important the arts are.

Well, the end of the school year is right around the corner and I haven't been sharing my "creative journey" for some time. Right now I'm in the middle of grading 6th grade projects and trying to go through and organize for next year. I always feel torn between three areas of time....the present, as in grading, end of year activities and meetings, the near future, as in summer break and the future as in the fall. I keep trying to be organized with all the thoughts and ideas that flow through my mind but it doesn't always happen. Thank goodness for pinterest!!
I've decided it is time for a major change in my life and I want to share it with you, partly to help anyone else who is in my situation and to make myself accountable. I have been overweight for a long period of time and am at my heaviest ever. I have lost weight two other times but right now I know that my weight is holding me back from "real" life. So anyone who wants to jump on board I would love to have you join me and the rest of you can keep me on track.
Okay, so my start date is Sunday, June 23. The reason for that date is school will be out and my family vacation will be over. The one is a major stress point for me and the other is food available all the time.
Next up, I will share my first middle school art show.

Feel like this.

Want to be like this!!

Starting to teach art lessons from my home this month. Excited! Hoping I get a good response from my ad. Looking forward to getting a studio space set up for students. Can't wait to share my knowledge and have fun creating art with kids without the pressure of grades and curriculum.