Art is Basic
Etsy
My Art Classroom
Sunday, August 31, 2014
School started this week! Wow, what an adjustment going back. My feet and back are aching! I've had to get both kids ready for daycare in the morning, since my husband is on the morning shift for a few weeks, so I've been having to wake up so early! I've spent so much time on my art classroom this summer. We had an addition built to our school and they built ANOTHER ART ROOM! So exciting! I have the old room, but now I do not have to share a room anymore, so we have so much MORE SPACE to spread out into. I thought I would show you some of the fun parts of my room. If you want to see more pictures in my classroom, you can visit my art teaching blog Art is Basic.
Art is Basic
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Colorful Watercolor Bird Painting
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
I managed to paint a bird this week quickly during nap time. Birds are one of my favorite things to draw and paint. Like flowers, they are very forgiving if they are not exact.
Five more days until school starts! Yesterday my little guy turned 4 months old. Isn't he the happiest little guy?
Peek in My Art Journal
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Ahh! School is starting in less than 2 weeks! I'm not ready for summer to be over. We did a lot this summer and kept our days pretty full. But, I'm not ready to leave my little guy all day. He's so used to be with me 24/7. Daria, on the other hand, will be totally fine at school all day. She's starting 4k this year and she loves being around other kids all the time, so I'm sure she will enjoy having lots of kids her age to play with.
My art classroom is looking Ah-Mazing! I've been working on it so much and organizing & cleaning everything. I'm so excited to have an organized year! I will post pics when I get everything how I want it to be.
I had a couple pages from my art journal I haven't shared yet, so I thought I'd just place them all in one big blog post.
These have so many layers, because I started the page and didn't like where it was going, so I kept covering up more and more parts.
This one with the little guy is in progress and I am going to add some words inside the circle. I cut out one of the characters I drew on this page.
I'm planning on cutting out all those little guys and making them into new collages.
Art is Basic
Etsy
On My Nightstand.. What I've Been Reading Lately
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
For those of you who read my art teacher blog, this is a cross-post. Sometimes what I write about there might be interesting for you here.
I have a rare moment of quiet. My 4 year old is out to lunch with her cousins and my 4 month old is taking a nap. You know you’re a teacher when the first thing you think is.. “ooh! I can make some signs for my classroom.” Then, the second thing you think is “I could write a blog post!” Maybe I will have time to do both. It’s really amazing how much you can get done in a short time when you know you won’t have time later. It’s like when you have company coming over and you manage to clean your whole house in 20 minutes.
We have 2 weeks until we go back to school. My room is coming together! I’ve been in quite a few times sorting and organizing. I will give you a “room tour” later. I’ve really enjoyed seeing lots of other art rooms in the blogs and Facebook groups. It has given me some good ideas for organization.
I wanted to show you what books I’ve been reading lately in case you are looking for something to read.
I really recommend this book for those of you who work with preschool & early childhood (Kinders/1st grade). I really like how the author references living artists and I like how the art projects are process oriented, rather than cute little projects. I’ve read this whole book and I took notes on ideas for this coming year!
Here are four books that you might enjoy as an art teacher.
1. Raising Self Reliant Children: I have started reading this book and I’m a few chapters in. So far, it gives an insight about raising children in our current society.
2. God's Pencils, Christian Parenting & Teaching in the 21st Century: While I don’t teach at a Christian school, it is always interesting to read about teaching from a Christian worldview (and I mean, teaching kids kindness/respect/responsibility, not the religious principles.. as that wouldn’t fly in a non-Christian school.) Also, I like reading these kinds of books as a reminder for my own attitudes while teaching.. ie., each child/adult in the school is a child of God. I have not read this whole book but I’m looking forward to it!
3. Classroom Management for Art, Music and PE Teachers: This book is amazing! Highly recommend it! It’s a quick read and lots of good stuff about approaching classroom management.
4. Are you looking for some fresh watercolor ideas for your classroom? This book has some good inspiration. One Watercolor A Day
My mom gave me the book on the left and we read the book on the right for my book club. Both books were quick and easy reads. Both books are motherhood memoirs. Between both of them, I would recommend Operating Instructions. It was funny and relate-able. The other book, Planting Dandelions had it’s good parts, but there wasn’t a lot of substance. At the end of reading it, I kind of thought, “what actually happened in this book?” The books has short chapters of essays on things that she experienced as a new mom. We all agreed that that the author was way too flippant about cheating on her husband and that kind of turned us off at the beginning.
Everyone who is a parent should read this book: Protecting the Gift (Keeping Children & Teenagers Safe). It also could be eye-opening for teachers who are not parents.
I struggle with how to talk to my daughter about keeping safe and interacting with strangers. I don’t want to scare her so much she’s afraid of everyone, but I do want her to be aware that dangers are out there. If you are a parent, read this! I’m about half way through and it’s so good. It’s a quick and engaging read and gives you lots of practical advice on how to talk to your kids about safety and trust your own intuition.
Are you reading anything good? I’m still waiting for the copy of Teach Like a Pirate to be ready for me at the library! I’m on a mission to get “clutter-free” or as clutter free as possible, so I’m trying to get most books from the library instead of purchasing them. After I finish books, I try to pass them on or sell them in our garage sale, otherwise it just adds to the clutter.
Disclosure: If you do decide to buy these books, the links in this post are Amazon affiliate links.
I have a rare moment of quiet. My 4 year old is out to lunch with her cousins and my 4 month old is taking a nap. You know you’re a teacher when the first thing you think is.. “ooh! I can make some signs for my classroom.” Then, the second thing you think is “I could write a blog post!” Maybe I will have time to do both. It’s really amazing how much you can get done in a short time when you know you won’t have time later. It’s like when you have company coming over and you manage to clean your whole house in 20 minutes.
We have 2 weeks until we go back to school. My room is coming together! I’ve been in quite a few times sorting and organizing. I will give you a “room tour” later. I’ve really enjoyed seeing lots of other art rooms in the blogs and Facebook groups. It has given me some good ideas for organization.
I wanted to show you what books I’ve been reading lately in case you are looking for something to read.
I really recommend this book for those of you who work with preschool & early childhood (Kinders/1st grade). I really like how the author references living artists and I like how the art projects are process oriented, rather than cute little projects. I’ve read this whole book and I took notes on ideas for this coming year!
Here are four books that you might enjoy as an art teacher.
1. Raising Self Reliant Children: I have started reading this book and I’m a few chapters in. So far, it gives an insight about raising children in our current society.
2. God's Pencils, Christian Parenting & Teaching in the 21st Century: While I don’t teach at a Christian school, it is always interesting to read about teaching from a Christian worldview (and I mean, teaching kids kindness/respect/responsibility, not the religious principles.. as that wouldn’t fly in a non-Christian school.) Also, I like reading these kinds of books as a reminder for my own attitudes while teaching.. ie., each child/adult in the school is a child of God. I have not read this whole book but I’m looking forward to it!
3. Classroom Management for Art, Music and PE Teachers: This book is amazing! Highly recommend it! It’s a quick read and lots of good stuff about approaching classroom management.
4. Are you looking for some fresh watercolor ideas for your classroom? This book has some good inspiration. One Watercolor A Day
My mom gave me the book on the left and we read the book on the right for my book club. Both books were quick and easy reads. Both books are motherhood memoirs. Between both of them, I would recommend Operating Instructions. It was funny and relate-able. The other book, Planting Dandelions had it’s good parts, but there wasn’t a lot of substance. At the end of reading it, I kind of thought, “what actually happened in this book?” The books has short chapters of essays on things that she experienced as a new mom. We all agreed that that the author was way too flippant about cheating on her husband and that kind of turned us off at the beginning.
Everyone who is a parent should read this book: Protecting the Gift (Keeping Children & Teenagers Safe). It also could be eye-opening for teachers who are not parents.
I struggle with how to talk to my daughter about keeping safe and interacting with strangers. I don’t want to scare her so much she’s afraid of everyone, but I do want her to be aware that dangers are out there. If you are a parent, read this! I’m about half way through and it’s so good. It’s a quick and engaging read and gives you lots of practical advice on how to talk to your kids about safety and trust your own intuition.
Are you reading anything good? I’m still waiting for the copy of Teach Like a Pirate to be ready for me at the library! I’m on a mission to get “clutter-free” or as clutter free as possible, so I’m trying to get most books from the library instead of purchasing them. After I finish books, I try to pass them on or sell them in our garage sale, otherwise it just adds to the clutter.
Disclosure: If you do decide to buy these books, the links in this post are Amazon affiliate links.
Ribbon and Cards in My Shop!
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Just a quick update for you! I added a few new things to my Etsy shop. Stop on over and take a peek.
How about some hot pink ribbon?
Or some retro heart trim?
I also have some pretty orange floral ribbon.
I put together a couple fun Happy Mail stationery packs with an assortment of cards.
And finally some punched shape packages with shapes punched from scrapbooking paper, painted papers and my own artwork! You can use these in your collages, scrapbooking or throw them in goodie bags for a little surprise.
Have a fabulous day!
How about some hot pink ribbon?
Or some retro heart trim?
I also have some pretty orange floral ribbon.
I put together a couple fun Happy Mail stationery packs with an assortment of cards.
And finally some punched shape packages with shapes punched from scrapbooking paper, painted papers and my own artwork! You can use these in your collages, scrapbooking or throw them in goodie bags for a little surprise.
Have a fabulous day!
Art Journaling with a Quote
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
This summer is going by in a blur of playdates, outings to museums or parks, water fun and meals at restaurants. We've had lots of occasions, visitors and special events where we end up out somewhere. I think we cram all of our social life for the year into the months of nice weather. In the winter, we tend to hibernate.
The top art journal page is in progress. I found it while looking through some old art journals and I never finished it. I like the tie-dyed colors a lot in this picture, which were made by painting watercolor on paper towels.
The bottom journal page I made by spraying inks through stencils. After it was dry, I took it with me on a long car trip (I was not driving!) and added the collage pieces and doodles with pen.
The quote spoke to me. I find it hard sometimes especially with Facebook and blogs to not compare myself to other people. Lately I've been having a hard time seeing everyone's awesome vacation photos. But yet, I still go online far too much.
Etsy
Painting Patterns with Watercolor
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Playing with pattern is a simple way to create collage elements when you are stuck for what to make. Create patterns using watercolor paints. After they dry, tear or cut up into shapes to use as elements for your collages and journal pages.
Art is Basic
Etsy
A Long Journey | Digital Art | Quote by Rumi
Thursday, June 26, 2014
I have been having fun adding digital text to my mixed media artwork.
I have just discovered Rumi. He has the best lines of poetry.
Greeting cards of this image will be coming soon!
Artsy Blog Hop
Sunday, June 22, 2014
I was asked to participate in this artsy blog hop by the lovely Zoe Ford. Her artwork is bright, bold, colorful and fun like the style I enjoy working in. Here are the three questions + my answers. At the bottom, I am linking to three more awesome artists who will be answering these questions next week.
1. How does my creative process work?
It depends on what I am making. Often I will see something online that will spark my interest and I will try that particular technique. Or, I might see something compositionally that I want to try in my own style. Many times, I will just choose some images and papers from my stash and play around with them until I find an arrangement for a collage that I like.
2. How does my work differ from others in my genre?
Hmm... that's hard to say. My artwork is usually very colorful. I love color and I love artwork that is crazy full of lots to look at. I teach elementary art my style often has child-like or playful imagery.
3. What am I working on now?
Currently I have no series or big projects going on. I try to sneak in little bursts of creative moments when I have time. I pick up my art journal and will use watercolor paints if Desmond is sleeping. If he is awake, I can put him on my lap and use markers or dry collage.
I have been working on some things for school and products for my TPT shop such as these posters and this Art Journaling with Kids E-Zine.
I have also been experimenting with different online companies to print greeting cards and postcards. I have tried Zazzle.com (the greeting cards were not very crisp, but the company gave me a full refund. The postcards they sent were glossy and nice.) Mixbook was much better. Still not perfect, but better.
Now, I have three blogs for you to visit. I met these girls on an artists Facebook group!
Now, I have three blogs for you to visit. I met these girls on an artists Facebook group!
1. I love the textures and soft color palette in Julia Sears Osterc's artwork: Lovingrd
2. Lynnette Cretu's art has beautiful lettering of scriptures.
3. Donna L. Martin creates some lovely layered and textured mixed media work.
You are Awesome!
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Art made with Photoshop using my original watercolor doodles and digital text.
Art is Basic
Etsy
Oldies but Goodies
Friday, June 13, 2014
I found these old journal pages and thought I'd share these with you. I don't know if I have posted these before, but even if I have, they are at least 2 years old so maybe you haven't seen them yet.
Art is Basic
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