What's on my bookshelf?

I have a bunch of books that are in my queue of books to read!

1.  ACRYLIC REVOLUTION:  I had been wanting to read this one but never picked up a copy.  When I was at the library today, this book was in the sale shelf.  It's pretty dinged up, but still readable (and practically free).

2. Journal It!: Perspectives in Creative Journaling:  I have read a lot of reviews on various blogs about this book, so I ordered a copy for myself while I was Christmas shopping.  It's very inspirational and the artwork is very interesting.  It's a good one!

3. Lenore Tawney: Signs on the Wind: Postcard Collages Exactly what the title says it is.. collages on postcards.  Two things that I love... collages and postcards.  My husband bought this one for me for Christmas.  Thanks, Andrew!

4. Learning by Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit  I learned about this book (and I think the Lenore Tawney one) from Kelly Kilmer's blog.  I got this from a relative for Christmas!  I can't wait to read it.

5. Fingerprint: The Art of Using Hand-Made Elements in Graphic Design This is another discarded book from the library that I picked up today.  There's a lot of interesting typography, graphic design, illustrations and drawings in this book.

6. We're Birds of a Feather--- vintage kids inspirational book.  This was on the shelf next to the other ones at the library, so I grabbed it to cut up for my art journal.

From the Learning by Heart book.

From Learning by Heart

Lenore Tawney's postcard collages

charming illustrations ready to be cut out and glued in my journal

From the Acrylic Revolution book

From the Fingerprint book

If those books aren't enough to inspire you, be sure to check out the new FEATURING magazine!  I have two articles in the magazine.. one about balancing motherhood and artmaking and the other about the Featured Blogger: Ihanna.  There is some amazing artwork in the magazine and the quality of the pages are scrumptious.  The magazine ships from the Netherlands and good news-- the shipping costs have been lowered for international shipping. 

** I have not been paid to promote any of these publications.  I am an Amazon affiliate, which means if you click on the links of the books and end up buying anything I get a *small* percentage to use as Amazon store credit.. which means I can buy more books and tell you about them!  **

Fall Fearless and Fly Prompt #6 and Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

This is a perfect time for the Fall Fearless and Fly prompt #6:
Headline Prompt:  Divided by God:  What does "God" mean to you?  How do you access"God" or the divine or the sacred in your life?
Color Prompt: Metallics - gold, silver, copper, bronze, or all of them!
Quote Prompt: "This is my simple religion.  There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy.  Our own brain, our own heart, is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."  The Dalai Lama

I do believe in God and the Bible as a blueprint for how to live our lives.  I do believe that God is much greater than any of us can understand and that he reveals himself through Jesus and creation in different ways to people all over the world. 

Here are some Christmas themed art journal pages from last year!

Faith lettering... a picture for my friend's daughter

LOVE Christmas card

Postcard Prints in My Etsy Shop

I just added 5"x7" art prints in my Etsy shop.  I tried out Overnight Prints to test out their quality and I was quite pleased.  (I would definitely order from them again, although they weren't especially speedy)  The cards are thick and glossy, like a postcard. 

I was really just super excited to see my artwork in a glossy postcard format.  So fun!

You can order a set of 5 in my Etsy shop or individual cards.  They would be nice to give to a friend as an inspirational "pick me up" or you could frame them. 

Live in the Sunshine

It's been blizzardy here.  We had about 15 inches of snow.

We had school cancelled today and tomorrow because of the snow.  Before that I was at home sick for the 2 days prior.  I'm starting to get stir crazy!  I'm actually a bit bummed about having school cancelled the day before winter break (I know, that sounds crazy).  Usually the last day before school gets out, everyone is in a super cheery mood, lots of treats and excitement, handwritten Christmas cards from kids, and we were going to have our Market Day (where the kids sell their handmade crafts and sweets for each other.)   I have a pile of gifts and cards to give to some of the school staff and my student helpers.

So today I stayed home with my darling daughter and we played outside a little bit and made some chocolate pretzels.  Isn't she sweet in her kitty hat?  And catching snowflakes with her tongue, so precious.

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love this quote from Emerson.  I had been working on this collage painting for awhile and it seemed fitting to finish it today on a very dreary blizzard day.  

This is a hybrid art journal page.  The collage elements were physically cut and pasted in my journal. Then I scanned the page and added letters using Photoshop.

This is a collaborative art journal page made with my daughter.  She and I drew on the page with water soluble colored pencils, added water and spread the colors around.  Then, I collaged scrapbook papers and a sticker around the border.  Finally, I added acrylic paints to tone down some of the colors.  I'm in the process of adding words and other imagery to this page.

I signed up to do Reverb, but I haven't really done too many.  I did one or two as a journal page, but then sent that off somewhere and didn't take a picture of it.  Reverb gives you questions to reflect on from the year, to close out the year and start the next anew.

Reverb #6:   Compare the “you” from the beginning of 2012 to the “you” that you are now. What new skills or talents have you learned or discovered this year?  I have learned a few things about writing articles and interviewing artists for Featuring magazine.  It has been a great learning experience and a thrill to see my articles in print!  I learned the basics of Adobe Illustrator to create a design for my school.  I dabbled in glass fusing at a local shop and tried it with my elementary students.  I have learned to recognize my limits.  I have discovered that I have an abundance of ideas that I want to do someday, but I need to just pick one and go with it.  I've learned that when submitting your artwork to publications or competitions, rejection is a part of the process and that process shouldn't define my artwork or minimize my enjoyment.

Reverb #9:  What was the best book you read in 2012, and why? (And by "Why?" I mean: Why did you read it? And why was it your favourite? Although these answers could be one and the same...!)

The best book I have read this year was The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  Charming story, amazing cross-hatched drawings!  I love everything about it.  The movie was good too.  If you have not read it, take a look at it if only for the beautiful pictures.


Reverb #13:  Please post your favourite picture of yourself from 2012, self-portrait or otherwise!
This is one of my favorites because it reminds me of my trip to New York for the National Art Education Association conference.  What a blast!  This night I think was the night I walked about 50 blocks across New York city.  The lights.. the people.. so much going on.

More Reverb coming later!!

Linking to some of my favorite places:
Art Journal Every Day
The Answer is Chocolate
It's a Hodgepodge Life
Paint Party Friday

Project Life update

So much to be thankful for... lots of good friends.. a family who is very involved in our lives...
living in a beautiful city...  a job I really enjoy.

Print and color this card to give

Free Printable Christmas Card!

Marit, founder of Featuring magazine, suggested that we all make print and color holiday cards to post on the website.  For the past few years, I have made little cards from my artwork to use as thank you notes at school.  If a kid gives me a holiday gift or card I will give them one of my little artwork cards.  So, this was perfect, because now my holiday card is done for school.  Some kids at school saw me drawing this and they all said they wanted one, so I'm going to print off a bunch.

If you would like to print off this card for yourself or your kid to color, go ahead!

Do you make your own holiday cards?  If so, how do you do it?

Prayers and Love to Connecticut

Prayers and love to those in Connecticut.  I pray for peace, I pray for love, I pray for our country and world.  As a teacher, parent and human my heart is heavy today.

Here. Now.

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 Recently I have been using a grid format in my artwork, so I decided to use the challenge of creating an artwork based on a circular structure. I taught a lesson on radial designs to my third and fourth grade students and they created beautiful and intricate mandala designs so I was inspired to use a circle in my artwork. I started this collage by drawing two concentric circles on a piece of paper that was already painted. I cut the circles to create a ring. Then, I glued this ring onto a new background. Using a compass, I drew another circle outside of the ring. Then, I photocopied leaves on a color copier and added words using letter rub-ons. Finally, I added color and depth with markers, white out pen and oil pastels. I chose to place these words on the image as a reminder that I am here now. I need to embrace the moment I am in and not worry needlessly about other times.  

Mixed Media Canvases with Kids

Thanks for your kind comments about my fingers!  They are actually healing much faster than I expected. 

From time to time, I do a cross-post for both of my blogs.. My other blog is Art is Basic, where I chronicle my adventures teaching elementary art.  I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the mixed media canvases I did with an after school art class!

I thought painted canvases would be a great gift for kids to give someone in their family, so I decided to do an after school art class which I taught today.  The kids in this class were in grades K-5, so I had quite a range of skill levels.  23 kids signed up!

1st grade artwork

I bought a bunch of canvases, scrapbook papers and paints on Black Friday (yep, I braved the craziest shopping day to pick up some cheap art supplies.)

5th grader

Each kid chose a 12x12" or 9"x12" canvas and a selection of scrapbook papers.

The kids cut out shapes and imagery from the patterned scrapbook paper.  These were decoupaged on to the canvas using Mod-Podge puzzle saver glue (the kind that you can paint on to a finished puzzle to save it.)  Paint underneath and on top of each shape.  Smooth any wrinkles out with your fingers.  When you are finished mod-podging, use a hair dryer to dry the glue. 

3rd grader

The kids used acrylic craft paints to add paint and designs to their canvas.  Colored sharpie markers were also used for fine details.  It is very important to make sure the paint is dry (with a hair dryer) if you are going to use markers anywhere near the paint.  It will ruin the markers if the paint is wet.  Some students chose to write words on their picture.

Do you see the "love Marcia" at the bottom?  so sweet!  (made by a kindergartner)

The class ran from 3:15-5:00.  The kids mostly all finished by 4:45, which was good because we had a HUGE mess to clean up.  If I did this again, I might split it into two sessions.  It was a long day for the littlest kids. 

Kindergarten-- Lots of expression!

2nd grade

3rd grade

Kindergarten

2nd grade  Great shapes!

1st grade  I love the colors in this one.

4th grade girl

The four seasons-- 5th grade boy

(I just got a twitter account if you're interested in becoming my twitter friend.)
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Vote in the Art Ed Blog of the Year Contest

Exercise your right to vote! I just found out from Jessica over at The Art of Education that my art ed blog, Art is Basic, has been selected as one of the finalists to win "Art Ed Blog of the Year!" 

 

There are so many great blogs on this list and they are all ones that I follow on my blog reader.  Take a look at all the ones posted and you will get so many good ideas for your teaching. 

Art is Basic need your help to win! Voting is open this whole week from today through Friday the 14th. Could I ask you to take 30 seconds, follow this link, and vote for Art is Basic to win?! All you have to do is click on the name of my blog in the poll, and click vote.  Thanks for checking out the Art Ed Blog of the Year finalists.  It is so important to keep current on the latest in Art Education and these blogs provide a lot of discussion to the field of teaching art.    Thanks, Jessica, for hosting this contest and spreading the word about so many good art blogs!

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