Georgia O'Keeffe X 4

In my continuing attempt to have different projects result from teaching the same lesson, I bring you Georgia O'Keeffe 4 different ways.  I introduced the lesson the same way all 4 days.  I simply changed the subject and medium every day.  We really focused on the ways Georgia abstracted her images (by zooming in on the subject matter and drawing all the little details or by drawing the objects as shapes).  The students were to focus on filling up the page and blending lots of colors together.

Day One = Georgia O'Keeffe Inspired Flowers with Chalk Pastel

Day Two = Georgia O'Keeffe Inspired Bones with Chalk Pastel

Day Three = Georgia O'Keeffe Inspired Bones with Oil Pastel

Day Four = Georgia O'Keeffe Inspired Flowers with Oil Pastel

The students selected their color schemes but we talked about mixing colors and how mixing among color families is better than mixing across the color wheel.  

I love that we have 4 different looking project with one lesson.  This week we are working on Wayne Thiebaud inspired images (I love drawing peeps... and eating peeps).  The classes who used oil pastel last week are using chalk pastel this week and vice versa.  I will post them when they are done.  

WORKSHOP LOVE!

A while back I signed up for an encaustic workshop at our local art center but since it was during the school day and I don't currently teach encaustics, I was denied.  Lucky for me the artist came back to town for an "artists in residency" at Norfolk Senior High School and decided to host a night time workshop.

I learned so much... and fell in LOVE with encaustics!  It was so much fun.  You had no control over what was happening.  It was all about playing and experimenting and removing and creating and layering and playing and learning....

Here are a few things I created in the 3 hour workshop.

This was our poured collage... you put down some stuff.  Pour some wax.  Put down more stuff.  Pour more wax. Manipulate as desired (I scrapped away the way on the smaller butterfly and created texture by painting with a brush).  If you leave it flat, the wax dries smooth.  If you wiggle it, like I did, the wax dries bumpy.  

This is a poured collage with colored wax painted on top.  I painted, layered and then "hit it with heat to make the wax dance."  The colors mixed together.  Then I scraped off some wax and then incised into the remaining wax.  To finish it, I painted dots of wax.  

This was my texture painting.  I painted layers of colored wax.  Scraped, painted, scraped and painted.  I put lace down and layered wax on top... then removed the wax to see they textures.  

Oh my this was fun... I played a lot with spackling on my paintings in college and this was like that but better.  The wax had this beautiful transparency that I never would have had before.  It was fun hanging out with other people, creating and learning from them.  I saw whole images made of dots.  I saw hand colored photographs.  I saw photo transfers.  I saw gorgeous poured collages.  It was a great night! Thank you Margaret Berry for sharing this wonderful medium with us!

That Student....

Today was one of those days that I kept thinking  "that student is....

That student is spending soooo much time off task they are never going to get anything done...

 

  I know they are being creative cutting squares, out of squares, out of squares but that is not the project! 

That student is going to hate me for pushing them and never accepting their work as done...

I only push them because I know they can handle it and because they are sooo close to being really great!

This student is never going to finish...

...they are too much of a perfectionist for our short schedule.  Thankfully they are willing to work at home!

This student just wants to be DONE!

... they complete the project as quickly as possible.  They make sure to meet all the minimum requirements; but nothing more!

  

It is funny that different students fall into different groups during different projects.  It reinforces the idea that I have to offer multiple projects throughout the year... I never know what project will spark a student into the 'wow, I am proud of myself' group.  

Pattern Crazy

So the last few weeks have had a lot of stuff happening... Due to H2O Daze activities,  maps testing and state basketball playoffs classes have been coming by homeroom instead of in regular order.  That means no seating charts, no tracking of who is coming or going... just trusting that homeroom teachers are bringing those who need to come, when they need to come.  We did a quick lesson to fill in this time.

We had done several cityscapes earlier so we did pattern filled landscapes.  We talked about the different stuff we would see in a landscape instead of a cityscape.  They drew a simple landscape and filled it with patterns (yes I was inspired by all the zentangle drawings I have been seeing). Some left them white...

and some choose to add color using chalk pastels.

and one class only got to see me once... so we snitched the NAEA Zentangle booth demo directions from Sylvia at Artsmudge.  On the board I showed them what a ladybug, aurora, shell and pick-up stick drawing would look like.  Then I read them the directions and they each created something unique.  

I think (but who knows) next week will be back to "normal."

This week has been beautiful around here... hope spring is starting to spring around all of you.  I know the beautiful colors my kiddos used today have me thinking spring!

My little birdies

Yesterday we finished up our pinch pot birds... and I love them.  They are so funny and so cute!

Here is part of the "flock"

and here are some single birdies...

(thanks for letting me play with pixlr o-matic on these...)

I am safe...

Don't want anyone worrying about me since I didn't do anymore posting from New York... but there was just too much fun to be had.  And then since I have been home there has been laundry, snuggling the 3 kiddos I missed so much and SLEEP!  Some major highlights...

Seeing my students work on the artsonia "big screen"

The MOMA.... love that I can truly show my kiddos some size references.  

Time square.... the energy, the colors, the people, the whole thing! 

check out the billboard that a million people ignore :)

The food tour... since i paid for this trip 100% of my own pocket I didn't feel bad indulging in some non-convention fun!

and the convention... it is never a bad time hanging out with other awesome art teachers.  I am on info. overload with all the new ideas, product and info. 

New York City!

We are here! We left home about 3 this morning. Flew out about 8 and got into town about noon. Got registered at the convention, saw the MOMA, had a great Cuban sandwich at Tina's Cuban Cuisine and now I am thinking about bed! Tomorrow will be another big day. We are thinking about going to Wicked tomorrow night....yeah! So..... My notes on the MOMA. It is definitely a modern art museum but I was blown away with all we saw. I am not a fan of taking pics of me, but for some of them I could not pass up the opportunity...think Keith Haring, Dali's Persistence of Memory, Picaaso's Three Guitarists, Jackson Pollock, Monet's water lilies and so much more. I love that I can show the kids a size reference on these pieces. I also took many photos of several different pictures. I see this becoming a "game" where the kids have to match up the images. I also took close up photos of abstract artwork so the kids can see all that really goes into those projects. As for project inspiring artists/artwork that were completely new to me... Kara Walker printing images onto other drawings. Sol DeWitt had line drawings (only lines). Ellen Gallagher had added things to magazine ads(think drawing a mustache onto someone). Martha Rosler had photos mounted with a list of synonyms beside them. Sanja Ivekovic compared her personal photographs to Marilyn Monroe photos to make a statement about how celebrities can be anyone. I think I took close to 100 photos there...too bad I can't add them to here. Well I best log off for tonight. Tomorrow brings more fun!