Oh the Things You Can Find in an Old Art Room

A painted teacher smock.

I have been teaching for three years now and have had two different art rooms, one for each of the districts I've taught in.  I have worked closely with other art teachers in my district and viewed their storage rooms and stock piles from previous art teachers. It always amazes me at the types of treasures that can be found. 

As art teachers, I feel like we tend to suffer from hoarding.  I know I am guilty of this.  Anytime Ben is about to recycle or throw something away such as yogurt containers, cereal boxes, and egg cartons, he always comes to me first and asks if I need it.  This makes me both happy and sad at the same time.  I'm ecstatic that Ben has realized that as an artist and art teacher, I see potential from typical garbage and have a desire to give it a new purpose.  But at the same time, I'm saddened by this because sometimes I collect things for months and won't use them for a few more months or even years if at all.  So all the things I collect get stored until my brilliant ideas become a reality and I can use them in or to teach a lesson. The storage facility is either my garage, which leads to unhappy Ben, or the limited space of my shared art room. I have an art teacher friend who made a pledge for herself to not collect garbage and spend the money for actual paint palettes and water cups so there was a uniformed and cleanly look to her room.  I have started to try and be more purposeful in my collections but am still working on it. My collections don't just stop at potential waste products.  I accept donations from parents and businesses such as five cases of old school printing paper with the little tearaway edges and perforated page breaks as well as fabric samples, yarn, toys, and the list goes on and on.

Urine Specimen Kits and FedEx shipping bags.

I continue to accept freebie items because I'm always worried about my budget.  Drawing paper is expensive, paint is expensive, Sharpie markers are expensive and if there is anything I can do to stretch my budget a little farther, I'm all for it, hence the significant amount of donated and collected items.  The fear of running out of supplies for a project is very real for me.  At my previous school district I had very little wiggle room in my budget; try getting enough art supplies for 200 students for a full year of art for $250. It was extremely difficult to manage but I had alternative material lessons and my students got a strong understanding of mixed media as we tried to stretch our supplies as far as they could go.

In addition to holding on to a collection of non-traditional art supplies, I, as well as many of my colleagues, have a tight grip on supplies the previous art teacher purchased even if they're from the 1950's.  After I graduated high school, one of my dear friends who was years ahead of me took the position of our old art teacher, who had just retired.  I remember hearing the horror stories of the products she found such as powdered paint mixes, glazes with lead, and adhesives that were quite questionable.  She informed me, for my future art room cleanings, that she had to call and have a lot of the materials properly disposed of as to not contaminate the classroom or landfills.  Some of the pictures she shared of these products made me sad to throw them out.  The containers and typography were gorgeous as long as you forgot about the carcinogenic poison inside. 

I still have no understanding of this thing's purpose.

I have not experienced the same caliber of inherited ancient art supplies like my friend, but I have found some pretty cool things, as well as tools that I have no idea what they were ever used for.  For example, a new kindergarten teacher was hired in my old school district the year before I left and she gave me a bunch of stuff that was from the arts and craft center.  Smiling and being overly gracious I took it all, all the boxes of sponge stamps, cheap brushes, scraps of paper, and stencils to my room for sorting.  I always figure if it is free and I can't find a use for it, I'll pitching it or donating it after I look through it.  It's no skin off my back to help another person find their treasure from my trash, especially if I find something for my room.  Inside one of the many boxes I took were tons of these weird plastic, rubber lid things.  I have Google'd this item and have yet to find something remotely similar, so I have no idea what it's purpose is.  But these strange four inch circles  housed a two inch tall rubber cone that sat inside the lid.  At the top of this cone was an opening, much like that of the tips for a pipping bag in a bakery.  The only thing I could come up with was it was actually a lid that fit very specific size of paint jars that were being used; the opening in the cone helped keep brushes from getting lost in the jar.  If anyone has an answer to this, I would greatly appreciate knowing the function of this tool. I found a whole another box in my new school's storage room and am still perplexed everyday that I walk by them.

My second find was a beautiful tempra paint bottle from Binney and Smith, the company that made Crayola Crayons.  This was so beautiful that I took it and it lives in my studio. Every time I look at it, it reminds me that there was a time where the care in presentation and packaging coincided with function. The curves on this rubbery, plastic paint bottle and the nozzle for releasing paint are absolutely perfect. I wish I had a set to use in the classroom, it would make paint dispensing much easier. 

Tempra paint bottle and Friendly Plastic.

Another find that I had to share with an old ceramic professor of mine was the Friendly Plastic by Amaco.  This thing is absolutely insane.  No matter what I did or how closely I followed the directions, I just couldn't get this stuff to work. In case you don't know what Friendly Plastic is, it is a bunch of 3"x 1" sticks of colored plastic that you are supposed to be able to melt to a mold-able consistency with warm water. Judging by the jewelry and fashion styles in this instructional pamphlet that came in the container this jar was produced somewhere between the mid 80s to early 90s.  Amaco still makes Friendly Plastic in stick and pellet forms.  I have not tried the newer stuff, which I imagine work better than the 25 year old plastic I have but I couldn't resist trying my free old stuff.  My favorite part of the instructions is the caution statement; it reads "Caution: Friendly Plastic will soften or melt at approximately 100*F (38*C).  DO NOT expose sticks or finished pieces to direct sunlight or areas of concentrated heat such as in a closed car."  Reading this always makes me smile as I wonder how many people actually lost their jewelry to a sunny day at the beach or in the cup holder of their car.  After trying this at home, I definitely decided I couldn't use this with my middle school art students and that there was no use keeping it in my classroom.  It soon after fell into my collection of ancient art materials.

The tabletop printing press & my silly trial.

The most recent of my finds was in my new classroom.  I've been teaching in my new district for about five months as we're about half way through the school year. I moved a box while cleaning out a small section of my storage room and behind that box was a small collection of silk screens.  For an elementary art room, I was super stoked to have these.  The high school art rooms that I had been at previous didn't have screens for printing.  As I was coming off my giddy art teacher high from my new discovery, I realized that the box I made moved was a table top printing press.  I had to stop what I was doing and print something right then.  It works but needs a little bit of help getting the bed to run through smoothly, but I definitely think it will make printmaking more exciting for my students.  Not only a I super stoked for the press, but the box still had the original instructions and a small container of questionable, crystallized amber contents.  This has just become one of my new toys to play with on summer vacation.  

All in all, I think being an art teacher is a great job! Budget's and questionable materials at aside, what other job lets you feel like Indiana Jones?  I mean, you collect ancient supplies, dangerously dig under piles of stuff in your storage room (those rolling stone balls are not just hidden in primitive caves, they exist in your art storage so beware), and all the kids swoon over your cool demeanor. As long as I teach, I will continue to be a bit of a supply hoarder and I will still keep a collection of weird, old materials, nothing will change that.  However, I do promise to keep it under control as much as possible. 

Happy dabbling. 

Optical Illusions for Elementary

One of my favorite parts of being an Elementary Art Teacher is the excitement and joy the students have when they come into my classroom.  I feel like a mini-celebrity. Now don't get me wrong, not every kid loves coming into my classroom; I have those students who choose to do the opposite of what I suggest, cry when they make a mistake, or just use the time to socialize.  But the majority of my day is filled with students who show the desire to make and learn from me, which has been a new experience coming from an urban middle school.

Sometimes when coming up with ideas for projects and different ways to teach a concept, I purposely look for the hook.  How can I get the students excited for the project? Seeing their reaction to new materials, mediums, and skills just doesn't seem to ever get old.  It definitely keeps the repetition of teaching the same lesson several times a day interesting for me.

I decided to challenge my third and fourth grade students with a project that I did with my sixth graders the year before.  When comparing my elementary students at my new school with my middle school students at the old school, I would say that the elementary students are just as advanced as most of the sixth and seventh graders I taught in regards to their ability to follow directions, create interesting ideas, making connections to subject matter outside the art room, and a good portion of their motor skills. This new project was to create an optical illusion.

The optical illusion project was an assignment that one of my pre-internship teachers, Brenda, taught her students while I was teaching with her.  It was an easy project with several steps, combining basic skills the students learned over the course of their few weeks in her class such as composition, value, color blending, and using a ruler.

Having just finished this lesson, I've been doing some heavy reflection.  My 3rd and 4th grade students have been more successful than my 6th and 7th grade students in some ways and in others have been lower on the totem pole of success.  This project took much longer than I had anticipated partly because they were stuck on their rough draft idea and partly because I only have them for an hour once as week so by the time they build up momentum, it's time to clean up.  There were minimum tears when strips of paper got lost or someone glued their piece upside down, but the students and I both survived and made some pretty nice art in the process.

The optical illusions are now hanging in the hallway in preparation for conferences this week.  As cool as these pieces of art are, they are difficult to photograph and attach to bulletin boards.  I found myself having to use multiple staples in each piece of art, mainly stapling in the fold creases to try and keep them as accordion shaped as possible.  Hopefully these images will give you an idea of how they look in person.

Happy dabbling.

Title: Optical Illusions
Grade: 3-4                Class Periods: 3- 60 minute Class

Elements of Design: Form, Color, and Texture
Principles of Design: Emphasis, Movement, and Contrast

Materials & Resources:
Previous student work                                                    Teacher demonstration/work Images/books on optical illusions                                   Rough Draft Paper                    
White Drawing Paper 10" x 8"                                        Misc. Paper 8" x 20"
Crayons                                                                             Rulers
Glue                                                                                   Scissors
Pencils

Objectives: 

• The student is able to describe and identify an optical illusion. 
• The student can create an optical illusion by utilizing cutting and folding skills.
• The student is able to measure accurately with a ruler, draw and cut straight lines.

Learning Activities:  3 Day Project

Day 1:

1. Show and discuss optical illusions.  Introduce the project by showing examples and give an overall demonstration of the creation process.
2. Students  should begin to come up with ideas for their optical illusion.  I like to have students choose either two objects that go together like peanut butter and jelly or two objects that don't go together like a dog and a cat.  Have the students practice drawing their object or subject matter.
3. After the final draft is complete, have the students draw their final draft.  Each object/subject they chose gets its own piece of 8" x 10" white drawing paper.  For example the dog would be drawn on one piece of paper and the cat would be drawn on the second piece of paper.  Discussing composition in regards to negative and positive space is helpful to get the students to fill the paper 
4. After students have started the drawing of their final draft, demonstrate value application and blending of crayons to enhance the visual interest of their artwork. 
5. Allow the students to begin applying value to their artwork. 

Day 2:

1. Review information about Optical Illusions, value, composition (negative/positive space).
2. Allow students some time to finish the color application part of their assignment.  
3. As students get closer and closer to finishing the color application portion start demonstrating how to use a ruler. Show the students how to measure one inch marks at the top of their drawing and the bottom.  Connect the top and bottom notch to create a straight vertical line that breaks the drawing into one inch strips of paper.  Have students do this on the back of their drawings as it won't damage their art if they make a mistake. 
4. Have students label one picture A and one B with each strip getting a number after the letter.  For example, picture A would have strips labeled as A1, A2, A3 and so forth. This helps identify missing or unidentifiable pieces.

Day 3: 

1. Review Optical illusions, how to use a ruler accurately, and demonstrate the next step of the assignment.  
2. Have each student cut their two drawings into the one inch strips they measured  from the previous class. Put each picture back together like a puzzle so the drawing is facing up.  This eliminates pieces from getting glued upside down.
3. Students should combine both drawings by alternating one inch strips.  An example of this would be A1, B1, A2, B2, A3, B3.  Do this until they reach the end of their pictures.  The strips should be glued next to each other not overlapping one another.
4. Using the 8" x 20" sheet of paper, have students use just enough glue to attach each strip in the order above to the paper.  Too much glue will result in a super stiff piece of art and the students will not be able to fold the artwork when the glue dries.
5. It is best to fold the artwork when the glue has dried a bit but you don't have to. Have students do an accordion or fan fold in between each strip.

Assessment:

4.0 - The student understands and can make an optical illusion by using a ruler and value without help. They can help another student or teach a friend.

3.0- The student understands and can make an optical illusion by using a ruler and value with minimal help from the teacher. 

2.0- The student needs help from the teacher to make an optical illusion by using a ruler and value. The student needs assistance when identifying and describing an optical illusion.  

1.0- The student is dependent on help from the teacher to complete an optical illusion by using a ruler and value. The student needs assistance when identifying and describing an optical illusion.   

0.0-  The student is unable to create an optical illusion by using a ruler and value even with a teacher's help.  The student does not understand nor can they identify and describe an optical illusion.

A New Year Means A Clean Start

Happy New  Year!  I can't believe it is 2015 already.  It's a clique to say but I can't help but feel it's true; time flies, especially is you're having fun!  Reflection is a big part of my artistic and educational pedagogy.  I spend much of my time reflecting in my daily tasks.  When a task takes a lot of repetition like cleaning and cutting vegetables, I feel my mind go to what I can best describe as a meditative state, much like when I throw pots.  It's in this state that I do my best think: about life, my career, my artwork, and the world around me. 

I'm still reflecting on 2014, a lot of good things happened in the beginning of the year but it didn't end as positively as I had imagined.  The holidays were strewn with several deaths and illnesses of close friends and family and the stress of being a part-time art teacher and artist started to weigh heavily on me.  Stress tends to make me cleaning and organizing, as if the physical ability to clean and organize chaos helps me clean and organize my emotions, thoughts, and demands.  The other nice part of cleaning and organizing is the accomplished feeling of starting fresh.  I don't think there is ever quite as good of a sleep as going to bed the first night of making the bed in clean linens. A new semester or school year is always fresh with the feeling of anything is possible.  

Keeping my house and my classroom clean and organized are a way I help keep my stress levels low.  I have been accused of being a "clean art teacher"; I'm not sure if that is good or bad but it seems to hold true when I reflect on my daily teachings.  One thing I let get out of hand is glue bottles.  

It seems a majority of the art teachers that I have run into lately are obsessed with glue sponges.  They have their plastic lidded containers with a sponge filled with glue inside.  This, I do say, is a really cool idea and I love it for certain projects, but I just can't seem to drop the use of glue bottles completely. I think learning how to use a glue bottle appropriately is an important skill even if it seems a bit passé. Through the few years of teaching experience I have had, I have developed a stream line way to clean and fill the glue bottles so it doesn't eat up a bunch of my time.  I even learned a new trick from one of my fellow second grade teachers while cleaning this semester's glue bottles.  

Glue Bottle Cleaning Procedure

1. Get a microwaveable safe bowl.   
2. Line up your glue bottles and remove all the caps.  Place each cap in the open position in the microwaveable safe bowl.  
3. Wipe down each uncapped glue bottle to remove buildup, especially near that top.
4. After all the caps are open and removed, fill the bowl with water.  
5. Microwave the bowl filled with glue caps from 3-5 minutes.  I sometimes repeat this process several times, giving the caps a good swirl with a brush handle to agitate the glue clumps.
6. Once the water in the bowl has cooled enough to handle, use a paper clip to remove any glue that did not dissolve in the hot water from the inside of the glue cap.
7. Run water from a faucet in the glue cap to ensure it is clear.
8. Fill all glue bottles going down the line.
9. Cap each glue bottle and store in your usual location.

This whole process takes me alone about an hour.  If I don't have time to do it by myself, which let's face it, many of us teacher's don't, I'll have students come and help me.  They love fishing glue clumps out the caps.  I always fill the glue bottles myself because I don't want students accidentally spilling a gallon of glue all over my floor.  Having students help gives me the ability to multi-task and get a lot accomplished.  

To some people this may seem like a headache and not worth the time, but I believe the care I and the students exhibit to the glue bottles will make them last longer.  Plus, I hate having students come me during projects with glue bottles that need emergency de-gluing.  I would much rather make this part of my winter and summer cleaning so that my lessons run smoothly. 

The one trick that my second grade teacher shared was using Vaseline.  By putting a dab of Vaseline inside the the tapered part of the glue cap the cap doesn't clog.  Apparently the lubrication keeps the glue from sticking to the interior walls of the glue cap.  While talking about this in the lounge, another teacher said that she had read that if you soak the entire glue cap in vegetable oil it prevents the caps from clogging as well. After cleaning the glue caps before winter break I tried the Vaseline trick.  We've only been back in session for a few days now but I hope it works and will soon be part of my glue bottle cleaning ritual. 

Happy dabbling.  

Fireplace Tiling Update: One Step Closer to Being Done

Before & After shot.

 It's a little late, I know but things get crazy as the year gets closer to a close.  Ben and I have been so pleased with the construction of the fireplace.  The transformation has made us enjoy spending time in the living room and given us loads of experience.  I don't think most people can say this about their significant other but I really love working on projects with him.  We communicate and work well together, making projects an enjoyable activity.  I'm also thankful that he knows how to put up with a creative type.  Ben is really good about respecting my need to create.  There are days when he would come home from work in the summer and the house would sparkle because of all the cleaning and organizing I did and then there were days when the sewing machine was out with fabric spread across the living room floor, pots drying on the kitchen counter, and paintings half done in his office.  Ben never complains and only says supportive things when it comes to my artwork.  His favorite phrase when coming home to find his artist in full creation mode is "Oh, my One Little Artist". In addition to dealing with the mess, he understands that time sometimes gets the best of me. I always seem to underestimate how long a project will really take.  But he makes accommodations and helps when he can to make it go faster.

I had originally estimated that fireplace would take us two weekends to complete and would cost approximately $500.  With borrowing tools we had to accommodate the time of the owner of the tools, since the owners' were my grandfather and stepfather,  it wasn't a huge inconvenience.  It took three weeks to finish the bookcases, fireplace frame, and the mantel which cost about $450 (including supplies and a few new tools).  Almost all of what I had budgeted for the entire project and we still had to tile the cement board!

   

Brooks & I contemplating our next move.

Picking out tile was a difficult task.  We searched high and low online and in stores.  The tile was one of the finishing touches that was going to affect the aesthetic qualities of the room and the type of decoration we would use in  there.  It was a lot of pressure.  I had this idea of subway tile in a dark matte gray and Ben wanted something more sophisticated and classical.  We ended finding some beautiful white marble with swirls of gray and ivory in the size and shape of the tiles I wanted.  It was the perfect compromise for us (especially since finding a dark, matte gray subway tile was becoming impossible).  Just not the perfect price.  But Ben wanted the fireplace done right the first time, even if that meant paying for more than we wanted.  After purchasing 20 square feet of tile, special mortar, grout, sealer, a tile cutter, and spacers, we spent $450; the exact amount of which we had spent to build the entire fireplace design.  It was a steep price, but looking at it now we're happy we spent the extra money.  The fireplace looks absolutely beautiful! We might have done too good of a job as Ben's parents who are moving into a condo in February are asking us to design their unfinished basement.  

The tiling was the second most stressful task in this project; the first being demolition as one couldn't go backwards.  I think it was stressful because  a) the tile was very expensive, b) I had never tiled before but I had built a massive anagama kiln, which is pretty much the same thing, right?, and c) everyone told us how miserable tiling was and how we should just hire a contractor.   We pushed through and did it ourselves.  The Saturday after Thanksgiving my mom and stepfather came to help.  We cooked a second Thanksgiving meal, the first holiday meal in our new house, for them as we spent Thanksgiving with Ben's family this year.  

We laid the tile out in in the shape of the fireplace, made necessary cuts, and double checked everything before mixing the mortar.  It felt like we worked for only a few minutes as we raced to ensure the mortar didn't dry out, but it really took us about two hours to complete the tiling.  The next day after the mortar dried, I used a disposable pipping bag and mixed up the grout.  The pipping bag made it really easy to put the grout in the gaps between tiles.  For three days, I let the grout dry and washed it down to remove any residue left.  By the end of the week I had sealed it to protect the tiles and laid the little bit of trim to finish off the hearth, making a clean delineation from where the tile and where the laminate floor started.  Looking back at the entire tiling experience, I rather enjoyed it. I think all the planning we did prior to the actual mortaring of the tile helped eliminate a lot of the issues people had warned us about...or perhaps we're just that good.

Christmas 2014

It has been so nice to have the fireplace done...well at least the major construction.  I do have a couple tiny spots on the trim to sand and paint, as well as adding the cabinet doors to the bottom of the bookcases, but the majority of it is done.  I haven't had this much pride in something I've completed in quite sometime, probably since my first successful soda firing in college.  Every time I look in the living room, I am pleasantly surprised and impressed.  It has made all the time and a money worth it to be comfortable in our home. The Christmas decorations made it feel even cozier and I can't wait to actually furnish the room.

Happy dabbling.

A Cupcake Party: An Introduction to Wayne Thiebaud

I am a 3-D artist.  I went to school to study ceramics.  I was the studio tech for both the ceramic and sculpture studios.  My 3-D skills have led to me remodeling sections of my home and building furniture for it. It is what I am passionate about. I love the tactile touch and ability to manipulate materials to create.  Because 3-D art and the process of making 3-D work is so important to me it is something I want my students to experience.

I have been teaching for three years now.  Most of the art teachers I have met along the way have had a 2-D background as their focus.  Even when I was in my art ed cohorts my peers were mainly 2-D students.  I would be begged by my peers and professors to create lessons to present and share that were sculptural or clay based.  I didn't mind sharing those ideas that I had but I always felt like I was being jipped because I wanted experience teaching a 2-D lesson prior to teaching in the classroom.

As I got into my first classroom (I shared it with the Mandarin teacher, so it wasn't really mine yet.  I got the room to myself the second year I was at that school which made a huge difference in my teaching) I felt absolutely panicked.  I'd been making pots most of my college career with a sprinkling of painting, drawing, printing making, and color theory here and there. I can draw and paint but it always felt like this foreign land to me. So I sent emails to peers, scoured Pinterest, and eventually dug my way out of the resources to develop lessons that were solid. Not all my lessons were successful.  Some failed because of extenuating circumstances and outside factors.  I had lessons that had been fantastic, yielding beautiful work and a classroom of engaged learners in the rural, middle part of Michigan but were complete flops in the urban setting of Detroit.  I had lessons that crashed and burned because students weren't at the developmental level that I had expected them to be.  But while I was testing out lessons and getting a feel for teaching art, I noticed just how expensive 3-D materials are!  It all made sense to me now, looking back at my elementary and high school art experience.  We created mainly 2-D projects to save money.  I admit paper is expensive but you can service a lot more students for the same price as clay and glazes for one project.  Even tools are expensive. This was something I never really thought about while in college.

Which brings me to my focus here, I'm now teaching elementary art.  I did some pre-internship work at the elementary level and subbed for two weeks in an elementary art room but that was the end of my art teaching experience.  Prior to my new job, I was teaching middle school art 2 miles outside of Detroit starting right after I graduated. My student teaching experience was even at the high school level.  I did have some experience running a before school care program for K-5 students where we did arts and crafts but that was different from a classroom setting.  The students had a different mindset, even I had a different mindset.  So now that I have been teaching elementary art, I've had to step back frequently and think about all the skills one must have mastered to use a stapler, roll paper, and measure with a ruler.  Basic skills that I have taken for granted as an adult, artist, and previous middle school art teacher.  This frequent reflection I feel has helped improve my teaching.  I feel like my learning targets are more easily managed by students and my process of giving directions has improved as well.

So all of this comes together with my last project before the New Year with my students.  My birthday is Christmas; December 25th, 1987.  Every year I look back at previous birthdays and holiday experiences and I always seem to remember being forgotten, having to do extra chores to get the house ready for guests (though my siblings didn't have to work at all on their birthdays), or being given one gift to service both occasions .  Even Ben, my soon-to-be husband forgot my birthday while we were dating one year and bought me a bag of M&Ms...very romantic to say the least.  I feel a little childish knowing that these experiences still bother me.  I mean, at 26 I should be over this by now right? But I'm not.  So this year I decided that I was going to teach a lesson that celebrated my birthday and it was going to be a 3-D lesson. What better way to celebrate my existence than doing something I love with the students I enjoy so much...plus kids are always so excited!

I made a quick presentation on Google Drive about Wayne Thiebaud for the class with lots of images.  My three months of teaching elementary art has taught me to keep my talking short and not to overload them with facts like middle and high school students.  We discussed a little about Wayne Thiebaud and looked at his paintings.  I told the class about my birthday situation and how I wanted to throw a party for myself at school so my students could be part of that celebration.  This made them all excited.  We created cupcake sculptures modeled after Thiebaud's Four Cupcakes of 1971.  I did see a lesson similar to this at the Michigan Art Education Association Conference this past November, but I didn't spend the money on the fancy frosting ($14 for about a pint of foamy paint--not going to go far if you have a class of 27) I just made my own.  The recipe is at the bottom of this page!

This was my first 3-D lesson with my students and they did a great job following procedures and rules  while making their art, especially with it being the week of winter break.  The first day I taught it, I hadn't anticipated the students having such a difficult time stapling bulletin board boarders on a cup.  I spent a lot of my time stapling for them.  This caused a way more down time for some students, which could have been problematic, but I was impressed with how they entertained themselves and kept from causing trouble (they drew faces on people they found in the newspaper we were using).  Other than that it went smoothly.  I went home that night, trying to figure out how I could improve the lesson so there wasn't so much free time for some students.  My solution: I implemented stations.  I made a name writing and teacher code station, a stapling station, a cupcake stuffing station, the frosting station, and a candle and sprinkles station.  For students that finished early, I found a How to Draw Olaf in 12 easy steps and posted it on the board and made that the last thing they could do.  Class went super smoothly, the room wasn't as messy as the day before and I wasn't worried about students causing trouble because they all wanted to draw Olaf.

When finished, I setup all the cupcakes in a display case outside of the library for all to see.  People loved them and were amazed at the supplies we used.  It was a real great moment for me to hear how excited the younger kids and parents were when they walked by.  I definitely feel like I'm making a place for myself at this school. It was very exciting for me to see how all the cupcakes turned out.  Some of them, I thought, looked pretty legit and almost edible.

Below you'll find a basic lesson plan format and the recipe for the frosting.  I hope this inspires you with your own projects and classroom.

Happy dabbling.

Faux Frosting Recipe

Title: A Cupcake Party: An Introduction to Wayne Thiebaud
Grade: 3-4                Class Periods: 1- 60 minute Class

Elements of Design: Form, Color, and Texture
Principles of Design: Emphasis, Movement, and Contrast

Materials & Resources:
Previous student work                                                        Teacher demonstration/work          
9oz or 5oz   Plastic Cups                                                    Images of Thiebaud's Work
Construction Paper Scraps (Various Colors)                  Scrap Bulletin Board Boarders
Staplers                                                                                Staples
Glue                                                                                       Scissors
Newspaper                                                                           Tape
Paint                                                                                      Shaving Cream
Sharpie                                                                                 Hole Punchers

Objectives: 

• The student is able to describe and identify a sculpture. 
• The student can create a sculpture utilizing form and texture.
• The student has an introductory knowledge of Wayne Thiebaud and Pop Art.  

Learning Activities:  1 Day Project

1. Show and discuss Wayne Thiebaud's artwork along with basic Pop Art and sculpture information.
2. Students  should write their name on the bottom of their plastic cup in Sharpie. 
3. Have students staple and fold the bulletin board boarders around the base of the cup.  The cup should be hidden by the boarder to create the look of a cupcake wrapper. 
4. The students should drizzle a little bit of glue on the inside of the cup.  Emphasize the importance of putting glue on the bottom and side walls of the cup to ensure the newspaper will stick. 
5. Crumple up a ball of newspaper, about the size of a softball and stick it in the cup so the top puffs out just a little.  If you can get the newspaper smooth on the top, it will make hiding the newspaper easier.
6. Apply the faux frosting to the top of the newspaper.  Emphasize the creation of texture to make it look like real frosting.  
7. Students can use hole punchers to create sprinkles from the scrap pieces of construction paper.  Students can also roll construction paper to create a candle if they wish.
8. Set aside to dry for at least a day and then display.

Assessment:

4.0 - The student understands and can make a sculpture utilizing form and texture without help.            They can help another student or teach a friend.

3.0- The student understands and can make a sculpture utilizing form and texture with minimal            help from the teacher. 

2.0- The student needs help from the teacher to make a sculpture utilizing form and texture.                 The student needs assistance when identifying and describing a sculpture.  

1.0- The student is dependent on help from the teacher to complete a sculpture utilizing form               and texture.  The student needs assistance when identifying and describing a sculpture.   

0.0-  The student is unable to create a sculpture utilizing form and texture even with a teacher's           help.  The student does not understand nor can they identify and describe a sculpture.

Fireplace Update: An Ambitious Task

I have to be one of the worst people at judging how long a project is going to take me.  When I go to glaze all my bisque ware I estimate it that it will take me three to four hours tops and usually I will be eight hours in and almost half way done.  Even when I decided to take our small kitchen table and refinish it one summer.  Ben, unknowingly said that a new look for the table would be wonderful, especially since I told him it would be a weekend project, three days max.  And nine days later, our table was returned to the kitchen.  Thankfully, I chose to do that in the summer so we were able to use our patio table to eat on instead.

Original fireplace.

So this time, I suggested we change the facade of our fireplace in our new home.  Now when I say fireplace, I really mean the whole wall.  We bought our home in July and this was one thing that I was eager to get done.  I truly thought it would take about two weekends to complete.  Well, we started this project in mid-October and so very close to finishing it now. Part of the reason it took us so long is that we only have a few tools and had to rely on family to borrow the ones we needed to complete this project.  As first time home buyers we're still trying to furnish our house (we have several empty rooms and rooms that need more purposeful furniture) and really didn't think much about buying and collecting tools the last few years. So we had to wait a week or so before we were able to borrow and buy all the materials.  This is where a lot of my time has been spent when not working on school stuff.

Demolish to current state.

So as you can see, our fireplace was pretty as it came with the house, however, I just felt it could be better.  Ben believed me and trusted me with my vision.  It took about two weeks to get the entire thing built and painted.  Which looking back at it, hasn't been so bad, just messy in the house.  The last few things we have left are tiling the fireplace, adding doors to the bottom half of the bookcases and touching up just a few areas with paint.  Ben and I are still collecting tile samples.  My first vision was to use a medium sized subway tile that was a dark matte gray, but after searching high and low and the few tile samples I had delivered, we've declared that that isn't the best option. Our current tile consideration is a rectangular soft,white and gray swirled marble. My current goal is to complete this project before Thanksgiving, but as I look at my calendar I think we'll be completing it on Thanksgiving break.  I just can't wait to decorate it for the Holidays!

Hopefully I'll be able to show you completed pictures soon!

Happy dabbling!

Artprize: 3rd & 4th Grade Field Trip

During October, I chaperoned one of the field trips for my third and fourth grade students.  We attended Artprize!  For those of you who don't know what Artprize is, it is an event held by the city of Grand Rapids where different businesses and their properties become art venues.  Both indoor and outdoor properties are transformed as artists from all over Michigan, the United States, and globe  apply to compete in this art competition.  Artists apply in the early spring and businesses choose the art they like best.  In past years, the winning artists and artwork have been solely chosen by public vote, however, Artprize has slowly gone away from just the public vote and has added a judging section by critics/artists in the field.  To learn more about Artprize, please follow the link attached.

Our Artprize bag and pages from the program.

It had been a number of years since I had been able to view and participate in the events of Artprize.  In fact, my first and last time time now had been the very first Artprize in 2008, 6 years ago.  Art prize has been great for the community of Grand Rapids and is huge aspect pride for the community.  This year was the first year, according to my docent, that Artprize had Educational Days where schools could sign up for a special arts activity.  This years activity was set at St. Cecilia, a music center with gorgeous architecture and stage. In addition to the activity, the students and teacher's each received a drawstring Artprize backpack, a color changing ruler, mini colored pencils, an Artprize bracelet, silly bands, and an activity drawing program that coincided with the performance the students witnessed. I copied a couple of the inserts from the program. The students used the whole thing, many having wonderfully creative starts to fantastic artwork.

One student drawing on stage to the music.

The artwork being presented at St. Cecilia was a music score composed by Chris R. Hansen accompanied by the painter Debbie Bell titled Moving Toward Joy.  The music was fun to listen to and Hansen did a wonderful job including the students with questions and information about the instruments.  While the music was playing, Bell painted a picture of what she thought a visual of the music would look like.  I truly enjoyed the idea of this entry and activity.  It helped introduce Expressionism to my students and making connections with art and sounds.  However, I was saddened to see that the painting Bell produced was the same one she had been producing for the past few weeks during their performance times.   I hear the same songs all repeatedly and each time I hear them I think of something different than before.  I think that letting the music speak to you on a daily basis would have been an interesting compare and contrast for my students to witness.  This performance was definitely unique and I think it could further develop future performances where multiple mediums are used to collaborate in order to create a finished product.

Lunch and art in Grand Rapids, MI.

After we finished the Hansen and Bell performance, we broke into small groups and walked around downtown Grand Rapids to view some of the art nearby.  Our docent was very friendly and helped us find artwork but we didn't gain any additional information about the artwork or artist like you would if you had a docent tour at an art institute or museum.  I was very thankful to have our docent and I look forward to participating an future Educational Days that Artprize puts on.  The next time I take my students through Artprize, I definitely think I will preview the docent routes and gather some information about the artwork and perhaps make a photo scavenger hunt prior to our trip so that there is more structure when viewing the art.

Happy dabbling!