Symmetry Painting

The third grade has just learned about symmetry and of course we needed to create some symmetrical abstract paintings. The trick with fast-drying temperas and paper is to paint for 5 seconds and fold along your 'line of symmetry' to create a monoprint of the mark you just made. The process of stopping every few seconds really helps some students think in depth about their next move.

We also used this opportunity to create new colors with extra trays for mixing paint.

The grays were inevitable in the end, and beautiful!

What strikes me about this painting is all of the layers you can see piled on top of one another. Marvelous.

Let It Snow!

Have I ever mentioned on this blog how much I love when it snows? Well I do and it is supposed to snow tonight. Yay! To celebrate I bring you the oh so charming snowmen created by my first graders in December.

These guys are ready to play, right?



Oh and when one student discovered that you could mix all of the paint together and let it drip onto the paper to create the image below, how could I stop him? It's delicious!

Un...Plug?

Still Middle School students unplug - Beacon News

This article describes what it was like for the sixth graders at Still Middle school to pretend like it was 1983, technology-wise. I was in kindergarten in 1983 and I can remember clearly only one thing about that year. My teacher's hair. She had the most wonderful long hair that she put into a new style EVERY DAY, but I digress.
Cell phones didn't exist and we certainly did not have the internet back then and we were limited local network television. My twin brother and I did invest our savings in aNintendo gaming system around 1990 but it didn't hold our attention for too long.

Today I still struggle with the distractions of technology, even now I am on my laptop, with the t.v. going, the dog having given up on her afternoon walk, and dinner showing no sign of making itself. What are we getting done here? In the article one student is quoted as beingreintroduced to "old hobbies like reading and drawing" during the experiment. Oh yeah, I used to do that!

This article arrived in my inbox right in the middle of my thinking about how to self-monitor the use of my time. I've decided to start simple, with a pretty wipey board that I can use to track my 'technology-vs-old hobbies' time at home.

Do you want to make a Pretty Wipey Time-Monitor Board? Here's how I did it:

1) Grab a cheap frame from target or a flea market or if you are anything like me,

from you closet that you keep promising yourself you'll organize.

2) Find some pretty paper at paper source, or *that closet, or you can even use the

pretty green paper that came with the flowers you got last week.

note: make sure the paper isn't too dark or busy and therefore distracting

3) Cut the paper to size and voila(!) you have a pretty wipey board.

Now all you need is a dry erase marker. I also used a Sharpie (a girl's best friend)

You can make a chart of sorts - calculate hours per day for each

or you can make more of a symbols system like this 1 heart= 1 hour

OR

Each person in the house could have a board and you can even put a nice quote at the bottom!

When you have gotten a good idea of your use of time you can begin using this board as a project board. I've also been meaning to create a project board. What took me so long?

Recycled Sculptures and Richard Hunt

Last spring my students studied Richard Hunt, a Chicago sculpture artist who uses recycled metal scraps to create small and large scale abstract sculpture. We had gotten a really great set of cups, pizza tables, boxes, dowels and Styrofoam from Creative Pitch and got busy! The work turned out amazing because the students were able to use the creative freedom afforded them by the amount of different materials available.

Some of the students made pieces focused on balance and tension.

Some of the sculptures appeared to be functional objects.

One of the kids brought in his father's old airplane made of recycled materials!


One of the sculptures was made to be hung while another looked like it was blowing in the wind.

Sometimes you are just still interested in two dimensional art work.

It's water under the...

I have yet to paint the rivets on this bridge (Ashland & Webster) and to avoid moving forward on that arduous task I am checking out what my stencil may look like. I have used the amazing Photoshop to add the mum stencil that I created from a drawing. Any suggestions on what colors to use for the stencil? The current mock-up shows light pink/white flowers over a brown/mauve background. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet. I wanted a nice fuchsia type color in there somewhere. More later...

Old Memories + New Toys =

I found a great post on the internet about using masking fluid to make a stencil. I am obsessed with stencils currently, so naturally I had to try this method. I happened to have that blocking fluid from a trip to Blick a few weeks back.

I had already begun a drawing of a memory from a couple of summers ago when my friend and her baby were lounging and feeding on the floor of the cabin next to a sleeping dog (not pictured). Swimsuits make for easy access!

So I added a quick stencil of peacock feathers (the mother's favorite) in the background.



I think next time i will do only a fraction of the background with the stencil but I'm pretty happy with this little piece. I can't wait to give this to my friend-apparently she has yet to hang any art on her walls!

Is Art Recession-Proof?

Eight Forty-Eight - Is Art Recession-Proof?
"In 2002 after the troubles at Enron, Arthur Anderson turned their Chicago offices into a gallery and sold off some of their art collection. Their fine art investment proved profitable."

This report poses an interesting argument for investing in fine art. Click on the link and listen for yourself.
Peter and I asked a local gallery owner for her take this weekend and she laughed a boisterous laugh. Her words: buying emerging art is like buying a lottery ticket - you could get lucky but the chances of turning a profit in the future are slim. If you want a profitable return on your investment you must start by spending a large sum of money.
I for one would like to purchase a nice Modigliani.
If only I had about 5 to 8 million dollars.