The Show!

Last Friday was the Art Opening of my first solo show in 10 years!  I had not seen the work up until I arrived, and I was thrilled!  The gallery was spacious and crisp, and the work looked great!

The gallery made a poster for the entrance, and postcards to promote the show.  They also set out quite a spread of food and drink for the reception. Family and friends came to support me, which was wonderful...and there was lots of conversation with strangers who were interested the work.  I heard a number of times, ALL of these are yours?  And it did seem like a lot all together... I was proud, and that's a nice feeling.

It is up all month and many professors who were at the opening said they will be bringing their classes there to discuss the work ;)  The Color Theory professor had already brought her class, and they have a reflection paper due on my work next week!  I asked her to send them to me, I'm super interested!! 

Special News.

This September there is also something special going on inside my body!  Can you guess it?

We are SO excited and happy and nervous and overwhelmed and overjoyed and all of those things that make this experience so special.  I'm sure there will be more here on how we are preparing!  For now... I'm gonna go take a nap ;)

Visions

This September, to add to the craziness,  I was offered an opportunity to have a solo exhibition at a lovely gallery in Dutchess County.  This was an offer I could not refuse.  For one,  I have not shown in so long, that even thinking about it got me giddy.  Second, the gallery made postcards and put an ad in a popular local magazine, which is pretty cool. And the kicker is that the gallery is on a college campus, and many art instructors will use this show as a teaching tool.  Many people will see it, and I am happy about that.

The opening is TONIGHT!!

September and Portfolios

September is SO busy! Not only is it the start of work/school, which includes getting back into the swing of things, curriculum nights and lesson planning, but it is also our anniversary month and a serious amount of birthdays. I'm talking birthdays galore! No joke. Which means birthday parties, presents, decorating and cooking.  And of course other things that just come your way each month.  This year that included getting sick, making art, friends having babies (more birthdays!) cleaning out a room for a special surprise, and planning an art opening. (More about the special surprise and art opening soon...) This year I have also changed the grades I teach and have become a middle school adviser, which has been great! Overall it has been a hectic and wild start to the year, but a good one.

The first lesson of the year for me is creating a portfolio, no matter what the age.  This helps us establish routines, explore different materials and gives us a place to keep 2-D work for the rest of the year.

The overarching them for 6th grade is Identity, and in English they began studying the origin of their name.  In art, we transformed the letters of our name to help express parts of our identity. It was a quick lesson that got them engaged and thinking about what makes them special.

Karuna

Leah

George

Can you tell what these three are interested in?  What makes them special?