Collaborative Color Wheel

The collaborative color wheel was my follow up lesson to the color recipe books, and to a bigger discussion about rainbows and color wheels we had during Art Talk.   

Art Talk is a 30 minute period I have with each class once a month where I have time to connect art and literacy in their classroom.  Last month this was a perfect time to read a book called Colors, and have a discussion about rainbows and color wheels.  The children really enjoyed the book and the conversation.

During this time while we were making our recipe books, I asked each child to document their colors on a long strip of paper in the middle of the table.  When a student finished their book I asked them to cut some of the circles out. (This is also great practice with fine motor skills and cutting in general.) 

 

Then when that job was done... finished students began sorting the colors into trays.  

Then each class got two pieces of the color wheel to work with...opposite colors so they had space to work, which of course make them complimentary! They added and overlapped all of the colors they made. 

This amazing color wheel is the collaboration of all 60 second graders and the colors they made for their recipe books.

Color Recipe Books

In Second Grade the students are currently working on poetry in literacy and writing clear equations when working on math problems.  As way to connect them... in the Art Studio we are making Color Recipe Books! 
It is insanely fun!

We began by exploring paint for two classes.  For those two classes the students worked on one large painting with the goal to fill the entire space, and mix at least five invented colors.  The paintings were quite beautiful.

Next, we talked about all the beautiful colors they mixed, and how it can be difficult to remember how you made a certain color.  We decided to make a recipe book with all the colors we love, so we will always know how to make them, and can share the recipes with our friends.

They needed to create three parts to each recipe.
1. A shape where the color would be painted.
2. A clear recipe equation with words that helped us remember how much of each color we used.  For example, a big spoonful of yellow+ a little dab of red + a medium dab of white=
3. A juicy descriptive name for their color. (When writing poetry, they look for juicy words to make a poem more interesting.  And that is what we did with our colors!)  There can be many kinds of orange, but the orange I made is Juicy Peach.

It took four classes to finish their book, including the title page.

I could not have been happier with the results!  The kids had a amazing time!  They did not want this project to end.  "I want to mix colors all day!" Yes, I heard this many times. And I can totally relate ;)

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?

Experimental Letterpress Printmaking

This summer during the end of August, after our trip to St. Croix, I went to stay in a cute little cottage and engulf myself in a week long art class.  I did this last summer, and it was an extremely memorable experience. I had a blast and was able to integrate my learning into my own practice and my classroom. 

Last year I took a Paper Making and Encaustic class where I learned each technique and how to combine them.  This experience was just amazing!  I LOVED both techniques, separately and together. Below is an example where I made a sheet of paper, collaged images/items on top, enclosed them in another handmade piece of paper, and dipped it into melted bees wax.

Feathers and Fishnets #2

This summer I took Experimental Letterpress Printmaking.  For one, it fit the dates I could attend, second, I have been loving printmaking lately as well as using text in my work and with my students, and third, my lovely landlord is a letterpress printer and runs her own website, Briar Press.

During the week I stayed at Clove Cottages, located in High Falls.  Although I mostly just slept there, I would definitely go back, and recommend it to others!  When I arrived I was given fresh eggs from their farm, (which I ate every morning) fresh kale and cherry tomatoes; and in the room there was homemade soap in the bathroom and granola in the kitchen. These lovely touches really made it for me.  Plus the land was beautiful and the cabin was quaint and cozy.

The classes were taught at the Woman's Studio Workshop, which was not far way from the cottages.  They offer an interesting array of classes each summer.  Although I enjoyed Paper Making and Encaustic more, I did have the opportunity to experience Letterpress Printing and make a lot of art!

And make a lot of art I did.  Honestly, once I start I can not stop!  I was getting into the studio at 7am, although the class did not start until 9, and left well after it was over each day.  I was even bringing my work home with me to continue some relief carving in between...well actually to my dear friend Andrea's home, where we made dinner and bonded each night!  Below are some images of my studio space, the Press, and my work in progress.

Happy Birthday...

...to two very special men in my life!

St. Croix

My hubby and I took a summer vacation to St. Croix in August.  The water was deliciously blue, you could see directly to the bottom. The breeze was perfect, and love was in the air.

We stayed in Cottages by the Sea that were a hop, skip and jump from the water. After the first night we got upgraded (for free!) to the best cottage on the beach. This cottage had a full kitchen, surrounding windows (wonderful breeze!), a comfy king size bed... but the best part was the porch.  The amazing porch overlooking the water. The porch where you could eat, read, write and play battleship. (the cottage also had a library with books and board games!) The porch where you could breathe in the air and listen to the waves at any minute of the day or night.

There was a fantastic waterfront restaurant twenty steps away from the cottages.  When we didn't cook in our cute kitchen, we ate here at the Beachside Cafe!  We had a few dinners, a Sunday brunch and desserts!

When we weren't on the beach swimming, snorkeling, reading, napping, floating, cuddling, kayaking or basking in the sun...

 

...we read, wrote, relaxed, explored the area, went to an old plantation/ botanical garden,  listened to the waves, looked at the stars, watched the lizards, played golf (I watched!) and relaxed some more. I had never been kayaking before, and I loved it! I also really loved having a beautiful beach virtually to ourselves. We had this opportunity when we went to Tulum, Mexico in 2005, and I craved it ever since. 

I felt very lucky on this little vacation of ours.  As we approach 10 years together, I think about all the amazing places we've been and all the experiences we've shared. Rather then just a vacation, this felt more like a honeymoon.

 Love was in the air.

happy anniversary to the man I love!