An Art Teacherin' Book Club!

Most of y'all know that I host a Facebook LIVE chat (nearly) every Wednesday night at 8pm CST. I host it on my "official" Facebook page, not my personal one as I assume my non-art teacherin' friends would not be interested in hearing me chat about #artlife. If you've never joined one of our chats, it's a lot of fun. We art teacherin' types commiserate, celebrate and create. No kidding! The month of April, we felted, all through May we worked with clay and now...we're going to have an Art Teacherin' Book Club!

In last night's chat, which you can find archived here along with previous ones,  I shared my favorite art teacherin' books. Many folks who joined the chat shared their favorite books as well. There were so many that I've decided to dedicate them for a future blog post so stay tuned!

The book we settled on (okay, the book I strongly suggested and didn't give anyone a choice on the matter) is this one:

I absolutely love the idea of growth mindsets and the little reading that I've done has lead me to believe that this book will be a great one for us to explore. I love that it's divided up by months of the school year. Within each month, the authors Annie Brock and Heather Hundley share lessons, books and even film clips that emphasis the growth mindset being featured. As a group, I thought we art teachers could brainstorm ways to make this possible in our art rooms. Together, we can inspire our students to grow into the creative, compassionate and kind artists we know they have the capability to become. 

So, how to join the fun? First, get you a copy of the book! I won't be active on Facebook LIVE until July (taking a vacation with the mama AND hosting Art Scouts!). Stay tuned right here. As we get closer to July, I'll share just what we'll be chatting about each Wednesday night.

Until then, throw a good trashy novel into your online shopping cart when you order our book club book. After all, it's summer and you've earned it!

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Art Teacherin' 101: Episode 35

 As an art teacher and a human, I find that there are many things I struggle with: consistency, finishing projects before starting new ones and, most of all, organization. I like to think that my decent art teacherin' qualities outweigh the bad but there is no denying this...I'm an Art Teacher Hoarder. And one of these days, my cold and colorfully dressed body is probably going to be found under a mountain of toilet paper tubes, bottle caps, yogurt lids, wire hangers and gently used popsicle sticks ("Why was she saving THOSE?!"). They say the first step is admitting you have a problem, y'all. There, I've said it. Now what?

Like a tour of my space, would you? Here you go! Just watch your step...I've just about boobytrapped the entire space. One of two things inevitably happens when I walk into my storage closet: I get injured by one of the art supply landmines I've haphazardly thrown on the floor or I find some amazing treasure, get a fun idea for a project and completely forget why I entered the storage closet in the first place. 

 I had a group of fourth grade girls who decided to make my art room their hang out place every morning the last month of school. It was fun, like our own secret art club. They'd come in, take out whatever they felt like working on (sewing pillows, painting a poster, you name it) and create for a solid 20 minutes before the bell would ring. I didn't mind, I was just making coffee and enjoying their company and love for creating. One day I opened my closet in front of them and it was like the door to Narnia opened before their eyes: they were amazed. Not only by the mess but by the sheer volume of stuff. I let them raid the closet for fabric several times...not that you can even tell. They hardly put a dent in the place. 

 With so many art teachers lacking supplies and space, I'm embarrassed to show just how much I've got and the large space I have to store it. I am super fortunate for the donations that I receive and the closets I have to store them in. I'm telling you, my art room (along with the closets) is what got me so determined to land the job at my school. I literally stalked the former art teacher for two years to get the job (she's a friend who was retiring). I'm not even kidding: I went to her art shows, helped in her art room, observed her. When it came time for my interview, the principal and staff already knew who I was (probably because of the restraining order). All that to say, I know I'm spoiled rotten. And I'm every bit of that spoiled kid who has the messiest toy box on the planet. All this I know. 

This is why it's part of my summer routine to pop in to my art room for a couple of hours once or twice a week to start chipping away. I really and truly do want to start my new school year feeling organized and ready to roll...not chaotic like I usually do. I'll keep you posted on my progress. In the meantime, can I interest any of you all in a 5 lbs box of chopsticks that may or may not be used? 

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DIY: Ikea Fabric Broccoli Dress

 If you've been following my IG stories, then you've seen a little bit of the behind the scenes making of this here Broccoli Dress. Or, as I've decided to call it, my Frock-coli. See what I did there? Frock and Broc, y'all. It's what you're wearin' fer dinner. 

I picked up the fabric last fall while at Ikea. I'm in love with their fabric because I love all things big and bold (and cheap. Y'all, soooo cheap!). Whenever I see a print that I like, I always wish it were 10 times bigger. So when I spotted this giant broccoli print (and, like, who looks at broccoli and says, "that would make a great textile!" Someone with a brilliant mind, that's who.), I knew I had to have it...and make a dress from it!

via GIPHY

I decided to take the ole Frock-coli out for a spin to the bookstore this afternoon. The baristas were diggin' it...but one couple I walked by literally stopped mid-convo, went silent and whispered, "What.Was.That." Apparently the Frock-coli is ahead of it's time. 

Am I the only one who thinks this dress needs some melted cheese? I gotta hankerin' for some steamed broc and queso. 

 When it comes to sewing, y'all know know I'm a creature of habit. I've been sewing dresses for myself for some time now...and I feel this fit and flair is the most flattering on me. I've tried slightly different styles (heavy on the slightly. What can I say, that 50's silhouette is my fave) and I always come back to the following: fitted bodice, big ole waistband (or big ole belt. I have one student who is fascinated by my big plastic belts...I think he watches a lot of WWE and associates them with prize fighting belts. Which, after some days of teaching art, I feel like I've earned one!) and a giant circle skirt. 

When I tell you I have a ton of vintage patterns, believe me, I have a ton. And I almost aways use some sort of combo like this. In other news, how cute is that bird applique?! 

Before I picked the broc fabric to stitch, I had these other contenders on my cutting table. I get a lotta questions on where I get my fabric. Aside from Ikea, I LOVE fabric.com. They have a search bar where I look up things like "primary colors", "art supplies", "art teacher" and all sorts of fun motifs pop up. I also love shopping at Craft South as they have the most unique and hip prints. 

But back to the dress. I thought the black waistband all by itself was a little stark...so I balanced it out with the black bows at the shoulder. 

 My new favorite thing to do while sewing is listen to podcasts. I just finished S-Town from the creators of Serial. I enjoyed it but it was a sad and complex story. I am currently listening to Missing Richard Simmons and LOVING it. I grew up watching Simmons on television, on his infomercials and on Letterman, just thinking he was this loud and crazy dude. But there is this other side to him: he is a carrying, loving and giving individual...with a lot of pain and sadness in his life. I highly recommend it. 

 I don't know what is happening with that face but here is the side-ish view of my dress. 

 So, first week of summer vacay dress, done! I've got a lot more on my To Do list...and currently I am accomplishing very little of it. I'm allowing myself a temporary reprieve because - it's summer! - but after today, I really gotta start whittling away at my summer agenda. 

But first, broccoli! 

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Spotlight on Today in Nashville!

I hope y'all had a wonderfully relaxing weekend! I spent mine trying to snap out of a funky spell that left me weak and tired. I did get to see my best buddy Mallory and hit the flea market, celebrate the birthday of my sweet friend Jennifer and hit the movies and dinner with the hubs and friends (Bay Watch: it was pretty good; Alien: no bueno). Oh, and I also started on a broccoli dress! So, now that I think about it, I can see why I'm a little tired...too much fun for this gal!

Speaking of fun, I got to spend my Friday with Kelly and Carol over on Today in Nashville! I'm not exaggerating when I say it was a good time, it was like a fun party over there at the Channel 4 studio. You can catch the full four minute clip of my segment here. 

 Y'all might remember that I was on Talk of the Town the previous week which was also a ton of fun. One thing I have learned from doing these super short clips: these hosts are PROS. I mean, I knew that going in...but, what I'm trying to say is, they only have moments to meet you beforehand, chat with you, ask you a few questions to get your "story" and be able to share it in such a way that it seems we are old friends. And it truly felt like we were. These ladies were so fun, funny and the scene in the studio was like that of a party. 

I snapped a couple of photos to give you a little behind the scenes tour. This is a show that airs daily and is an hour long. It's a talk show that features folks around town. There's a kitchen for the cooking segments, an area that looks like a little living room for relaxed interviews, two demo areas, which is where I was recorded, and a stage made to look like the Ryman Auditorium! 

Country singer Tara Thompson performed a couple of songs live which was so super fun to see. I cannot imagine singing or playing an instrument live and she nailed it as did her bandmates!

I really had the best time on the set. Thank you to those of you who caught the clip and sent me sweet texts and Facebook messages. When you are in front of the camera, you really have NO IDEA how you are sounding or looking...in fact, I'm still afraid to watch the clip! What was funny is that afterward, I went grocery shopping and a woman ran up to me at the grocery and said, "I just saw you on T.V.! You did a good job!" I thought that was very sweet...and everyone else around us was trying to figure out who I just who I was. Just a crazy art teacher, y'all! 

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In the Art Room: Rizzi City by Third Grade

 A while back, I had two third grade classes that were a head of the pack (I see my third and fourth grade classes combined, meaning I have two classes at once. It's how I am able to get an hour with my older kids). I didn't want them to jump ahead to the next project so I got a WILD hair (I get many, it turns out) and decided that they should learn about James Rizzi and create a giant Rizzi City...in one class period. Crazy is as crazy does, whatever that means. 

 I allowed the kids to pick their Rizzi City Building Teams with groups of 4 kids. I had a mountain of large painted papers for the kids to pick from as the base for their building. Smaller papers were used for the roof tops. 

I often have a stockpile of such papers because when my students finish early, one of the options for them is to go paint some pattern papers. I'll lay sheets of bulletin board paper out, paint a pattern on it and they are to repeat the pattern. These papers are then used for large projects such as this. 

 After the teams picked their building paper and roof, they set to work with scissors, glue and mountains of papers for windows, doors and faces. We'd spent some time going through a prezi I had created on the artist, so we were feeling all sorts of inspired. 

Once the pieces were glued down, the kids were allowed to use white and/or black paint to add details. The kids really loved working together to create their building and they turned out so fun and happy. A fellow teacher said they reminded them of PeeWee's Playhouse which you know is a HUGE compliment!

 For our art show next week, I thought I'd get these bad boys up! There is a cork strip behind the buildings. With the help of my P.E. buddy, I got the buildings pinned in place and just added a couple of lines of hot glue to the tops of the buildings. They'll stay up until the start of the new school year. OR when the Fire Marshall says to take 'em down. 

Then I got ANOTHER wild hair and decided that the buildings needed some clouds above them. This was totally a pinterest idea, y'all. I picked up a set of 6 light up lanterns at the local craft place and, with the help of my other P.E. buddy (what would I do without my specials team?!), we hot glued cotton batting to the lanterns. They won't stay up for long, just until the art show. 

The fact that they light up pretty much makes my world go round. 

 If I had all the time in the world, I would have had the kids then create a Rizzi-inspired cityscape. But, alas, this was just a go-between project to slow down a group that was speeding ahead. 

This has gotten a lot of giggles from the kiddos (and adults!). These buildings are as fun as Rizzi's paintings, says me. 

So much to do until the art show next Tuesday...but I can scratch this off the list!

We had more buildings than we did space...which meant that some of the buildings had to flank our It's Okay mural from last year. I can't bear to take it down, I love the message! 

 Um, yes. 

I can't wait to give y'all a tour of the art show...until then, have a fun Friday! 

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In the Art Room: First Grade Fish UPDATE!

First grade just finished up their clay fish sculptures and before they get placed in our art show display, I thought I'd share them with you. This was a fun project where we used speckled glaze (Jungle Gems by Mayco) and a metallic watercolor. Here's how these cuties were created:

I see my firsties for 30 minutes twice a week. On the first day, we created the base, complete with a starfish (Patrick!) and seaweed. After the kids left, I added a hole in the base and their names to the bottom. On the second day, we created our fish. I did the same thing to the fish...it was tricky writing their names on such a small surface, but I managed to get it done. 

 After the pieces dried for two weeks, I fired them in the kiln. I then dipped the bases in a gold watercolor to completely cover them. From there, the kids used metallic watercolor paints for the seaweed and starfish. Glaze was used on the fish. I encouraged the kids to use at least three coats of glaze for complete coverage. 

The speckled glaze really is the coolest. And the kids love the surprising change they see once their creations have come out of the kiln. 

After all of that fun was done, I had the pleasure of gluing the pieces together. I used chopsticks (I had a donation given to me) that I broke down to a smaller size. After gluing a couple of tall fish, I realized that they might be more inclined to tip over and break than the shorter ones. 

They are much more stable with the smaller sticks. And super cute, I might add. I want one for my home!

The kids had a lot of fun adding texture to their fish which really turned out beautifully with the glaze. 

By the way, when first adding the holes to the bottom of the fish and the base, make sure you wiggle the stick back and forth a bit. Clay shrinks as it's drying and the wiggle will keep the clay opening the right size for the stick. 

Our Pet Shop themed art show is next Tuesday night...I'm slowly getting the art room ready for the transformation. I can't wait to see these fun fish on display. I'll be sure to share!

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In the Art Room: Exotic Birds UPDATE!

 I'm so excited to share with you just how amazingly awesome these exotic birds by my second graders turned out! If you subscribe to my YouTube channel, then you might already be familiar with this video lesson I created (and may have used it with your students!). I was uncertain how I wanted the kids to finish them off (to glaze or not to glaze). In the end, we went with this super fun florescent paint and metallic watercolor for the base. Here's the how-to video!

For our school-wide art show, our clay sculptures will be based on a pet shop theme with each grade level making animals, reptiles and fish for the occasion. Our theme last year was a 1950's diner where the kids all made food...after doing that fun theme, I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to top it. But these birds have certainly changed my mind about that! 

In the video, I use skewers as the legs but in the end, I was worried that they would not be strong enough to support the bird. So as the kids finished their birds and bases, I had them bring them to me. I used the skewer to write their name and class code on the bottom of each. Then I pushed popsicle sticks into the bottom of the bird and the base just to make sure they would work together. After the kids left, I removed the sticks, wiggling them back and forth. I did this because I know that clay shrinks as it dries. I then allowed the clay projects to dry for a week or more. 

 Last week, the kids got their birds and bases back and were given bright colors of paint and plenty of visuals to work from. I gently suggested that they might want to make them look like parrots or toucans...but I also wanted them to explore the idea of creating their own idea of an exotic bird. Once the paint was dry, I hot glued the sticks to both the birds and the bases (I had used the stick to add the holes into both before firing). Sparkle ModPodge was added to the finished birds because...SPARKLE MODPODGE. Need I say more?

 Today, the kids were given sparkle pipe cleaners, feathers (both of which were found at the Dollar Tree) and beads from my unending supply of beads (seriously...do they multiply?!). I gave them a couple of tips on how to twist the 'cleaner and add the feathers...and then just let them go to town. 

 They had a blast and are just so super proud of their birds!

 I suggested folding the pipe cleaners in half, adding beads if desired and bending the 'cleaners into spirals. Of course, their fave part was digging through the treasures on their tables...

Once complete, they brought their birds to me where I hot glued their feathers and pipe cleaners into place. I found this great resource and asked the kids to do a little bit of research on their birds before our short 30 minutes was up. I borrowed some books from the library to help them with that task. Tomorrow, they'll continue writing, add an illustration and learn even more about exotic birds. 

 Now that we are closing in on the art show and the end of the school year, I don't plan on doing too many more projects with these guys. We do have this project to finish up next week...but after that, we'll be working on decorating the art room for the art show! 

 I love all of the creativity that went into these birds! They were colorfully beautiful before...and now they are just fantastic. 

Teaching clay is one of my all time favorite things because the kids absolutely LOVE it! Ask them what their favorite medium is and it is always clay. I haven't been able to share some of my fave clay projects with you as they are in THE BOOK and, therefore, owned by the publisher. I was so excited last week to get my copy of it! 

Almost all of the projects in the book (with the exceptions of the edible clay {yes, there is an edible clay project!}) can also be created with kiln-fired clay. So it's perfect for those with or without a kiln...really anyone who wants to explore clay with kids! 

And, in case you are a little intimidated by clay...OR just want a reason to play with the stuff yourself, you might want to join in on my FREE clay workshop! I'll be hosting it on my Facebook page every Wednesday night LIVE for about an hour. I'll be working with Celluclay, air dry clay and plaster wrap. You can use whatever supplies you have on hand OR you can purchase a kit of the supplies to explore and create along with me (and many others!):

I cannot wait. Craft nights on Facebook LIVE have been so much fun!

 And, stay tuned...I'm unloading that kiln daily and the clay projects coming out of it have just been so fun to see. I find myself scrambling to get to school just to peak inside. 

Here is an accurate portrayal of my face when doing so, ha! Y'all have a great week!

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