Thursday, March 24, 2011

Wouldn't you like to get this in the mail?!

When you have only two pennies left in the world,
buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with another.
~Chinese Proverb

I completed these four postcards awhile ago but have just now gotten around to taking pictures and posted them in my Etsy shop! They are real functional postcards made of coldpress watercolor paper. I hand painted each with acrylic paints and sealed them with matte medium. Painting on a small scale and on paper really takes the pressure off... And since the paint dries right away, the colors stay bold and bright!!!



I'm working on an actual greeting card right now but the paper has a different texture so we'll see how it turns out.... Pics coming soon!!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Something

Often times if my little minions get finished early, they have the option to "free draw." Most of them jump at the chance and I have to remind them not to rush through the actual project just to get to free draw. This little fella, however, had no idea what to do with "free draw." I guess I need to find a new meaning of free draw. Obviously telling him to draw "something" or "anything he wants" was not enough--or maybe too much--of an explanation....

On a more positive note, these are really good block letters and the spelling is correct...

Not too shabby for a first grader!!!

Friday, March 4, 2011

A Sampling of Ceramics!

My students are just blowing me away with the clay projects this year. I teach at a school that has never had an art teacher before. So aside from feeling like a rock star, my kiddies are generally happy to come to art. I'm finding out that a lot of them have done a lot of arts and crafts outside of school, which is wonderful. Even the ones with very little exposure, though, are so excited that they jump right in and do a great job (for the most part).

So far the first grade has made dragons for the Chinese New Year and my second graders worked on owls, inspired by the Greek goddess Athena and her wise ole owl.




These two are by far my favorite..although it may just be the picture! They look like old friends and have so much personality with a "hey-what-are-you-lookin-at" expression.

One of my students remarked how much fun it must be to be an art teacher. In what other profession could I spend hours gluing broken owls and dragons back together? According to some list of the "happiest" professions I read on msnbc, teaching is number 3! I think it should be #1!!

.......Oh, wait......

I just remembered watching one of my students picking paper up off the floor and putting it in her mouth...Just a little reminder of the little reasons it may have been bumped to 3. HA!

Happy Friday!!!