Almost finished!!

This painting is thankfully SO CLOSE to being finished! I discovered a T-square among my art supplies so I was able to straighten out some of the lines. Although for some reason, I am just now noticing that my camera makes the shutters look a little off kilter. I promise they are not at all that crooked! I'll have to double check that with my fabulous T-square. Last night I focused on details on the vase, curtains, and small lamp.. Tonight I'll finish up the flowers, add leaves in the upper right left corner, and touch up the edges. As tired as I am of looking at this one painting, I will hate to give this one away to my patient co-worker...

Shall I sell prints on Etsy?!

Student projects!

This year is going by way too quickly!!!

The bf and I are making big plans for next year that involve a possible job search for me! Exciting--yes, overwhelming--just a bit! I have lived in the same place for almost three years and have been so lucky to be at a great school with wonderful co-workers. I have very high standards for co-workers and administration now. That being said, it will be nice not to have to drive somewhere every Fri/Sun evening!

And I do feel pretty well prepared for interviews and such. I could literally teach art anywhere to anyone. I have taught students from all over the world who may or may not speak any English. I have taught from a cart, in a tiny trailer room with no sinks, in a small room with one sink and no storage, and have been told to switch rooms with a few days notice. Right now I am righteously spoiled by an enormous brand new art room with an equally large storage room AND kiln room!!! Except for Tuesdays when I am still on a cart and teach 5 kindergarten classes....

I could probably teach a successful art lesson out of the trunk of my car on a highway median during rush hour if they asked me too! As I update my portfolio with lesson plans and images, I am surprised at how many great projects my students have made. Here are just a few samplings from several different grade levels:

Such creative little brains they have! It always amazes me what they come up with or how they interpret my directions... Never a dull moment here!

New painting projects coming soon!

Snow day: Recipe and Painting!

May I share the easiest crockpot recipe I have found YET?! I had a snow day yesterday and desperately wanted the comfort of the crock pot bubbling away. I had absolutely no ingredients and thanks to my roommate keeping orange soda in her car (random!) I was able to make this chicken dish.

"Orange Chicken"

Chicken

1 can orange soda

Soy Sauce, 1/2 cup or so?

That's it.

Cook on LOW 5-6 hours or so..I let it go 6 hours and the chicken was slightly dry. I also threw in some rice and frozen stir fry veggies for the last hour for more substance---Quite yummy!

The snow day also freed up plenty of time to paint. Seeing such a gray, slushy day out the window prompted me to use very bright bold colors! The picture is from a hiking/camping trip I took with my girls in Harpers Ferry, WV last year. It is a BEAUTIFUL town with so much history! I highly recommend it for a weekend camping trip. The KOA was a mile or two away from the town. We walked on roads to the town and then discovered a trail to take back to the campground!!

The green hill in the foreground is actually a graveyard dating from before the civil war--gravestones coming soon. We hiked up so many of stairs and a very rocky trail to get to the top of this hill, and despite clouds of gnats, the view was amazing!! I could do a whole body of paintings from pictures I took on that camping trip. The water you see in between the mountains is the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers merging, I believe...http://www.nps.gov/hafe/index.htm

Should I keep the painting this simple? Hmmm!

Studio Space!

This little "nook" in my townhouse, although cramped, makes for a near-perfect studio! Complete with window garden, antique tea set, and seashell collection :P

Friday was a mandatory-work-from-home-teacher-work-day, which I spent painting, of course. It was so nice and sunny I couldn't resist taking a picture. Rarely do I get to paint with natural daylilght during the winter months--what a treat!! My fellow art teacher and very close friend and I were discussing apartments, townhouses, roommates, etc. and deemed A.S.S. (Art S!@# Space, or Art Stuff Space, rather) an absolutely necessary part of any living arrangement. Perhaps we should come up with a different acronym?!

Update on the Italian Cafe Window!

Little by little I am finishing up "Cafe Window in Italy"--a wedding present/commission for a co-worker friend! It has been tricky because in the photograph itself, the window is slightly crooked AND off center which totally fools with my eyes when I am trying to even out the window frame and shutters. I also need to add some warmer colors for a more glowing effect. Can't wait to go home and work on it this afternoon. After some yoga of course!

And now for some random teaching tidbits---

• Preschool girls should NOT be wearing eye-liner.
• Why do my 6th graders confuse a wedding shower with a bachelor party with strippers? OH DEAR. I do believe when I was in 6th grade I knew nothing, thought even kissing was icky and decided I would just shake hands when I got married......
• Apparently the tree branches I cut out look like "tree pants."
• I can make a very nice olympic torch out of cellophane and construction paper!
• Me to new student:" Hi! I'm Miss Fontaine! What's your name?"...New Student: "Amen" ...Me: "What was that???!"
• One of my students just got an "asthma TV" at home (I guess being on free/reduced lunch does free up the budget a bit)
• Two students at lunch eating corn on the cob: Student 1:"I like to put ketchup and cheese on my corn on the cob.".. Student 2: "EW"...Student 1: "It's Spanish, you should try it!" Student 2: "Well black people don't eat corn on the cob that way" And there you have it!

Have a super Wednesday!

Happy Friday!

New painting for sale on Etsy soon! I started this one in the fall and had never done a painting quite like this before. For once, I didn't work from a photograph...I worked from the everyday fall trees that I noticed here, there, and everywhere. The trees are uniform, simple, and not too detailed. And the canvas itself is unstretched and unprimed--a scrap I had folded up on the shelf. Without gesso, the paint soaks right into the canvas and stays quite bright even when layered! I love the look of the unprimed canvas and frayed edges so I left a good amount of it unpainted and exposed.... I'm thinking this would look even more gorgeous custom framed--Where's that 60% off coupon when you need it?!

Happy Friday :D

New Year--New/Old painting

Posted today on Etsy!! It has been SO bitter cold these days (for VA at least) that I am desperately missing warm summer days. (And I just booked a trip Vermont for Spring Break--brrrr....) I painted this still life last year in June or July and the flowers in the painting I picked from my teensy yard and deck garden!