Wicked Warhol's!

I am in love with this lesson. First graders last learned about how Georgia OKeeffe made the world look different at flowers by making them really big! Then they learned how Warhol looked differently at the world by making art from things that maybe weren't considered art and learned how to print make. Once the students made 4 prints of flowers, we created mixed media collages inspired by Warhol's flower images. I'm thrilled with the results and I think the kiddos really enjoyed it too! 

Teacher sample 

Come on Spring!!! Japanese Cherry Blossoms

First of all... who doesn't love Pinkalicious, Silverlicious, Purplelicious? Well you get the idea, I certainly do! Pinkalicious recently came out with another new book about Cherry Blossoms. I was so thrilled to get this new book in the mail from amazon and use it for a lesson.
 

Below are the results from my lesson. Black watercolor paint for the branches, and pink tempera for the flowers. The students dabbed the pink on using q-tips. I really loved this lesson because every students final outcome was completely different from the next! Enjoy! 

Throw back Thursday! Published in Family Fun Magazine!

So in early September I was emailed by an editor for Family a fun magazine in regards to my post on the Dale Chihuly Macchia coffee filter lesson that I did with my students nearly 5 years ago. They wanted me to write an article for the magazine that was about the lesson. I said of course! What I found most interesting was that they were going to re-create my lesson example in their in house studio and shoot the photos of the project themselves. (Even better less work for me!) The article turned out gorgeous, ran in the December/ January issue, and now I am officially published! Also I learned that Family Fun is a subscription only magazine when I went to "buy 10 copies for my mom!" Fortunately the magazine was kind enough to send me some extra copies! Yay! Enjoy! 

Full page

Close up! 

Blogging revival!

Life update! Since my last post... I have graduated from Boston University with my masters in art education. Before starting my 'masters research project,' I also had made a commitment to myself to be healthier and lose some weight. Last January I started taking yoga classes 2-3 times a week and there was just nothing else like it. It made me feel incredible, and while my peers in my masters class were all freaked out about our papers, I stayed relatively calm. Then a good friend of mine from Knoxville TN suggested I do research on mindful art in the classroom- which led me to think about yoginos, and so I started practicing yoga with my third graders as well as one own. The students love it! I still have am running an after school yoga club this year for my students in second, third, and fourth grades.
My paper was titled, cultivating a mindful art room, and discussed the benefits of yoga practice before the creative process in art making. The experience was so powerful that it inspired me to begin a teacher training yoga to become certified to instruct yoga. My blog will now be dedicated not only to my experiences in the art but also in yoga and holistic practices.
I welcome everyone to follow me on this journey as I have developed some dreams, am setting some goals, and document my progress along the way.

Love, light, & peace

Namaste :)

Here is a funny photo of me at the graduation ceremony, enjoy!

Being a teacher, and keeping calm

After teaching for 7 years, and can honestly say that this job isn't easy! So what kinds of things do you do in your "free" time to relax and maintain your sanity? 

I have had an interest in Buddhism and meditation for several years now, and part of my yoga teacher training is meditating. In the digital age, there is an app for everything. My new favorite app is one that is called breathe. It takes an assessment of how you are currently feeling, and offers you several short guided meditations to meet your present needs. It also keeps track of which meditations you have listened to, and gives you stickers! I don't know about you all, but much like our students, I'm all about little rewards! The app is awesome and I highly recommend it! Here is a screen shot of the app.