Lighting up our lives

The first week back of back to school is always so boring and not just for the kids.  It is filled with rules and procedures and things that are so basic it can drive you insane.  That is why I love it when my advanced kids walk in the door.

All of them have been in here before and most of them art taking their second or third advanced class, so they get to jump in and hit the ground running day one.

This year I didn't waste time, when they walked in I gave them a small piece of paper and some crayola markers.  I had them draw something on the paper and then I sprayed the paper with water so the image was blurred.  Then the next day we added black marker to them.

Then we started on photography.  I wanted them to know the basics of a DSLR camera even though I know most of them will use their phones for their photography assignments.  We set things up and did ISO and Aperture the first day and shutter speed the second day.  I then ended our short week with light painting.  This was by far their favorite of the photography sessions we did.

We have learned that you need to set the camera on TV mode, set the ISO to about 600 and then set the shutter speed to at least 8 seconds, some of the kids put theirs at 20 seconds.  But here are some of my favorites from the pictures they turned in.  We found glow sticks add color but are not the brightest when it comes to using lights.

Bree H.

Erin S.

Sydney Hag.

Jack G.

Kelsey C.

Barrels of fun

I WON!!!  I can't believe it, but my rain barrel won.  Thanks to all who voted.



Does anyone else have a hard time saying "No?"  Maybe it's just me.  I was asked by the local water quality commission if I would paint a rain barrel for a water summit contest that they are going to be having.  Of course they only gave two weeks to paint a giant rain barrel, but that is beside the point.

At least I didn't do it by myself, I made one of my students take one too.

So her and I have been painting every second we could over the last two weeks, which has been tricky since it has also been the first two weeks of school.  Did I forget to mention that?  How could I forget that my life was incredibly busy already without adding a giant rain barrel to the mix.

Anyways, I cut out serious time by spray painting my sky and most of my water.  My student pretty much had to finish it versus sleep last night, but they are both done and ready to be turned in today.

Blank barrels

My cabin in trees

A fisherman I painted

I was ver proud of my "bob Ross" trees.

Sammy painting her barrel.

Her finished barrel.

London, Paris and to Barcelona

As school quickly approaches I have to take a quick look back at my Art Club trip that took place in June.  We had a great trip and we definitely coined the phrase, "We are having an adventure."  Like always something goes wrong and this time we are just going to say that we had several transportation issues.  But overall we had a great trip and I hope that the students and adults that traveled with me had as much fun as I did.

Girls being silly with our Tour Director Trevor.

The Barcelona Bike riders.

La Sagura Familia in Barcelona.

Getting a little bully in Pamplona.

They all wore London shirts in France.

Checking out the Atlantic Ocean.

Ladies and Sun.

Our group in Paris.

This was our first view of the ocean.

Chartres Cathedral.

Climbing the largest sand dune in France.

On top of the Sand dune with Connor from Alaska.

Our pink EF bus.  We never lost it in a parking area.

My climbers.  They talked me into climbing the bell tower of Chartres Cathedral.

Our last group picture in Biraritz France.

To Close to call

This time of year is just a little bit crazy, but I am sure I am preaching to the choir.  I gave Art 1 a project a couple of weeks ago to draw a face in grid style and then fill it in Chuck Close style.  In my mind they had all sorts of time to get that done and then their final project.

But wouldn't you know, the class that has flown through every other project this year at lightening speed all of a sudden put the brakes on and slowed way down to do a great job on this project.   They didn't put this much time into their own faces back in November, but now they put tons of time into the drawing and then twice as much complaining into the fact that I wanted them to put designs into every square.

In the end I gave them some choices.  They could do this project on canvas or paper, with paint or sharpie or colored pencil.  I also tried to require them to put a design in every square, but as we ran out of time I kind of relaxed on that rule.

Mykah W. - Theo James in paint

Yeva S - in paint

Alasia J. - Audrey Hepburn in paint

Bella J. - Connor F in paint

Carter H. - Harry Potter in sharpie

Brooke K. - Miranda Lambert in sharpie

Preparing for Chaos

This is what my art room looks like the day before we set up for the art show.  Normally I am not this prepared, but this year we will have exactly 30 minutes with each advanced class to put up our work.  So I am ready to go at top speed this year.

Did I mention that these panels are 5 to 6 layers deep

And each panel has at least 6 to 10 works on it.

I figured I have at least 50 students and each student had to bring in 5 of their best works of art.  So that is about 250 works of art.
Now some will set on tables, but I think I have hung about 150 works of art.

Spoof the MasterK

I gave the assignment to my Art 2 class, to either recreate a masterpiece or to spoof it.  Most chose to spoof, but I had a few that tried to figure out new ways and new mediums to remake a classic.

Carolyn H.

Courney M.

Demi H.

Sydney Hau.

Karly N.

Kelsey C.

Kiana K.

Meghan H.

Realism

My Art 3 class was given the assignment of creating a realistic picture from any medium that they wanted.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Jon C. - Kennedy

Olivia M. - Parrot

Ryan S. - Drew

Sabrina L. - Jennifer

Sammy K. - Watercolor