Barbara's Thought of the Day

Inspiration

2017-07-15T16:13:00.000-04:00

It feels great to be back to blogging after being away from it so long. I never intended to take such a long break, but one thing lead to another, and I found myself in the midst of some interesting life changes. Not only did I face some intense challenges to my health, but I also moved on from a very difficult relationship.

You may notice some changes in the blog as I feel motivated to share more of my own work. I hope you'll stick around and see where the journey goes and add your two cents to the mix.

What will you do this summer to be creative? Where do you find inspiration for your own work?

Summertime is Pottery Time

2017-07-09T19:08:00.001-04:00

Summer time is pottery time for me. I threw these pieces last summer and spent the winter deciding how I wanted to glaze them. Anyone else out there making pottery?
Bennington, Vermont was once known far and wide for excellence in pottery. Now our town is struggling. I feel like we need to keep this craft alive. What do you think?

Happy Fourth of July

2017-07-05T20:28:00.002-04:00

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Here's a painting I did to celebrate our town. The view is from the Old First Church in Old Bennington, Vermont looking over the town of Bennington toward Woodford Mountain. My painting is a homage to Ms. Mary Robertson (Grandma) Moses whose work I adore. The Bennington Museum is located just down the hill from this scene and houses an outstanding permanent collection of Grandma Moses paintings. I never get tired of looking at her work, especially on free days, loved seeing the St. Etienne Collection. If in Bennington be sure to check out this outstandingly currated collection. And have a Star Spangled Day!

Glass Artists

2016-11-27T11:49:00.002-05:00

http://www.brattleboromuseum.org/2016/09/09/glasstastic/

Dale Chilhuly
Dale Chilhuly

http://www.brattleboromuseum.org/pdfs/glasstastic-form-web.pdf

Romare Bearden

2016-11-03T21:20:00.000-04:00

http://www.nga.gov/content/dam/ngaweb/Education/learning-resources/teaching-packets/pdfs/bearden-tchpk.pdf activity page 30.
http://multiculturalkidblogs.com/2015/02/02/art-romare-bearden-kids/
http://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/interactives/art-trek/romare-bearden-lets-walk-the-block
http://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/interactives/art-trek/romare-bearden-lets-walk-the-block

Day of the Dead

2016-10-23T19:12:00.000-04:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead
http://www.slideshare.net/ptineo/day-of-the-dead-ppt-presentation
http://www.slideshare.net/guest2e4d853/day-of-the-dead-2690801
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUXwyEBeGPw
https://edsitement.neh.gov/october-2010-history-and-origins-halloween-and-day-dead-celebrations
http://nationalgeographic.org/media/dia-de-los-muertos/
www.mexic-artemuseum.org/images/uploads/education/Day_of_Dead_Guide.pdf
http://gomexico.about.com/od/dayofthedead/p/origins-of-day-of-the-dead.htm

Evirnomental Art Links

2016-10-21T10:26:00.001-04:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/15/environmental-art_n_5585288.html
http://ecosalon.com/20_unforgettable_works_of_environmental_art/
http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/photos/14-artists-with-a-green-message/art-for-the-planet

Preparing the Thanksgiving Turkey

2015-11-22T08:27:00.000-05:00

Preparing the turkey means something a little different in the art room than it does in the kitchen.

Each year we do it a little differently. Here's what we came up with this year. A quick and easy lesson. These could be made in one day. We took our time and spent the first day thinking about gratitude and generating a thankful list, we then outlined our turkey. We wanted big, fat turkeys and used a paper plate for the big, fat body. You can choose a big plate for the big turkey or a small plate for the little kid version.

On day two we used crayons to pattern our birds and to add color. We also added our thankful words using markers.

Day three was finish-up day, a day to tie up any lose ends, and then on to outlining the birds with a brush and black paint.

I loved he opportunity this lesson provided for us to focus on gratitude, which is sometimes so lacking in the world, yet does so much to enhance our lives.

As for me, this year I'm thankful for butterflies and rainbows, family, friends, kittens, clouds and sunshine, starry nights and moonbeams, for all the big things and all the little things that made my year so wonderful, even for the struggles that helped me grow, and especially for another day to enjoy it all,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Haunted Landscapes

2015-11-08T00:27:00.000-05:00

Halloween 2015

Puffy Paint Wabbits

2015-04-02T19:45:00.003-04:00

How about some cute Kindergarten Rabbits!

(Pre-schoolers love them, too.)

First we read "LET'S MAKE RABBITS" by Leo Leoni and then we let the rabbit making begin.

Kinders traced the template, added the wiggle eye and colored a nice tasty carrot.

They painted them with home made puffy paint.

So simple to make...just mix shaving cream and tempera paint.

So smooth and creamy you might have to make two.

Tropical Themes

2015-03-29T18:53:00.002-04:00

Isn't she a beauty? Fourth graders are looking at Henri Rousseau...I love his work, don't you? We noticed how he loved visiting the botanical gardens and drawing from observation, so we tried it ourselves using houseplants we found around the school. Then we used our imaginations to create something tropical.

We used sharpies to outline and markers to fill in with a bright and consistent color.

Plum Blossom Scrolls

2015-03-19T19:05:00.002-04:00

These are self-explanatory, aren't they? But the children loved making them and every one is enjoying the beautiful spring colors after this long, cold winter.

Ready for The Big Day

2015-02-16T19:06:00.000-05:00

Finished up our clay Valentines last Thursday just in time for the big day. Kids were thrilled to have a token to take home to give to a special some one.

No time for glazing. I set out palettes of liquid watercolors to apply right onto the bisque. You could also use box watercolors if you like

I have a couple bottles of glitter watercolor that added a little sparkle to the art though you can't really see it in the photos.

The paint dried very quickly and students finished them up with two coats of watered down glue to seal and add a little shine.

Finishing touch was to add a bit of ribbon for hanging. There you have it...clay valentine.

Warm and Cool Abstract Landscape

2015-02-12T21:06:00.000-05:00

Fun project for older artists and part of a painting unit exploring color relationships and color families.

Students began by cutting an irregular wavy line across a long sheet of paper. This they used as a mask to block off the lower portion of their landscape. Tape in place.

Begin in the sky area by placing a dot anywhere on the page. Begin adding rings of warm colors around the dot. Paint right up onto the paper mask to create a crisp line.

Using cool colors begin with a line at the horizon and add repeating lines to fill in the bottom portion of your work.

Pasta Towers

2015-02-06T21:31:00.000-05:00

One 88 cent box of spaghetti, One $1.49 bag of mini-marshmallows. Twelve kids. Two hours of after school fun! These children seriously could not get enough of this activity.

The structures were a little "touch and go" getting started as the marshmallows were soft and unstable.

But once they got going we noticed the marshmallows firmed up a bit and building proceeded more quickly.

Note to self...let the marshmallows sit out for a couple hours before building to harden.

Have fun!

Torn Paper Valentines

2015-02-03T19:22:00.000-05:00

Art room clean-up prompted this colorful torn paper collage for kinders. I don't know about you, but things around the art room seem to get messy this time of year while we're elbow deep in all kinds of creative endeavor.

Time to reorganize and start afresh...including new place mats for the tables. But those old painted ones were just too colorful to toss out.

So I tore them into strips and let the Kindergarten have at it.

Oh, the joy of color on a cold winter day!

Finished them off with a variety of interesting lines.

A simple lesson with lovely results

Clay Valentines

2015-02-01T14:56:00.002-05:00

Little clay Valentines were a big hit with after schoolers of all ages. They're quick and easy to make and can be completed in one class. To start I had students roll out five long snakes of clay about the thickness of a pencil. We covered the coils with a damp paper towel to keep them from drying out and then I gave the demonstration on building. We built our hearts on a piece of cellophane that was scrap from our laminator...you can see it in the photo below. Underneath the heart students placed a paper heart that they previously cut from a folded paper. The paper heart serves as a guide for laying out their design. Fill the heart shape with coils and smear everything together with your thumb. Place a hole for hanging if you like. Flip over and add textures to your heart. Let dry and fire.

We're going to paint these hearts with water colors because we're in a hurry to hang them.

Winter Cardinals

2015-02-01T14:43:00.002-05:00

Fifth Grade looked at a variety of winter cardinals then chose a reference form which they created their drawings. Love the variety and spontaneity of their work

Gelli Prints

2015-01-01T20:35:00.001-05:00

Gelli Prints...something I'd wanted to try, but hadn't gotten around to until today and I'm so glad I did. Made a small plate by whisking 3 pouches of gelatin into a cup of boiling water which I then poured into the plastic lid of a take-out container. I was surprised how fast the plate set up...it was firm within 45 minutes but we let it set out overnight and printed the next morning.

After running around the house and collecting our texture items: string, mesh onion bag, combs, paper stencils, buttons, coins, leaves, we rolled block printing ink onto the plate and started printing. We started with block printing inks but soon got bored with the limited colors and broke out the bin of acrylic paints which worked a lot better.

I have to say the process was addictive. We put on some music and printed all day long. What a fun day. Really relaxing and there's really no wrong way of doing this. Every print offers a new and surprising result. Just fabulous.

Definitely going to be trying this out with kids soon.

Holiday Wishes

2014-12-20T19:40:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays! Wishing you an abundance of joy, happiness, prosperity, and good health throughout the holidays and all year long!

Reindeer for Kinders

2014-12-09T20:45:00.000-05:00

Are you looking for an easy lesson you can do today? I L-O-V-E these kindergarten interpretations of a guided drawing lesson found at Artventerous and the kiddies loved it two.

What is your current favorite winter time art lesson?

Flags

2014-03-25T17:41:00.000-04:00

U.S. Silver Medalist, Devin Logan visited our school this week and we wanted to welcome her in grand style. Devin is a local girl. Not only local to Vermont, but right here in Vermont. She's a friend and a neighbor to many of our students and an inspiration to all. We really wanted to acknowledge her accomplishment in slope style skiing and help her celebrate her win. Her visit came together rather quickly and I had only one day to pull together something fun and festive. We made a pile of welcome posters...and these flags which stole the show. Strung together the look adorable festooning the hall.

Here's a cute video to watch if you are feeling especially patriotic.

Welcome Spring

2014-03-21T08:35:00.003-04:00

Happy first day of spring everyone. Don't you love the fleeting days of springtime when the world bursts back into bud and bloom? Well worth the wait, I think and a magical time to be in Vermont. I'm celebrating by planting seeds and tending the seedlings that will become our summer garden. Here's The Green Man that lived in the yard for a little while last summer. White clay and buttercups, he lived on the trunk of the tree that gave us a bounty of sour cherries last year. We made those cherries into that sensational Cherry Brandy that we shared last Christmas Eve. If you want the recipe leave a comment and I'll hunt it down.

How to Make a Symmetrical Image in PhotoShop....

2014-03-04T15:00:00.000-05:00

I'm adding this to my list of cool things I can do in PhotoShop. Here's how to do it...

1. Open your image

2. Select> All

3. Edit> Copy

4. Image>Canvas Resize> Shift focal point to left center> 200% wide> Enter

5. Edit> Paste

6 Edit> Transform> Filp Horizontal

7. Use move tool at top left tool bar to position image

8. Layer> Flatten Image

Save.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wx_eFdCVwE

How about you? What are your favorite photoshop tricks or tips?

Sub-Kit

2014-02-25T15:15:00.000-05:00

sorry, couldn't locate a source for this photo

This might take a while to complete (I rarely take a sick day), but I found my newest and best (I think) ever sub plan. Are you like me? I rarely plan for those days when I have to be out and end up dashing around madly pulling things together last minute and being hectic when least want to.

This image inspired me to put a sub kit together that includes a lesson plan, markers and pre-cut papers. Now I'm always prepared with a grab and go lesson. The entire project stays in the box until 500 (or thereabouts) papers are collected and a final design is made.

The hands look fabulous, but I think we'll change it up a bit. Peace Sign? Dove? Butterfly? What would you do?