This year, I wanted to set aside some time to make homemade gifts. I did a few pencil sketches and watercolor washes on my bristol pad, cut them to size, and placed them in Ikea frames. My sisters received these…
interwebs
Thank you, internet.
- Seeing old and new work on The Heads of State’s new website. They only get better and better.
- Being inspired by Patrick Morgan’s illustrations. This hand drawn/digital ad for Reiss is my favorite.
- Watching this holiday store fill up with great gifts. Opens tomorrow.
- Driving to the store soon after reading the Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe on Orangette.
- Reading Sweet Fine Day daily. Great writing, pictures, and sometimes a video that’ll melt your heart.
saturday inspiration
We woke up at 5:30 this morning after accidentally falling asleep early and watched an episode of Friday Night Lights. I stumbled across this video about Milton Glasser on Hillman Curtis. They have a really great Artist Series you can download. I think I’ll start off Monday’s class with one of these.
blast from the past
One of my former student’s movie poster she turned in for her design class at SCAD. All paper cut!
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When I was living away from home, I always looked forward to the handmade cards my sister and brother sent. These are recent cards by Ky, my only brother. Where does he get these ideas?! I think he should start an online comic.Check out his flickr.
Aladdin + Yao Ming B-day card
LOTR Christmas comic
pick me up
This summer is going by way too fast and we’re getting pretty frustrated that there are way too few hours in the day after we get back from work, make dinner, clean, etc. This + Â all of the other things going on has put us in a little funk.
With the school year approaching, I’ve been filling a lot of professional development hours with workshops. Some are not so exciting but still helpful—like the two-day sessions on classroom discipline. And others—like the ones at the MFAH and Glassell—are much more enjoyable and relevant. The sessions were only a few hours each, but I got to dabble in collograph printing, pinhole cameras, enameling, ceramics, and, well, just having some fun. It was just the boost/kick in the butt I needed, and now BJ and I are considering taking an evening class during the school year.
Instant pick me up. I used to by these by the strip, but I spied a bulk pack at Candylicious in the Rice Village.
Our plates and cups seem to be chipping at record rates. I wish I knew how to do something like this.
I tried enameling for the first time and decided to do something simple and not so “art teacher”. You know what I mean?
Yes! Got to go back into the darkroom and learned how to use a paint can as a pinhole camera. The weather and lighting were unpredictable, but I still had fun shooting in the sculpture garden.
Working on a few projects and still figuring out my footing.
hah. excuse all the hand shots. not feeling so creative. again.
New York I love you P.1
We’re back! Our feet are worn out, our bellies are full, and our brains are about to explode from all the noise, art, people, sights of New York City. We ended up taking more photos with our new Diana Instant back (Thanks you Catherine!), and once those get scanned, I’ll post them here and write more about our trip later…
10.75 lunch specials at Azusa, Grand Central market lobby, Pearl River Market, Despana tapas, water towers, MOMA, the Met with Annie, Brooklyn Museum to see Kiki Smith + the fashion exhibit, Vanessa, and looking at the skyline from a dock in Brooklyn.
Coming up for air
Hi there,
Just coming up for some air. Whew. My house is covered in paper scraps, my head is spinning, and 24 hours seems like too short of a day! I finally settled my car situation, and we decided to take out a loan to buy a new car. At least I’ll have more peace of mind during my long commutes to work. And we’ll both be sharing it, so I think it’s a good idea in the long run. Still, timing? Not so great.
I thought I would share this piece BJ did a few nights ago. I swear he busted it out so quickly. Don’t you think he should do more?
I’m so excited to see all my friends and family next week.
Process
4/15/2010
I’m slowly realizing how important it is to document process and keep a journal during these first years of teaching. We’re currently working on jewelry and the only ones breaking drill bits are boys. Too aggressive :)
Snap Happy
I woke up at 5:50am Saturday morning in a cussing storm because I’d slept through one alarm. And I was laying on my cell phone so that its alarm would have awakened me if my back hadn’t been pressing snooze! Luckily, I live super-close to work so I was just a few minutes late to leave for our state art competition. This is the mayhem that went on all day:
This year 2,000 of 24,000 pieces submitted advanced to state. It’s always a little odd for me when I go to this event because not too long ago my friends and I were here running around the campus and nervously awaiting our results. Some of my best memories from high school took place here.
A lot has changed within those few years—mainly how people view the student exhibit. Back then, teachers would take photos of other work to show their classes and people walked slowly  through the exhibition. Now, 9 out of ten people had a camera and you can barely stand and enjoy a work because you’re in someone’s camera view. Many took pictures of almost every single piece. Now, I understand that inspiration and looking at other artist is an important part of creating a piece, but there was something off about how snap happy everyone was and the pace at which they were consuming the art. I’m not sure how I feel about it.
I was a proud teacher that day though—4 out of 5 got the highest possible rating. And the one other student missed it by only one point. One!!!