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| August 6, 2009

classroom

I’m slowly trying to get everything in order. If you look in the top left hand corner, I got a great collection of driftwood and glass bottles that were passed down from the previous teachers.

sophie

I’m house/dog sitting for the next few days, and the girls love to swim! It is the cutest thing ever, except every time I pull up after a lap, they’re in my face with their toy, waiting for me to throw it again. It doesn’t matter where I am, they’ll be there when I finish.

This one is Sophie. Last night, she got a hold of BJ’s retainer with his tooth and ate it! I found the wires hanging from her hair, but no tooth(or toof if you pronounce it like me)! Ahh! Add this to cost of plane tickets, deposits, etc. that we have coming up.

igbyIgby at Galveston beach. She’s too scared to swim even when she sees Sophie and Maggie having the time of their lives.

mysterious package of tamales

| June 9, 2009

My first year teaching is officially over. I had major cleaning up to do in my room, but luckily my students and siblings pitched in and tackled the mess. I received my first good-bye teacher gift, a journal from one of my seniors with a personal note inside to get me through tough times, and a mysterious package of tamales with homemade sauce left by my door in the morning. There was no note so I assumed it was for me? Thanks kiddos!

Design*Sponge had some extra good posts today. My favorite one was about Jing Wei, a RISD alumni, who creates amazing woodblock prints. I ended up buying a print of the melting popsicle. She has a really unique style that sets her apart from a lot of the illustrations I’ve seen lately, which don’t lack in quirkiness and whimsy , but after awhile, they quickly get glanced over. Her prints on the other hand, are technically executed well with lots of layers and a story behind it. I think this is why I love editorial illustration. So watch out world, I think we’ll see more of her!

yolatengo1

BJ and I are committed to getting some work produced this summer, so you won’t catch me being a bum in front of the tv. Starting tomorrow. I’ll make exceptions for the Real Housewives of New Jersey. muahahaha. I mean come on, those ladies are entertaining! I definitely think B needs to continue sketching. Here’s a photo Vanessa took back at Notre Dame when he practically lived in the library and his hair long. I’ll have to go through my photos of the one he did of Obama when I was studying at RISD.

Hesburgh_art

Wild Things

| May 11, 2009

Happy find via Magic Molly: We Love You So, a website devoted to the many sources that shaped the making of Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are. It made me think of my student teaching experience in Pawtucket, RI, where we incorporated the book into a 2nd grade art lesson. 

wildthingsboxA package from Max arrives…

wildthings_coleWild Things getting ready for a dance party…

faith_suitcasePacking a suitcase for the her Wild Thing, Faith…

Afterwards, my students insisted that they danced with their creatures to Rihanna’s “Umbrella.” What you’ll never see: the 3rd graders teaching me how to dance to Soulja Boy!

clutch city

| May 10, 2009

YAY ROCKETS!

rockets_banner

 I used some cardstock paper to make this banner for my classroom. 

rockets_watch Aaron Brooks scores another 3. Look at Igby sleeping on my shoulder!

The past few weeks have revolved around Rocket games: when to sleep, when to go to the gym, when to eat, when to start Mother’s Day brunch, when to wear red, and so on. I was lucky enough to go to Game 4, and although I lost my voice screaming and cheering and I gained a few pounds from the fries it was still fun despite the lost. Today was a much better and exciting game!

perry_owen_shirts

BJ and I are finally wearing our GAP (RED) artist’s T’s on the same day. His is by Mike Perry and mine is by Matt Owen. Summer break can’t come any sooner. I desperately need some rest, but I feel very blessed that the first year has gone by relatively smoothly.

Marimekko

| May 4, 2009

mansikka_small

yhst-small

I think this came out some time ago, but, while searching for patterns, I came across these Marimekko desktop wallpaper. I love patterns that follow a more organic arrangement. For my next project with my students, I’m thinking of using these designs and the book Over & Over for inspiration and references. Yay, my desktop is no longer boring!

My cousins came down with their kids this weekend, which meant tons of food every day—sushi, crawfish, Blue Bell Coffee ice cream, etc. But the best part was holding and playing with babies. I also got a haircut, and it was funny how some of my kids at school reacted. My favorite comment from a 9th grade boy:

“Miss. It looks way better! Before it was…”

“Frizzy?” (Motioning like I had a huge puffy ball on my head)

“Yeah…”

My first year has been going by so fast that I wish I wrote down all the funny things I hear everyday. One of my favorite has to be when I asked students to design their resume and one shy girl pulled me over and asked,”When you say dates, does that mean we have to write how many dates we’ve been on or something?” She looked so relieved when I explained what I meant. :)

Working on: Save the Dates

NYC

| March 2, 2009

Whew! What a week. My students and I had a huge competition this week, and I was gone all day on Saturday making sure everything went smoothly. One hour into the event, I lost my voice, but I was told that meant I am officially a teacher :). Overall, my students did extremely well, and three pieces advanced to state! I’m super proud. It was kind of odd for me to go to this event because it seemed not so long ago that I was competing. There were over 2500 entries at this regional event, and it was pretty awesome to see so much talent and young people invested in the arts. Makes me feel kinda of hopeful.

BJ and I are counting down the days until we get to go to New York City. I also got my little sister a ticket, and she’s going to try to visit SVA (one of her choices for next year). We’ll be staying for four full days, and I’ve been compiling a list of people, places, and things I want to see. So far, there’s Mike Perry’s show on Saturday night, MoMA, Central Park, and Chelsea galleries. Melissa also suggested Uniqlo, which looks promising. Anyways, I would love to hear any suggestions. Yay! I’m so excited and look forward to a much needed break. Work wise, I’ve been trying out freezer paper stencils and I’ll post those once they are done.  BJ and I have also caught a lot of Big Love episodes on On Demand. Cheers, c