Coolest thing EVER

I suppose this will be my first proper post in who knows when. The weekend is really the only time I have to myself to be able to sit down and do this honestly. I'm very busy, but it's all almost over. I have a week and a half of student teaching left. WOO-HOO!!!

Anywho, take a look at this!




Isn't is the coolest thing you have ever seen??? This is a work sample I created for one of my eighth grade class I'm teaching. It's loosely based on the architecture of Frank Gehry.

Basically, all you do is:

1. Find a base, such as a wooden block, matte board, possibly even foam core can be used.
2. Use hot glue to put together an arrangement of found objects to create an original, dynamic form.
3. Once all your pieces are glued, and the glue is dry, take pantyhose and carefully stretch it over your model. This for me was the hardest part!
   
4. Once the pantyhose is completely stretched over your form take a mixture of 75% Elmer's glue, 25% white tempera paint and paint it! This will harden the pantyhose.
5. Wait 24 hours, then spray paint it. I haven't spray painted mine yet.

I would strongly recommend taking a look at Frank Gehry's architecture. It's some of the most interesting I've seen. I may come back here later and post some photos of it.

Also, I want to credit Scholastic Arts Magazine for this idea. :)

Not On the Test

For all you fabulous teachers out there, watch this video! :)

http://www.notonthetest.com/

Morandi with Color

This painting was inspired by the work of Morandi. His paintings often consisted of still lifes containing very dull color. I thought it would be interesting to do this with some intense colors. Hope you like it.

Acrylic on 16x20 inch panel

This is also similar to my Joy painting, which was inspired by Morandi as well.



Joy, Oil on canvas

If you would like to buy (not the Joy!), I'm open to offers. I would also be interested in commissions similar to this. Thanks!

Here are some works by Morandi, if you want to know where my inspiration came from:

Color Theory

I was looking through my resource notebook and found some things on color theory. Definitions...and a quiz. If you would like it, feel free to take.

Color Theory Vocabulary

1. Analogous colors: colors that are closely related; They are usually next to each other on the color wheel, as in blue and blue-green

2. Color: response of vision to the wavelength of light reflected from that surface

3. Color triad: a group of three colors spaced an equal distance apart on the color wheel

4. Complementary colors: two colors that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel

5. Cool colors: blues, greens, purples

6. Hue: another name for color; it is determined by the specific wavelength of the color in a ray of light.

7. Intensity: the saturation or strength of a color; a vivid color is of high intensity; a dull color is of low intensity

8. Local color: the naturalistic color of an object as seen by the eye (green grass, blue sky, red fire, etc.)

9. Monochromatic color: one color plus black and white

10. Neutralized color: color that has been grayed or reduced in intensity by adding neutral colors or a complementary color.

11. Neutrals: surface colors that do not reflect any single wavelength of light, but rather all of them at once. Neutral colors are white, black, brown, and gray.

12. Primary colors: the three colors that cannot be mixed or created. They create all other colors; Red, Yellow, Blue.

13. Secondary Colors: colors that are made by mixing two primary colors together: orange, green, and purple

14. Shades: a color plus black

15. Spectrum: the band of individual colors that result when a beam of light is broken into its different wavelength of colors.

16. Split-complement: a color and the two colors on either side of its complement

17. Subjective colors: colors chosen by the artist without regard to the natural appearance of the object portrayed. Subjective colors have nothing to do with the objective reality and they represent the expression of the individual artist.

18. Tertiary colors: a color made by mixing one primary color with one secondary color; blue-violet, blue-green, red-orange, red-violet, etc.

19. Tints: a color plus white

20. Warm colors: reds, oranges, yellows

21. Values: refers to the lightness or darkness of a color; it indicates the quantity of light reflected.

Color Theory Quiz

Name: __________________________________________________________

Directions: Please fill in the blanks below to answer each question.

1. A landscape of hot temperatures or emotions might use a __________________ color scheme.
2. Using two colors which are opposite each other on the color wheel is called a ______________________________ color scheme.
3. Another word for color is _______________________.
4. The lightness or darkness of a color is called _________________________.
5. The compliment of red is __________________.
6. The compliment of blue is ________________________.
7. The compliment of yellow is _____________________________.
8. Most earth tones are considered _____________________ colors.
9. The peacefulness of a waterscape would very likely use a ________________ color scheme.
10. The primary colors are _________________, ___________________, and __________________.
11. The secondary colors are ______________________, ____________________, and ___________________________.
12. Name three tertiary colors: ____________________, ___________________, _______________
13. When you add white to a color, you create a __________ of that color.
14. When you add black to a color, you create a ________________ of that color.

Enjoy :)

Everything seems to be falling into place

I got my PRAXIS scores back today. I PASSED!!! I will basically be a certified teacher now!!! It's so exciting for me. I also have some other exciting news that I want to share, but I don't think I should post it on here just yet. But, my college career is coming to an end, and I think my professional career may be starting soon. :)

I may post more later. I'm too hungry to think right now.

Nobody

I had a total of five visitors yesterday. That makes me sad.

What can I do that I'm not already doing?

Contemporary Art Interests

Have you seen The Cremaster Cycle? I have seen bits and pieces of it. I haven't had the opportunity to see it all, but I would LOVE TO. If you don't know what The Cremaster Cycle is, it's a sequence of five films by Matthew Barney. Wikipedia describes it as being: "The conceptual departure point for the cycle is the male cremaster muscle, and the films are filled with anatomical allusions to reproductive organs and the process of sexual differentiation." I think the visuals of these films are stunning. Here are some photos. Thanks to Wikipedia as well.





Another artist I've been reading about today is Ronnie Landfield. He is an American Abstract Painter. Here are some of his works (they are so colorful!):


Garden of Delight , acrylic on canvas, 1971


Rite of Spring, acrylic on canvas, 1985


The Deluge, acrylic on canvas, 1999

Love Factory

Below is a photo of a painting I've been working on. It's called Love Factory. I have no idea where this idea came from. It just kind of popped into my brain somewhere. Basically, what you see is somewhat of an abstracted smokestack. Instead of nasty smoke coming out of it, you see hearts forming, meaning love is forming and being born.

The photo is not so great, and I'm not sure that I'm finished with it. I think it needs something else. I think maybe I need to add some kind of defined background, so it doesn't look so much like it's just floating in space. I do love all its texture though.



Love Factory
acrylic on 16 x 20 inch panel

Lately, I think I've been trying to figure out exactly what my style is. Not that I have to have my own distinct style or anything. It's just that... I know I'm definitely not one of those artists who paint everything very realistically. For me, trying to get something to look exactly how it looks in real life confines me, and I have no patience for it.

I've not disappeared

I'm still here. I've been working on a painting. I'm super tired right now, so this will probably be short.

I'm rather pissed at American Idol. My hometown was featured on Idol Gives Back. They basically portrayed my hometown as a poverty-sticken area where no one has anything. They showed probably the worst areas in my hometown that they could have possibly shown. What they didn't show was the beautiful mountain scenery, and yes, there are some actual nice neighborhoods, and not everyone is stricken with poverty. Every place you go will have an area full of poverty.

I know it's a good thing that the people who do need the help will get it. I'm all for that. I just wish American Idol wouldn't have shown such a one-sided story. They could have focused on the positive aspects as well.

Anywho, I'm working on a painting. Not sure when it will be finished.

Me and my boyfriend are going to dance theatre tonight. It should be fun!

Exploding Deodorant

My deodorant melted in my backpack in my car which was there all day in the heat. I didn't realize this until I got home, went to put some of it on, opened it, and it exploded all over my backpack. Fun times!

I'm going to be slow w/posts because I'm making art!

Creative Juices Can't Flow

The past week and a half I have wanted to make art so bad. Why don't I? I don't know. I spend my days at schools, and in the evenings I am tired, with my boyfriend, don't have the resources I need, etc. I went to Wal-Mart some day last week to buy one of those cheap ass canvases. They were out of the big ones so I didn't buy one. I'm going to wait until they get more, then maybe I can paint.

Thursday me and my boyfriend went to Hastings, a book and music store. I found a hardback book about Grandma Moses for $5.99 and a FANTASTIC book about papier-mache for $3.99. Needless to say, I was more than excited. The papier-mache book is my favorite. It has so many different and intricate ideas for papier-mache. You can basically make anything with papier-mache. I haven't got a chance to get to try anything in that book yet, but I really want to soon.

My cooperating teacher informed me of this artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat Art. I will post some of his stuff below. Look Him UP!!!

Credit for these images: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Michel_Basquiat and Google Images

You Got the RIGHT STUFF

So, if you live under a rock, you probably haven't heard that the friggin' NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK are back together!!! It makes me so excited that I don't even know what to do with myself! I was just a small child when they were popular, but I remember my Joey McIntyre (spelling?) doll, and my NKOTB Raincoat and Umbrella! I still have the doll and the raincoat! All of this buzz makes me feel like a kid again! I'm such a dork. Please forgive me. :)

I want to do something cool with this blog. What could it be? I don't know. I'm kind of spacey right now. It's been a long week! TGIF!

ATTENTION! :)

I don't have a lot of online time today. I have to go to the park and collect sticks for my cooperating teacher. Yes, sticks. The 8th grade kids are going to be making three dimensional chairs with twigs and such. I also have to go to dinner, and spend time with my boyfriend, and watch my weekly mini marathon of Ghost Hunters on Sci Fi.

I should probably finish up a lesson plan, but I don't think it's going to happen. Eh?

So, short post today! Sorry! Thanks to all my lovely visitors. I <3 you!!!

Bad Smells

I do not know what the deal is with my car, but it smells BAD. As soon as you open a door the smell hits you in the face! I don't know how to describe it well. It kind of has this weird leafy odor, but it's really strong. I thought maybe I could buy an air freshener and it would go away. No. Now, it smells like Strawberry Weird Leafy Smell. Not good. My car isn't dirty or anything. I mean, I'm sure it needs to occasional vacume, but I don't have any weird stuff in it that shouldn't be there. It's really strange. I think this weekend I'm going to totally clean it. Hopefully that will help.

I had to leave school early today for a doctor's appointment. Oh the joys of that. I've received my usual dose of Cipro, and hopefully my bladder will be on to a full recovery soon. ?

I went shopping last night here in town. My boyfriend surprisingly agreed to go with me ("Sure!"), but of course by the end of the trip he was complaining and pouting. I should have known it wasn't a good idea to take him with me! That won't happen again. Well...it probably will.

I'm going to post some work by Dale Chihuly today. I think his work is very interesting. I've seen a couple of lesson plans for high school that you can use to incorporate his methods. One method deals with heating up small sheets of plexiglass in a toaster oven on 350 degrees (I think) for about two minutes. Once you take the plexiglass out of the toaster oven, it's very pliable and bendable, but it hardens really quickly. Students enjoy doing this because the results resemble that of Chihuly's work. There are also some special transparent glass paints that you can buy at arts and craft stores.

Another lesson plan similar to that one revolves around putting vinyl records in very hot water, and the records are bendable and pliable. It's very similar to the plexiglass idea.