Handmade for the Holidays

It's been a really busy month for me, not just because of Christmas, but with work-which is a good thing. Many thanks to friends and family for all the support at my first art show at Red Kite Coffee Company. My art will be there until the end of December. 

I've also been trying to set up my Etsy Shop. If you are looking for something original and handmade for that special someone, you can save 10% until December 15, and most of the small items have free shipping-Just use code GIFTTIME at check out. I offer free delivery in the NWA area by using code LOCALNWA. There are a few mini canvases, ornaments and journals left, and they all come wrapped and ready to give!

I've also added a custom order option to my shop if you would like a handmade composition notebook journal. These all sold so quick at my art show because they make such great gifts. I won't have anymore ready for Christmas, but keep them in mind for Valentines day, birthdays and graduations.

I'm loving doing works on paper lately and have several available in my shop, including some prints of my "Just Be" work that will be featured in the Arkansas Arts Council Small Works on Paper Exhibition for 2016. If you are in Arkansas, you can catch this exhibit near your hometown-see the schedule here.

Blessings to all my friends out there for the Holidays. I hope you find happiness, hope and peace through our Lord and Savior this Christmas.

I'll be back in 2016 with more posts for the upcoming year. 

When art just happens

I always keep a piece of butcher paper covering my work space, and I'm embarrassed to admit, that until I did the Documented Life Challenge this year and was challenged to use my "under paper", I always just threw it away

Today, instead of throwing it way I cut up into pieces and was amazed by the results. I love some of the new color combos that turned up in my scraps-colors I would probably never intentionally put together. Each piece was like it's own individual mini artwork--and I didn't even try! Gotta love that!

I used a couple pieces in my journal entry today. It pushed my a bit out of my comfort zone to add theses to my pretty pastel pages, but I loved the results

Chagall inspired Story Art

My service student put together this great display of some of the Marc Chagall inspired artworks created by my 5th graders this semester. 

We started off our lesson learning about Marc Chagall and characteristics of his style of abstract art. We watched a great short video on Biography.com that the kids loved, and also looked through two storybooks on Marc Chagall.

Using liquid water colors, students created a colorful background.

I showed a sample of artwork I had created and told a story of my memories behind the pictures-the kids love this! Then I asked each of them to use the back of their paper and brainstorm a list of words that communicated a story or memory they wanted to tell. Then students drew images for each word, turning the page each time so the images floated around the page. Students drew in pencil first, outlined in Sharpie, and then colored in with construction paper crayons.

If you would like to see more samples of student works for this project, visit our gallery over at Artsonia.

Mixed Media Hearts

I wanted to share these Jim Dine inspired mixed media hearts made by my fifth graders. They are are colorful, fun and unique--just like the kids who created them. We made these on recycled cardboard tiles, approximately 4 x 6 inches in size.

First we applied a layer of gesso, and then used tempera paint for the heart and background. I instructed the children to use a contrast of warm and cool colors. We spent a day painting papers with tempera paint, texture tools, and foam stamps.

We used our papers to add a collage element to the entire piece. After the paper was added, we added some more color with oil pastels and sharpies. Last, but not least, we sealed with a glossy coat of Modge Podge. 

I'm planning on putting up all 85 of these on a bulletin board in the 5th grade hall. I'll be sure to post pics on Facebook when I get it done. My only regret was that it wasn't done in time to enjoy the entire month of February. There's always next year, right?!

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Work in Progress

I thought I would try to start posting what I'm currently working on in my studio-paintings that I have in progress or have just finished. Here's a 12 x 12 mixed media on canvas that I just completed today.

I started out using my Gelli Arts Printing Plate. I used some stencils and acrylic paint and printed in three different sections. Using india ink in a liner applicator, I drew in the flowers. I used acrylic paint and a hand made stamp for the small flowers. I applied the white dots with my fingers.

Here I've added more detail with a hand carved leaf stamp and added color with Elmer's Acrylic painters pens. I painted the flowers using a stencil and acrylic paint. Doodles and writing were done with a white Uni ball Signo  and  black Scarlet Lime Permaball pilot pen. 

I finished off the piece with some shading with my Neocolor II crayons, some more stamps and a little distress ink around the edges. Look for this piece at Reinvented Vintage in West Little Rock.

Index Card A Day Challenge and summer

Ahhh, summer is finally here! I started June 1st with the Daisy Yellow ICAD (Index Card a Day) challenge, and it has really sparked my creativity! I even created these cards as the foundation for my Art Journaling Adventure workshop I taught this past week. They are all my favorite verses about creativity. 

I spent four days teaching a group of 5th-7th graders tons of fun techniques for art journaling. They left with their own mixed media art journals. I didn't realize how much I've missed teaching, and I'm so excited that I get to do it full time again this next school year as an art teacher!

These are all 3 x 5 index cards. Tammy has prompts each week that you can use if you want, but the challenge is to create a card a day for 60 days. My girls have even enjoyed the process! If you love creating, this is a fun and easy way to create every day-you can join in at anytime.

If you want to see more of the cards I've created, and the one's my girls have been creating, follow me on Facebook. Here's some highlights from my art journaling workshop…

Students learned about color...

Backgrounds, layering, stencils...

Journaling prompts and beautiful pages to fill...

Each student made their own stamp…

Collage and texture

Taking journals apart and putting them back together.

And celebrating that we are all created in the image of the greatest artist of all times!

Kid's Recycle Art Workshop

This week I just finished holding an amazing Recycled Art Workshop. And when I say amazing, I don't mean my workshop, but I'm referring to the amazing creative kids that attended. Using all "trash" and a little inspiration, they took the info I presented to them and ran with it. I was really amazed at the unique creativity of each piece of art.

Here's project one of three.  Thanks to Pinterest, I found this great idea for Recycled Picasso Portraits by United Art & Education. Just click the previous link and they have a wonderful tutorial to follow.

Using "trash" like cardboard boxes, phone book pages, paper and fabric scraps, old magazines, discarded buttons, and paper bags, along with some basic art supplies like glue, scissors, construction paper and oil pastels, students created these amazing portraits. 

I can't tell you how much they enjoyed coloring on the cardboard with the oil pastels! If you ever want to entertain a child, give them something textured to color on :)

Click Photo for details

Love these Crayola Oil Pastels for classes!

I also encouraged them to use a warm/cool color combo for the back ground verses the foreground.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!