November Issue of Arts & Activities

My radial symmetry prints lesson got published in the latest November issue of Arts & Activities!

Instructor Magazine Relaunch and GIVEAWAY

Do you read, follow, or subscribe to Scholastic Instructor? If not, it is a great resource for all educators! However, don't try searching for a subscription to Instructor now, because they have officially relaunched as Scholastic Teacher.

Scholastic Instructor

I made this month's Scholastic Instructor magazine! I have a blurb featuring my Aboriginal Dot Painting lesson. Check out the snippet here: #2.

Famous Artists' Letters about 'Draw Something'

If you've ever played or heard of the now-trending game Draw Something, I thought you'd enjoy this article. Read through the experiences of several artists discussing the game between one another- pretty amusing : - ).

P.S... could be interesting to turn this into some sort of assignment where students are assigned a specific artist and are asked to create a dialogue with a peer. 

Top Sites

Came across some interesting sites:

Top 6 Sites that Inspire and Educate

Top 6 Sites To Stay Current On Art and Culture

Top 10 Sites to Help Develop Your Creative Side

Top 10 Tumblr Blogs to Creatively Inspire You

Hope you enjoyed the recommendations! I'd love to hear if you've searched through any and now will be using them, what you think, if any were inspiring, etc. Happy browsing : - ).

Pin It

Pearcasso Art Contest

Just spreading the word about a contest you might be interested in : - ).

Another Time Waster

 

Alright, alright... I know the last thing you need is a time waster.. but just in case you actually need distractions to get through the day, I thought I'd share : - ).  Draw a Stickman!

Just an interesting article posted on the Yahoo site: Should the starting salary for a teacher be $60,000? I think all teachers can attest that their job is often under appreciated, and honestly, no one goes into teaching for the money (obviously). So... should we get raises? Will that really affect student achievement? Will it draw in a new crowd of undergrads interested in pursuing education? I can tell you right now: When students tell me they're interested in teaching, I tell them the truth. I explain that it's a lot of work, often times you'll have to defend your position, and if you want a job around here, good luck! A lot have to initially move out of the area. However, as cliche as it is, it's the most rewarding career and it's a labor of love that all of us are committed to, regardless of pay.  

Timewasters

It is currently 2 in the morning and I can not sleep! I came across this blog, How About Orange, as I am a huge DIY-er and there were some interesting time-wasters that I ended up trying.

These aren't the time-wasters that are related to the classroom that you might be initially thinking about. They are more for the artists inside us.

The Working Proof

I read about this interesting website, The Working Proof, which seeks to promote art and social responsibility. Each print on their site is paired with a charity of the artist's choice, in which they donate 15% of the sale of each print. Besides showcasing emerging artists and great artwork, the intent of the Working Proof is to promote a variety of charities and to expose them to new supporters through the appreciation of art and creativity. They release a new print every Tuesday.

If you're in the mood for some new artwork around the house, there are some really interesting pieces on the site at pretty affordable prices- and it's for a good cause, it's a win-win! :-)
 

Doodle 4 Google

It's that time again! The Doodle 4 Google competition is well on its way with this year's theme as, "What I'd like to do someday...." There are some changes this year that are explained on the website.

If you haven't participated in this before, it's a great way to really challenge students to think of creating an original piece of artwork without having a real teacher exemplar to look at. I'm not sure if I'll have time to fit this in this year, for some reason I feel like my plans are jam packed this year (probably due to all the wonderful ideas from your blogs!), but I have done it the last couple years and my students love it! I also hold our own little competition with the faculty and staff as the judges. The students always do such an excellent job, I like to acknowledge their hard work.

*I apologize if this has already been written or shared about. I haven't had as much time as I'd like to catch up on everyone's latest posts.

Photomobile

Another motivational post for your creative side! Saw this on the Splart Blog:

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/amlp#

A million photographs. 

One cross-country exhibition. 

Sign up to receive a disposable camera from Art House, choose a theme that inspires you, and share your interpretation with the world.

Anyone - from anywhere in the world - can participate in the project. More information on the site, seems pretty cool.

 

Art Wars

So I've never actually submitted anything on this site, but I figured I'd share for you that have been in an art slump and need some inspiration. Art-wars.com conducts contests for artists for money in which the artist must read the requirements for a new contest, produce an original piece of art, and upload it to the site. More information is on the site if you're interested. 

Happy Art Making! : )

Create your own Pollock

Fun little website to emulate your own Pollock artwork. Drag your mouse across the page to "drip" paint and click to change colors. Would be a good introduction to Pollock and preliminary assignment.

Jackson Pollock

Mandala Maker

Quick and easy website to introduce making mandalas and radial symmetry. Would be a great preliminary activity.

Mandala Maker

Dowce

My Block Posters page sent me to a new page, Dowce!, and I found it so useful I had to share this one, too! It's a free program you can download to easily create screen captures. It seems as if this program is just for Windows, but I use a Mac and frequently use their screen capture feature which operates in the same way.

Screen captures are a nice tool for fellow bloggers or any tutorials you may want to show your students.

Block Posters

A great resource to enlarge images for the art room or for personal use - and it's FREE! Click on the link below the image to see.

http://www.blockposters.com/default.aspx

Picasso Head

Materials:
- computer with internet access
- printer
- paper

This was a fun and easy lesson to expose my students to Pablo Picasso. We discussed his artwork, style and specifically portraits. With the use of our school computer lab, the students were able to create their own abstract Picasso Head. This website also introduced basic editing tools like stretch, rotate, flip and more. The best part was the students were able to sign their work!

If it's in your school budget, it's nice to have a print out of each child's work.