Visual Texture

I just got my 7th graders started on this project- everyone is doing a different animal. I'm not sure if it's going to be too difficult for them, I guess we'll see. I got the idea from a fellow middle school teacher who teaches at another school in my district (yay for district collaboration!). It was a really fun project to do. I don't always have time to completely finish examples for new projects but like a good book I couldn't put this one down.

Fun with Safety

This year I decided to participate in a workplace safety poster contest which is done annually by The Utah Labor Commission. Just for participating I will be receiving $300.00 for my art program which is sorely needed thanks to the administration cutting my entire budget last year and leaving my program to survive on student fee money. The top twelve winners in the state will have their drawings published in a calendar that is sent to workplaces throughout the state and they also win a cash prize. Another really cool bonus: If any of my students win I get matching prize money for my art program. Out of 67 kids who completed the assignment there were 8 that I felt were good enough to submit to the contest. Just sharing the top eight would be kind of boring, so instead I'm sharing my favorites:


Category #1- Tell it like it is. These kids don't waste any time telling you that death is just around the corner:



Category #2- Language barriers. Learning English is hard and I have a huge amount of respect for kids who are trying to learn a new language while earning good grades in classes taught exclusively in that language:

The above poster was done by a girl who moved here from Thailand less than a year ago. I smiled with giddy delight when I saw her awkward translation; unfortunately I didn't see it soon enough to help her correct it.


Category #3- Off the mark. These kids could not be deterred from their unorthodox take on safety:

What?! Why is the hot dog vendor reminding the monkey keeper how to do his job? And why is that monkey loose? So many unanswered questions! This one seriously made me laugh out loud.

The hard-to-read text at the top says "shoot him before he shoots you". The kid who made this one was utterly convinced that this poster would be helpful to cops. I also love the weird mix of Kenny and Cartman from south park, an AK-47, and a pac-man game gone wrong.


Category #4- Close, but no cigar:

This one made me laugh and I thought it was a clever connection to the Geico ads, but I can't send in something with a copyrighted slogan.


Category #5- Possible winners. These kids turned in some high quality, smart posters. I really hope that at least one of them wins:

Very cute and well done. The fact that she folded it to take it home might work against her.

The big lettering looks a little clumsy because it was done with a Sharpie that bled, but the million dollar bill is amazing and has lots of fun details.


If this kid doesn't get at least an honorable mention I'll assume the contest is rigged because this is amazing and is as good or better than any of the posters that made this year's calendar.

If any of my kids win I will post an update!

Proof

My Drawing 1 class recently finished up a printmaking unit in which they had to create an original design on a paper template, transfer it to a lino block, and then carve out the design. Despite multiple explanations of why drawing the design directly onto the block "the right way" wouldn't work, the girl who made the design below was undeterred. She drew "420" right onto the stamp and since the stamp that comes off the block is a mirror image of the block, her design turned out backwards. Just more proof that doing drugs makes you stupid.

Frost & Fog

I have always had trouble taking creative photographs without an extraordinary event or location to act as a muse. That is one of the biggest differences between me and Cara. She can take the most amazing photos of things around the house or the neighborhood, while I need something to kick start my creativity. My favorite photos have always been taken during unique experiences; the fire hydrants from the summer, vacations, long walks at night in new neighborhoods. It's something I have known about myself since my college days when I would walk the streets looking for anything new to catch my eye. Considering this handicap of mine I am delighted when something unique happens in ordinary life because I know that it will lead to great images. While visiting my father-in-law in Redmond, UT this holiday weekend I wasn't planning any great photography expeditions since I thought I had long since tapped out any originality for photographs in that particular location. I was letting our dog Grace outside one morning when I noticed this thick fog surrounding me changing the normally familiar landscape into something new. I ran inside and grabbed my camera and took some amazing shots.

Fence Post

Fog

Frost

Gallop

Christmas Stockings

This year I decided that the holiday season isn't busy or stressful enough, so I thought I'd make new stockings for my family. I got the first one completely done and the second one about halfway done when Ian realized they were too narrow and his hand wouldn't fit inside, so I had to re-make the ones I had already done plus the two I hadn't. Luckily I got them finished just in time:

Krampus

A friend of mine who lives in Austria recently did a blog post about Krampus. Wikipedia explains Krampus breifly as "a mythical creature who accompanies St. Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children, in contrast to St. Nicholas, who gives gifts to good children." As soon as I read her blog post a lesson plan began formulating in my head. I thought that telling the legend of Krampus to my students and having them draw a picture of what they thought he looked like would be a fun way to keep their attention the last day before Christmas break. I told the students the myth, had them draw a picture and then ended by showing them the following picture along with a video clip of a Krampus celebration.

Krampus and St. Nicholas.

I got some pretty interesting results. Remember that my students didn't have any idea what he looked like when they drew these. They just knew he accompanied St. Nick and punished bad children. Here are a few of my favorites:

In this depiction Krampus is delivering a bad kid to Santa. Apparently Santa seems good but is secretly the mastermind behind a Christmastime kidnapping ring.

Santa's younger brother, Shifty Claus, who looks slightly bitter that his older brother hogs all the fame.

I swear I didn't say anything about Krampus ripping anyone's head and limbs off and using them to decorate a Christmas tree.

Imagine if this guy showed up in your living room on Christmas Eve. You'd never do anything bad again because you'd be catatonic with fear for the rest of your life.

Gotta loved the triple ear piercing and Christmas tree necklace.

Maybe I should turn some of these over to our school psychologist.

The cutest Krampus that was turned in.

And last, but not least, this is probably the best mix of Austrian and American traditions that was turned in.

After the kids turned in their drawings I showed the video below. Thanks for the great idea Missy- the kids had a lot of fun!

Christmas Downtown

Just wanted to share a few photos Ian and I took while we were on a carriage ride downtown with Ian's parents and brother:

Brance and Dennis

Aven and Grandma

Aven meets Bob