Seung Mo Park

Seung Mo Park is a pretty cool artist. He creates portraits using wire mesh- much like the kind that your window screens are made of. The process is pretty meticulous and it's really different from anything I've seen. There is an example below, but it's definitely worth your time to follow this link to read and see more.

Innuendo

The assignment: to create a concept for a movie and then design a movie poster to advertise it. The result: Thinly veiled innuendo. Gotta love 7th graders.

First Annual WJMS Chalk Art Festival

My Drawing 2 students wanted to do something special this year and since I wasn't really up for a field trip due to being pregnant I decided to plan a chalk art festival. Luckily my wonderful principal was completely supportive and even offered to buy pizza for my class and pay for my substitute for the day.

Since I had never done anything like this before it was really just a stab in the dark. I did some research and came up with lists of suggested supplies and techniques and picked several famous paintings for the students to choose from. I really didn't have any idea how big to have the students make the drawings, so I guessed on that as well. Most of them ended up about 5' x 7'. 

It ended up being a lot of fun and I learned a few things that I could do different next time to make the day even better.

Enjoy the results:

The Scream by Edvard Munch. Recently sold at auction for 119.9 million.

The Scream by Zach and Ed. They think that their drawing should sell for 120 million too.

Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh

Starry Night by Carl, Jaxon, and Lacey. The most focused group of the day without a doubt.

Self Portrait with Monkey by Frida Kahlo

Self Portrait with Monkey by Fernando, Yuri, Mishell, Juan, and Arianna.  They loved that unibrow.

Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali

Persistence of Memory by Tyler, Sebastian, and CJ. They were a little creative with their interpretation of the colors.

Madame Monet and Her Son by Claude Monet

Madame Monet and Her Son by Ariel, Andrew, Ariel, and Baylee. In case you couldn't tell, this group is all about anime.

Keith Haring Project

I really love the art of Keith Haring. I like how he turned his simple figures into complex designs full of rhythm, color, movement, and life. I also love how he used his art and fame as an artist to support positive causes such as AIDS awareness and anti-drug campaigns.

A painting depicting Haring's simple human figures.

I recently taught a lesson about Keith Haring to my Drawing 2 students and had them complete their own Haring style drawing and then paint it with watercolors. Here are some of the lovely results:

Art Fair 2012

The annual WJMS Art Fair is on once again. It is the biggest show we've had in my 7 years here. The library is busting at the seams with about 450 drawings and paintings, about 80 ceramic pieces, and a large teacher art display. It was a lot of work and very stressful, especially being pregnant, but now that it's on display I'm very excited to be displaying so much talent. It never ceases to amaze me how much talent and creativity pours out of 12-15 year old kids. At the end of the year, when I'm tired and feeling run down by the job the Art Fair always rejuvenates me.

It was impossible to get a picture of the whole Art Fair since it stretched around almost the entire library.

We advertised like crazy this year and had a good turn out.

Winner of 9th Grade Best In Show. Advanced Grid Drawing.

Winner of 8th Grade Best In Show. Illuminated Manuscript.

Winner of 7th Grade Best In Show. Texture Landscape.

Winner of Ceramics Best In Show. Elephant Teapot.

Blue Teddy Bear

I've never made my own pattern before since I really stink at thinking in three dimensional terms. I decided to make a super-simple teddy bear pattern despite my shortcoming. The result isn't perfect, but I think it's pretty cute:

Long Exposure

Meet Michael Wesely, well, meet one of his photographs anyway:

Michael Wesely is a photographer who has been experimenting with incredibly long photographic exposures. By incredibly long I mean 2-3 years long. Pretty incredible. What he has tried to do is capture urban development over a long period of time. He believes it's possible to create exposures that last 10 years or even more. Here's a link to an article about him with more of his images: http://www.unfinishedman.com/the-long-exposures-of-michael-wesely/