Art Lady

In an effort to fund raise and having more time with my majors this year, I am looking at Fimo beads. I have found several websites that I like:

• Polymer Clay Beads
• How to make Fimo Beads
• Lentil Swirled Beads

I can’t wait to do this with my students!

I found this great article on the Free Technology for Teachers blog. It mentions a Free (do you see a theme here) RSS to PDF Newspaper maker. This is a great tool that I can use to make newspapers for the students of my parents who don’t have computers. Fivefilters.org is the organization behind the programming. “This is a free software project to help people create printable PDFs from content found on the web. It is a free alternative to HP’s Tabbloid service. It is being developed as part of the Five Filters project to promote alternative, non-corporate media.”

One of my 8th grade majors helped me find these pictures on the internet. I put these on the internet so my students can discuss them.

Here is a video that a friend of mine made for a student in Ms. Campbell’s drama class. Enjoy!
A Dream Deferred

by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore–

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over–

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

I taught how to make Mola’s my first 2 years of teaching, but haven’t done it in 3 years, so I thought now was the time. There is a great lesson plan at the Incredible Art Department and at Dick Blick under their multi-cultural lesson plans Professor Wimberly has a great .pdf file on the net of the History of the Cuna Indians and their Mola making.
What are Mola’s? Molas are women’s blouses made by the Kuna of northeastern Panama. The mola tradition is only about a hundred years old, but it is very important to the identity of the Kuna. The patterns originated in body paint and are made of many layers of bright cloth cut and stitched to create complex designs. The designs are often based on plants and animals and even events that are important in the lives of the Kuna as well as on things from the outside world, like Tony the Tiger from cereal boxes and images from basketball games or from greeting cards. This mola uses red, yellow and blue, colors that were used in body painting. –Marty, Potawatomi

An excellent website is the Art of Being Kuna @ the National Museum of the American Indian.
There is an article that needs some work on Wikipedia on the Cuna Indians.
We will be using scissors to make our Mola’s because I don’t have enough X-acto knifes.

I have a workshop coming up and needed a one hour project. I immediately thought of book making. Simple book making because we don’t have alot of time for sewing singatures, etc. I found two great websites. The first is Bookbinding by Brian Sawyer and the second is the Incredible Art Department’s Paper Making and Book Making page. Brian Sawyer’s site is for those that want to sew books. The Handmade Paper page is an excellent resource for teachers who want one stop shopping. I found a link to the San Diego Museum of Art and they have excellent lesson plans for making artists books such as the Accordian book, Star book, Flag book, Flutter book,  Tunnel book and others. There are some great videos on YouTube by Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord or skgaylord she is also on TeacherTube. She also has a website with free projects.

I have been searching for digital art projects for a while. I have done digital self portraits and the WOW project, but need a new thing.

A good example of using TEXT

I like the bitmapped quality of this couple graphic. I also like the text buildings in the background.

OK, now all I have to do is write an instruction sheet and lesson plan for this assignment! No problem.

I found this cool site… It’s artist’s webcams in their studio. I found the link from NetTrekker. You can watch potter Mike Eden at work. Neat-o. I mean groovy!

OK so I have been busy, busy, busy. I have added 3 graphics to different pages and added some important links to the ceramics page and visited NetTrekker. I love this educational search tool. I already raved about it in my 002 blog that I have on my HMS website. But anyway….. see if you can find the changes. A big shout out to Laurie Zimmerman who is helping me keep my clay supply organized in the art room. Sometimes I do things the easy way, which isn’t necessarily the smart or pretty way. Hee-Hee.

So I have been wondering what to do for a good lesson plan. Luckily my blogger friends have helped me find an answer. Comics!

There is this great Flash website - makebeliefscomix.com
You can design your own presidential comic. I just need a really good writing prompt! Luckily Bill Zimmerman has a great blog with writing prompts. He doesn’t have one on the inauguration, but I will see if I can come up with one myself. The theme of change is very inspiring!

WRITING PROMT:
The theme for President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration is “Restoring America’s Promise,” highlighting the new administration’s mission to restore opportunity and possibility for all Americans. What do you want restored in your neighborhood?