Tuesday, November 27, 2012

resist for flower power







Use rubber cement and watercolor to create layers of fascinating color and ghostly veils

Monday, November 26, 2012

splatter dribble drip and stomp paintings


 In Pollock, the movie, Jackson changes his shoes before painting. Now the kids get why. It is very important to have them remove their shoes if they don't want paint to fall on them. Mine are covered and I wasn't even painting!


 After initially using spoons, forks and knives with metallic acrylic paint to create a visual rhythm on their Bristol boards, we went outside and, with common house latex paint and an assortment of sticks, danced around the works. The students loved it and I sensed it was a good stress reliever for them.
  Puddles of paint have the long holiday weekend to dry.


Next we will add a stencil and spray paint layer.
This is the final assignment in my painting course that follows the development of paint from India inks, to ground pigments, watercolors, acrylics, latex and finally to air-born propelled pigment. If we went further I would have to include inkjet and pixel art.






this little lizard has blue on it



 (oops did we do that?)

and this little lizard went home, (along side us on the way home). So goes the the Miami version of the 5 little piggies...
coffee musings...

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Followed my boys to the Mississippi


and now am feeling a little blue being back in Miami

Monday, November 19, 2012

Road trips are for day dreamers

The wilderness can be both inside and outside the car.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

A thorny installation for Michael









We will have to wait for the opening at the end of the month in the Aubrey Love Gallery at the Bakehouse to see what this new 3d mural looks like!
Michael has a blog.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Friday, November 16, 2012

This cloud might catch me

But I am ready to fly this weekend. So much to get ready for the holiday road trip. I spied this cloud along side me as I crossed Alligator alley!

This is my 1600th blog post!!!! Can't believe it... Time flies. Like a cloud, like a bird, like a plane, like me!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Took my students outside for a little life

 All day long faculty volunteered to pose for multiple 5 minute poses. It was a good experience for the students: to use their eyes, stand at an easel and try and create a likeness!
All they had going for them was two days of proportion studies and cheap newsprint.
 I loved it.
Only three more days of school before a holiday break and then the term is almost over.
There is never enough time to teach!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Painted the grey walls ocean blue

 What a difference it makes! Michael is inspired and a magician. Just as the weather opens up for more outdoor dining and living, he has transformed our patio enclosure and visually widened the horizon.
 From inside, when I catch the blue in my eyes I feel as if it's the ocean waiting.
The plants look so much happier now. I feel the joy of color at work on my soul.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Krispy Kreme donuts missing from photos

 Nothing inspires the kids to work fast more that when they are promised the still life to eat!
 The object of the assignment was to render an illusion of depth using ellipses and circles. They were encouraged to make lucid color choices that will play into the self-critique and have to be defended.
 They had just finished the book project using diagonal lines as a technique so this was a consistent theme (depth) tackled by a different means.
 Black paper with oil pastel is fun. Especially when you layer it, blend it, and work into it with an sharp blade to scratch back to the paper's surface.

I only have three more weeks with this class and there is so much more to teach them!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

But, but... something is missing

 Compare the earlier work made from observation and a mirror to the work drawn from a photograph.



I like the funky spirit in the original versions... as a teacher I wonder how I can effectively express that to them and convince them to try to combine the two?