Problem solving skills for the future

I love giving a room full of students the same assignment and getting a room full of different pictures! I uncover their diversity. This assignment was a riddle of sorts- how to visualize 21 circles- all with a range of different lines as edges, and two-thirds painted shades of grey. Four with patterns. Only one color. And framed with one circle encroaching the edge. There are multiple ways to solve every problem. Art class is a safe place to try it. As we continue the semester I hope they get a bit braver. The assignments will get more complex, and their investment will get richer.
Did I tell you I love my job? I'm training creative problem solvers who will make great future soldiers, peacemakers, politicians, scientists, parents, and explorers...
(please don't burst my bubbles!)
This is my middle school art class.

Boxes full of promise

Starting a new semester with thirty new (to me) high school students, I went right for the paint. Might as well get everyone wet! The kids are instructed to grab an apron and a viewfinder upon entering the room. This first assignment was just about getting them to look closer at a mundane object like a cardboard box and make a work of art. I limited the pallet for them.
Today, a week after starting, we had a long critique and searched for redeeming qualities and differences. Isn't it nice that everyone has their own way of seeing and their own emphasis in lines? Some were heavily outlined, a few had successful implied lines and a few soley composed by edges of shapes.
I asked them to think more of their value choices. Look for tiny hits of extreme dark and lights to pump up mid-value paintings. They should not be afraid of the dark- or the light! Its the mid range cautious paintings that will bore me. I picked 7 to put in the glass case outside. Can you guess which ones?




CLASSES ARE GOING BETTER THAN I EXPECTED.

Mother's work

My friend Pamela Shensky gets right to the heart of raising, protecting and then letting go of our children.
When my first born was little I recall telling him that I wasn't "just" his mother. I was an artist. Then...by the time my second child arrived I had surrendered. Now, I know I am a mother first and an artist second.
There isn't a painting in the world that would take precedence over their well being. They are my inspiration and joy. I worry about them all the time. Used to be I could hold them and cure their worries with a kiss. When they went through adolescence I watched them disguise themselves and face the forest of fears. I gave them crayons to draw their self portraits. I let them own their triumphs and become masters of the jungle. Now they are finding their course as young men in a world turned topsy turvy. I don't see them enough, and when we talk on the phone it is of food, politics, and environmental collapse, faith, and muscle, peace and war. They have more questions than I have answers to. Sometimes they go through trauma and don't tell me until long afterwards. I don't know how to mother them. Has there been a book written on how to mother your grown children? How to mother from afar? How to mother when your children are walking away?

Show me the money, Find yourself a job

Slap me some Cabbage. That's the motivation for setting alarms, rising in the dark morning after half a nights sleep. Not all motives, not everyday, are pure. I could just as easily sleep a few more hours and then stare at dust motes in the sunshine all afternoon. But a paycheck is nice. I am so fortunate to have a job. We all know people looking for work, wondering how to pay their next bill. Every intersection along the Dixie Highway One has panhandlers. And I know... but for the grace of God go I.
This is a sewn paper patchwork painting, about 21 x 21 inches, made out of painted grocery store receipts and coupons.

Get A New Job or New Year’s Luck in 2012

There is a legend that if you wish something on a New Year Day then your dream will definitely come true. The upcoming year 2012 is a leap year and it has one more day than the current year so it makes it special. So it means you will have one day more to find a job! In fact it is not much, but this day may be a crucial one in your career and you will find the job of your dream in the upcoming year. All you have to do is to wish to find a new job and start searching it.

There are many resources where you can search jobs. But there is one, recently brought to my attention, that can simplify your job searching process. The name of it is Jooble.
What is Jooble? Jooble is a job search engine and it operates in 48+ countries around the world. The work of the service is very simple. With the help of Jooble you may search jobs across the whole world as well as across the United States. You might find yourself on an adventure like me... I am so happy to have found my New York self in Miami at a great job.

Just Jooble to find your dream job in just few clicks in the upcoming year!

Short on time and braincells

and jotting notes of my where-abouts in red wine and ink. I wish I had done more prep work for my job over the holidays. What was I thinking????!!!!!

Tools and plans for the new year

When I look as though I am just lazing on the couch with a book- rest assured, I am gathering the tools to make a small difference, muster up a minor improvement, or manage a repair to my life and dreams. I'm addicted to self-help books.... anything from a spiritual expansion to the perfect sauce to descriptive brush work. I can learn it all. When I make my list of goals for 2012, I have four pillars of improvement. One pillar is for health, the other for finances, the third is for relationships, and the fourth is for peace of mind. I can stand improvement in each of those areas. More to come on that...
Over the past few days I have touched up an old painting by giving it an aged patina. Even though its about looking ahead, it merited some warmth, or so I thought.
6 x 9 inches paint on wood panel

Cleansing for the new year

The rhythmic swinging of a broom in use is meditative and cathartic. It is a powerful tool to start and to end something. Spent much of the last few days sweeping out the cobwebs, vacuuming up tracks, and mopping out the holiday grime. In addition to doing the housework, my partner and I embarked on a cleansing diet. It consisted of gallons of hot lemon water and other juices consumed in 48 hours. I'm drinking tea today, a little scared of slipping on the polished floors and passing out under the weight of a piece of celebratory wheat toast.

I've painted brooms in the past... my favorites were in 2007 when I used them to honor the deep friendships that developed through cosmic passing, and also when I looked at what I needed to get rid of in my life. (Clean Sweep).

Small panel with paint and gold leaf (about 9 x 6 inches)