Miami in December is all about spray paint

So my students follow suit... more pictures tomorrow.

shark valley

A semi-torturous day. Michael, that usually good-hearted man, bought a bike rack and whisked me off to the middle of the Everglades for a !% 15 MILE %#@ bike ride. There were alligators (MORE THAN WE COULD KEEP COUNT OF) on the path, and snakes, cool birds, and it rained, and my butt is killing me softly. He is lucky this isn't a first date.

Up all night with 100 9th graders

Tested my mettle and chaperoned another "lock in" bonding event at school.

Stayed up ALL night. Really really! Our lead adviser Maria organized most everything. She commands the army! Nine teachers play adviser to the masses of the grade. Unfortunately many teachers couldn't participate and so we ran with a skeletal crew and a few kind souls helping out.
The kids played outside capture the flag, and roasted marshmallows around a campfire that some parents set up. Inside we danced under strobe lights, played basketball till 5am, jumped rope, hula hooped, Xbox battled, drew a mural and watched two movies! It went better than I expected. I only wish I hadn't eaten so much pizza, potato chips, pop corn, cookies and sipped all that soda. I thought it would keep me awake...and maybe it did. But I imagine a lot of us felt a bit crummy today.

Michael's show at the Bakehouse Art Complex

 Title: With Palm, I come wanted.

 Palm, paint, police trooper car part, tape, melon, mixed media...

Opened last Thursday night- it is up through Miami Basel week. It is a great piece! Sorry the picture is cropped and doesn't show the whole spread of the piece. 

The show is called, "If a tree falls, a chain reaction". Curated by Carol Jazzar.

BAC- The bakehouse art complex...561 NW 32nd St, Miami, FL 33127 www.bacfl.org

visiting artist K. Caprali

 On Thursday Karla Caprali, Brazillian born Maimi mixed media artist, visited two of my classes.

 She led them through a project of creating 3d birds from cereal boxes and also hinged paper dolls.

 www.caprali.com   see her installations and cut paper works

 The doll makers worked with their knowledge of proportion and fashioned figures to play as stencils across their final painting project.

 Boys and girls alike enjoyed Karla's magical and playful approach to making art. She was funny and
encouraging and a real inspiration.

Her work will be shown at the POOL Fair on South beach this Miami Basel week.

resist for flower power

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

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.