My Art-8 students viewed the paintings of Canadian artist Daniel Bergeron, specifically, his installation in Regent Park in Toronto.
Then they painted the teachers and staff at our school! The steps were as follows:
Create an Abstract Expressionist base coat on the canvas.
Trace a contour line version of the face photograph onto the canvas via graphite paper then paint the lines with black paint.
Add paint – Abstract Expressionism, solid areas, and patterned areas.
Using Mod Podge, adhere parts of the photograph onto the painting, as well as some patterned paper.
Touch ups plus add bits of fluorescent and metallic paints.
This is my sample (above). We used acrylic paint.
Here are the results. They are on display in the school library. I’ve got one more class finishing up tomorrow for a total of fifty-five paintings. So fun! <3
Up to sixty-six cents in found money for 2023! Two found at the grocery store. One of the dimes was in the park parking lot. A penny at the post office.
Every year about this time, I assign a sketchbook assignment called March Madness, which is a drawing of people playing basketball. Not the hoop or a ball, or an aerial view of a basketball court.
But that is pretty much what I get. So frustrating. Basketball isn’t a successful theme for art.
As per this art exhibition at the Everson Museum of Art, I can only surmise that the curator thought – give the city what it loves, and for Syracuse, that is basketball. Art as secondary to the sport. Basketball players posing as contemporary artists.
Shoelaces as art. Basketballs as art. Sneakers as art. Trading cards as art.
And a room of basketball hoops and balls to actually play the game.
I wish I could be positive and open minded about this. Like in the vortex happy. But I was all – this is dumb.
Hoop Dreams: Basketball and Contemporary Art continues through May 21, 2023. Not sure if it is open today because of the blizzard, but you can make your own judgment during regular museum hours listed below.
Vince’s Gourmet Imports is an Italian grocery store on Route 11 in North Syracuse, New York. I love the depth and breadth of the merchandise. What works here is rhythm – the repetition of shapes and color.
These are acrylic paintings on 16″ x 20″ canvas panels created by students in my 8th grade accelerated Studio in Art classes. (Chittenango Middle School, Chittenango, New York) The trick is to start with white paint, add Raw Sienna (a yellow ochre color) then add the color of your choice. One color then permeates throughout the canvas, which is pleasing to the eye and causes non-artists to say something like, “I don’t know why I like this, but I do.”
We looked at the work of Janet Fish, specifically the techniques used to create the illusion of reflective surfaces. I am so pleased with the results.
A small class of 8th graders created these trompe l’oeil donuts. They each created a half dozen to be placed in a real DD box provided by the local Dunkin’ Donuts on Route 5 in Chittenango, NY.
Here’s how they did it –
Armature consisted of aluminum foil and masking tape with paper towel pieces wrapped around each. The goal was to create life-sized donuts of the same size and thickness. Two classes.
Papier mache was added in the form of paper towel bits adhered with Mod Podge. They used bamboo brushes. This step took several classes.
Celluclay is a paper pulp that when mixed with water, makes a type of gooey glue/clay substance that sticks when dry. This was used for the frosting element. One or two classes.
Students painted the Celluclay portion of the donuts with acrylic paint. They used different tints of colors plus browns to depict chocolate. Each donut a different color. Two classes.
They added designs with paint. This included dashes and dots, stripes and/or splatter painting. One class.
Finally, they painted Mod Podge in spots and sprinkled various glitters/sequins/glass beads to the donuts. One class.
Everyone who sees them in the boxes thinks they are real. “Oh, can I have one?” LOL – so great! <3
Found January 18, 2023 – Wegmans parking lot, East Syracuse, NYFound January 21, 2023 – Target parking lot, Fayetteville, NY
These are my money finds so far in 2023. Forty-one cents.
For the past seven years, I texted the photographs to a friend and we called them pennies from heaven. I thought they meant the two of us had a strong connection that would last forever but now I understand that it is the personal connection that I have with my own spirituality that is the meaningful one.
So, thank you, universe, for giving me clarity and making me realize that the money finds are still incredibly special and that their meaning doesn’t lead to a particular result less one – I am abundant. <3
Found January 25, 2023 – Chittenango Middle School hallway, Chittenango, NYFound January 28, 2023 – PetSmart, DeWitt, NY
My friend Joyce introduced me to Ithaca brand hummus. I also take various vitamins and eat cottage cheese on occasion. The recycling began to accumulate and I thought, if we add styrofoam balls, we could make humanoid sculptures.
It is so fun to create something new. A derivative of a contemporary artist based on found object materials that reflects cohesive themes. My sample was an angel (not pictured). I added the Ithaca hummus container lids for wings. It, sort of, resembled a Golden Globe award, so I added that concept. It would be the Angel on Earth award.
Students assembled their armature, used paper towels and Mod Podge for papier mache then used at least three different materials for texture and design. They considered themes based on personal interests and/or were inspired by classroom materials.
I had patterned papers with animal motifs and packages of fabric papers, Origami paper, African designs and Navajo-inspired designs. I also had actual fabric donated by the Home Ec. teacher last year and wallpaper sample books that someone recently shared with me.
In addition, I have a backroom stocked with old Barbie dolls that we harvested for parts. I brought a few things in from my personal art supplies (antique flag toothpicks, an extra lion head cat costume, assorted buttons, twine, peacock feathers).
Students were graded on construction, use of materials, theme and quality of papier mache application. Can you guess what award each sculpture represents?
The M to the K to the T. Does that mean anything to you?
They are the trails I hiked at Highland Forest today. There are twenty miles of trails at this spectacular park where you can also take a horse drawn carriage ride! Once it starts snowing again, there will be skiing and sledding too.
Highland Forest is located at 1254 Highland Park Road, Fabius, NY. They open tomorrow at 8:30 am in case you want to go and search for some bear rocks.
