There is no air-conditioning in school. We take my #ootd pics early in the morning and by the end of the day I am sometimes somewhat of a hot and sticky mess. I am grateful to have two fans mounted on the walls in my classroom and I have been drinking tons of iced coffee, water and a Gatorade every day.
vintage necklace, BCBGMaxAzria sweater, top and skirt, BCBGeneration booties
No complaints though, as Syracuse, New York weather feels like Florida right now and we are on the verge of summer vacation!
Cinq a Sept dress, BCBGeneration sandalsRachel Zoe dress, Calvin Klein booties
Here are my most recent outfits. My Rachel Zoe dress needs the dry-cleaner stat, as Friday was a particularly muggy day. It is currently a silk version of what my hair looked like later that day – that frazzled ’80s rock star effect that we all discarded with the invention of flat irons. Seriously cringe worthy, lol. I wore boots that day because I was sure it was going to rain mid-day, but that rain did not appear until I was driving home from work. It lasted all of fifteen minutes leaving us with perfect outdoor festivals weather for the weekend – Ozstravaganza in Chittenango and Taste of Syracuse downtown.
Marc Jacobs sunglasses, BCBGMaxAzria sweater, pants and sandals, Bailey 44 top
BCBGMaxAzria dress, BCBGeneration bootiesTrina Turk top and pants, BCBGeneration sandalsBanana Republic cardigan, Bailey 44 top with BCBGMaxAzria T-shirt, BCBGMaxAzria pants, BCBGeneration sandals
Catching up on blogging – there is a new feature on word press – maybe not so new; I only just discovered it – that I can program when the blog articles are posted. So, now I can write a bunch on the weekends and post throughout the week, which is genius!
Trina Turk top, BCBGMaxAzria leggings, BCBGeneration sandalsLord & Taylor cashmere sweater, BCBGMaxAzria pants and sandals
It has been a whirlwind autumn – exercising, meditating, socializing, art business-ing, shopping, lol. So much to do! I have attended art shows that I did not post about due to their fleeting nature – those pop-up shows offer no opportunity to generate customers after the fact and I simply could not post in real time. I am just not that organized, unfortunately.
BCBGMaxAzria sweater, Banana Republic skirt, BCBGeneration bootiesTrina Turk top and skirt, BCBGeneration sandals
I was invited to join a group holiday art show. I will investigate that more today to see if I have anything that will fit the space. I’ll keep you posted.
Free People cardigan, Rachel Zoe top, BCBGMaxAzria sandalsBanana Republic cardigan, BCBGMaxAzria top and skirt, BCBGeneration sandals
Here are my most recent outfits of the day at work. You can see the progression of the plaster pig sculptures behind me. They are finished bar three. Students painted them, added details and finalized the last component, which had them finding a location and photographing the pig in a composition. I will post those pictures soon!
Screw blazer, Bailey 44 top, 7 For All Mankind jeans, BCBGeneration sandalsBanana Republic sweater, BCBGMaxAzria pants, Nine West booties
All of my students bring the school I-Pads to class. Some have taken to photographing or videoing their progress on art projects and it is really fun to see that progression. We are always in the now and tend to forget the immediate past on the way to the journey. This is such an amazing way to witness their own incremental learning. I love it! In the earlier #ootd pics you saw the beginning stages – how students wrapped bottles with paper towel and tape and they just looked like blobs. A little leap of faith later and these sculptures became badges of honor. I love it when students take pride in their work. It is just the greatest gift a teacher can receive.
Trina Turk dress, Karl Lagerfeld bootsMichelle DaRin Jewelry ring, Trina Turk top, 7 For All Mankind jeans, Nine West sandalsBanana Republic cardigan, Bebe top, 7 For All Mankind jeans, BCBGeneration booties
Michelle DaRin jewelry choker, Free People cardigan, Banana Republic leather top, Trina Turk leather skirt, Hue tights, Nine West booties
Today I tripped over a drawing board that was leaning against my classroom desk. I proceeded to totally wipe out in a sort of Chevy Chase circa the ’70s Saturday Night Live skit way. My students just shrugged it off, as if it wasn’t the stupidest thing they have ever seen a teacher do. I don’t know how to explain why I did not rip my tights except to say that Hue brand are amazingly durable. So stupid funny. I couldn’t stop laughing and even now hours later the laughter is bubbling up inside and…OMG! Here it comes again!
Banana Republic cardigan, BCBGMaxAzria dress, Hue tights, Nine West bootiesHonora necklace, Banana Republic cardigan, Free People top, BCBGMaxAzria skirt, Karl Lagerfeld boots
This incident happened a few minutes after lunch – I had been making a list of intentions: things I desire for my life, and one of them is to laugh out loud every day. That is either totally ironic or I am a fast manifester, lol. I guess it depends on how you look at things.
Michelle DaRin jewelry, JCrew cardigan, BCBGMaxAzria top and pants, Nine West bootiesFree People cardigan and dress, Calvin Klein jeans, Nine West booties
There’s always something funny going on in the art classroom. I keep saying I will write a screenplay one day. It is tentatively titled Middle School Musical. Oh and yes, there WILL be song and dance.
Banana Republic cardigan and skirt, Grant Thomas tie, Bailey 44 top, Hue tights, BCBGMaxAzria bootiesBCBGMaxAzria dress, Steve Madden boots
I’m currently wrapping up lessons with my first semester crew. Starting at the end of the month, I will entertain new students until the end of the school year in all but one class. My Studio in Art class will remain. They meet every day for the full year. Students just finished up a mixed-media lesson. I will do a post on it soon. We will keep the materials out and do a mixed-media sculpture/mobile next then on to a portrait lesson, watercolor and finally an acrylic landscape painting.
Free People dress, Calvin Klein jeans, BCBGeneration booties
I didn’t have any Scholastic Art award winners this year (I entered eleven pieces) – a disappointment for sure, but it is not as much a reflection of the quality of the work as it is a particular judges’ whimsy. I think I entered eleven pieces last year and six won honorable mentions. The still life drawings we are currently finishing along with the Wayne Thiebaud-influenced drawings are looking very competitive, so I may hold on to some of them to enter next year.
Fossil bracelets, BCBGMaxAzria top and pants, Nine West booties
Meanwhile, students have created the illustrations for the Ozstravaganza 2017 coloring contest and we are exhibiting the Lions Club peace posters in the Community Room of the Sullivan Library in Chittenango, New York through February 2017.
Free People top, BCBGMaxAzria pants, BCBGeneration sandalsBanana Republic dress, Hue tights, Nine West booties
So, it is not all fun and games in the art world (we are working after all). It is only mostly fun and games, because that is what life should be – creative fun with A LOT of laughing out loud.
BCBGMaxAzria dress and leggings, Nine West booties
I am officially starting my Christmas vacation! Wore this holiday look today. My new BCBG Max Azria pants with my favorite top and a sweater I never wear, lol. But my absolute favorite part of the above look is that I could wear sandals to work today! It is sixty degrees in Syracuse. Yes. On December 23rd! Last year at this time we had a bunch of snow. A week later we had these cray-cray sub zero temps!
Banana Republic cardigan and pants, Bailey 44 top, BCBGGeneration sandals
I am LOVING this warm weather. Green Christmas, here I come.
Banana Republic cardigan, Banana Republic dress, Nine West bootiesBanana Republic cardigan, Trina Turk dress, Nine West booties
After Christmas, I am going to put on my thinking cap and start making future art plans. I expect to concentrate on this art career of mine. I should have bigged myself up a few weeks ago – I could have sold some art and merchandise from my redbubble.com site. You can still buy it, just not in time for Christmas. Oh well.
Ann Taylor cashmere sweater, Bailey 44 skirt, Nine West boots
BCBGMaxAzria top, pants and belt, BCBGGeneration sandals
I’ve been in a whirlwind of social activity, including art stuff – like I went to Plowshares, an art show at Nottingham High School in Syracuse, NY over the weekend. I went there to shop for Christmas gifts because I am a firm believer in buying local.
BCBGMaxAzria dress, Nine West boots
The vendor in particular – Michelle DaRin. Michelle is a jewelry designer and I absolutely love her work! She often does art shows and fairs but you can also find her work here. For Christmas, she is offering different specials every day.
Lord & Taylor cashmere cardigan, Rachel Roy top, Champion yoga pants, Nine West booties
I also stumbled upon a great boot sale at ninewest.com. On Black Friday, they had 50% off boots then an additional 20% off that, so, I bought lots. Not that I needed them, of course, but now that I am fashion blogging, I just desire new things. Curbing spending will be a New Year’s resolution…or not. I say it in my head then go – nah!
JCrew sweater, Banana Republic skirt, Nine West booties
Most of my waking hours are spent on bcbg.com. They have 60% off stuff! Just bought a top, and pants that I haven’t worn yet. As you can see, my new belt has been in heavy rotation these past two weeks!
JCrew cardigan, Trina Turk dress, BCBGMaxAzria belt, Nine West boots
I see Amanda LaDue at Miracles in Fayetteville, NY every three weeks. She added more highlights to my hair to the point that my blonde sister asked me if I was single-white-femaling her, lol. We are definitely twinning right now!
Trina Turk dress, Steve Madden boots
I took my sister’s yoga class for the first time ever. She is an instructor at O Yoga. It was really pretty amazing! I am a pilates girl but I think Sophie is about to convert me to yogini – nah!, well…maybe….
Lord & Taylor cardigan, Bailey 44 top, Trina Turk pants, Nine West booties
Trina Turk was doing 30% off stuff. What you need to do is get on the emailing list so that you can receive invitations for all the special sales.
BCBGMaxAzria dress and belt, Ralph Lauren boots
I am not sure what is up next – there are loads of craft fairs going on. A new art gallery in Armory Square and several art exhibitions that I have been invited to attend through my connections on Facebook.
Banana Republic cardigan and pants, Bailey 44 top, BCBGGeneration booties
As for my own work, I will wait for whatever comes my way in the new year. I am planning to revise my Shopify.com store and you can still purchase merchandise with my artwork on it – phone cases, T-shirts and mugs – through http://www.redbubble.com.
Free People cardigan, Lucky Brand top, BCBGMaxAzria leggings, Nine West boots
I guess that is another New Year’s resolution – to be more the vendor than the customer – nah! well, you know…yes!
BCBGMaxAzria sweater and belt, Trina Turk skirt, BCBGGeneration booties
It’s been relatively warm here. Sunshine – no rain, no snow. I still feel comfortable in bare legs and/or sandals at forty degrees!
Free People cardigan, BCBGMaxAzria dress, Nine West boots
I think that’s because last winter it was, like, four or more below zero in the winter, so we Syracusans think that thirty degrees is sort of warm. It’s a relativity thingamabob.
Trina Turk top and skirt, BCBGGeneration booties
Whenever I wear Trina Turk, the amazing fashion designer likes or comments on my Instagram pictures so, of course(!) I do it as often as possible. Here is the outfit with and without the Banana Republic cardi.
Banana Republic cardigan, Trina Turk top and skirt, BCBGGeneration bootiesLucky Brand jacket, Banana Republic dress, Steve Madden bootsFree People cardigan, Rachel Roy top, BCBGMazAzria pants, Coach booties
This Free People cardi is in heavy circulation. I just love the color. It’s a sort of raw sienna/yellow ochre dealio, which truly suits me. I am always instructing students to use this color as the underlying structure to a painting or a colored pencil drawing – the perfect neutral.
Free People cardigan, Bailey 44 top, BCBGMaxAzria leggings, BCBGGeneration booties
Been going to Green Lakes after school every day – I either bring exercise clothes to change into or I’ve been wearing leggings almost as a uniform, which is just easier.
Berkley Cashmere cardigan, BCBGMaxAzria top and leggings BCBGGeneration bootiesBanana Republic cardigan, Bailey 44 top. Champion leggings, Enzo Anglioni boots
The picture below was my casual Friday look. We call it dress down day. The teachers contribute money to fund various charities in order to wear denim since jeans are technically not professional attire.
Ann Taylor jacket, JCrew top, Calvin Klein jeans, BCBGGeneration sandals
I always top my look with an apron or a blue smock during the school day. I look more like this crazy guy when I am not posing for a picture:
Gustav Klimt
He’s Gustav Klimt.
I love this man! His work is sooooo beautiful! He was very eccentric. He loved cats to the point that I think he hoarded them. I only have the one – I am not technically a crazy cat lady, but just being an artist, the word crazy is tossed about a lot directed towards me, like some sort of embraceable put-down, lol.
Right now, I have something like six or seven different preps – I am doing different lessons in every class. Painting – Wolf Kahn barn paintings in acrylic, fluorescent clay lizards and frozen faces; additive sculptures in one class, reductive sculptures in another…what else? Colored pencil dessert drawings à la Wayne Thiebaud and Japanese fan mixed-media pieces, Needless to say, the classroom is a crazy, topsy-turvy mess.
So, smock, cats, crazy…you can see that I identify with Klimt. We could have been besties in another life.
Mada Primavesi by Gustav Klimt
This is my favorite Klimt painting. When I stood in front of it at the Met years ago, I literally wept at it’s beauty. It just has this innocent freshness. The painting is actually life-size. The girl and I are the same height. Hmm, that gives me an idea for a fashion look…. Think I will sport the side hair part tomorrow, maybe wear my white BCBG Max Azria dress again…but I think I will pass on the white tights.
