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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
One of the main reasons I haven’t been blogging – I was having technical difficulties with my Instagram account. The pictures were not saving to the camera’s gallery. I tried uninstalling the program and reinstalling it and it didn’t work until tonight. Yeah, tonight it worked. Weird.
I must be more relaxed or something – I am on vacation. Or maybe it’s just an example of perseverence, although I had been on the verge of giving up, lol, over something so simple.
A former student asked me how he could get his creativity back. He thinks he’s lost it, I guess. And the truth is, no one can find it for you. You just have to take the time to quiet your mind of all the bugs that are attacking you.
No more I’m not good enough…I can’t do this and all that junk. Believe you can do it. Know you can. Then think about how you will do it and just do it.
I know that some of my friends did not like hearing me say that I did not want to make new artwork until I started selling the art I have already made. It is not that I lack creativity. I just desired a sign from the universe that my art is leading to other great things. It is very important to me to achieve financial success as an artist because I want to show my students that it is possible. I mean, that is one reason. I mean, I didn’t make over a thousand works of art for them to just be stored away forever. That doesn’t make a lick of sense.
And then, I haven’t been doing anything to make any of it happen. I haven’t been actively seeking venues or peddling my wares anywhere since the Natur-Tyme exhibit where I sold a handful of $5.00 cards. So, I kind of sound like a person who does not take my own advice.
The truth is I wanted to manifest getting an art show in a passive way. I was already doing everything I could to get myself out into the stratosphere. I am here. Right here. And on Instagram and Linkedin and Facebook. I have over 20,000 views on this blog. I wanted someone to find me. Someone who was looking for me and my art because they know it will sell.
Well, it finally happened. I will give you more details as it gets closer to show time. I was asked to be part of an art show at a medical facility in New Jersey. The show starts some time in April with a reception on May 5th, 2016. I will be exhibiting and selling my Dreamtime and Echolalia series paintings (it is an animal-themed show). The curator saw my work on Linkedin.com.
Trina Turk recently replied to my comment on her picture on Instagram. She said, Love you, too and something about wanting to be an art teacher one day! I have the dream of meeting her one day, becoming friends and maybe even working with her – designing clothing with silk dyed to match my watercolors.
Two years ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed I would actually be interacting with her on social media. Things can happen. You can mold your life consciously even if you dream big.
This blog is about my community, my artwork and fashion because I have all of these other dreams. And I think it is perfectly okay to slide your creativity around to wherever it takes you. Who knows where it will stick? There are bound to be more glitches along the way. That is kind of the fun of it. To never lose faith even when junk makes you feel like quitting.
I have a few more goals to achieve with the remainder of this February break. I am buying a car, so I guess these fashion posts are going to seem redundant for a while. While preparing the stuff for my taxes I tallied how much money I spent on clothes this past year and it was kind of a lot. (No, I don’t deduct any of it, lol) It would be nice if clothes were free, wouldn’t it? Just thought I’d throw it out there if anyone is listening. Would love to make that one stick….