Mural Chapter Four: Your bird is upside down!

   Klee's original work, "Landscape with Yellow Birds," painted in water color, is a bit tricky to interpret in acrylic on a cement block wall.  We pulled out the fan brush in which to drag our colors and blend.
   I rather enjoy the fact that Klee placed one of his birds upside down  - it disorients what we assume about the scene, and it engages one in a sense of play.  In fact, the motif prompts a number of  high school passersby to bring this observation to my attention.  It will probably take a young student to stop and wonder "Why?"

Mural Chapter Four

Mural Chapter Two and Three

Let it never be said that we take ourselves too seriously.  From expanding the definition of what constitutes a painting surface, to hamming for a camera, we still manage to get the job done. 

End of week two

End of week three

Sometimes they can't resist...

I wonder how that happened?

Satisfaction at the end of a shift

Applying cover until next session

The Wall Begins: Mural 2011-2012

Step one:  Grid till the cows come home.

Step two: Draw till you're done

Checklist for mural preparation outside of Mr. Lambright's room:
1.  Coordinate mural sign-up requests and distribute.
2.  Remove sports poster "Go Tigers"  - a risky move for an art teacher whose interim principal is a jock.      
3.  Tape off painting perimeter and apply black primer.
4.  Use mathematical formula for enlarging picture.
             (If you thought art teachers didn't do math, you now stand corrected.)
5.  Borrow a big level and  plumb line - grid the wall.


Things I learned preparing the wall:
1.  Mr. Lambright's favorite color is black.  Maybe it's a physics thing.
2.  Did you know that if you stick ear buds up your nose, that music plays out your ears and mouth?    
     (This is the kind of stuff you learn after school.)

'Tis the Season - The Art of Painting on Windows

                     Recipe for Christmas Windows 101

                          1. Fill egg cartons with tempera paint and distribute to students.
                          2. Add transparent canvas in the form of school windows.
                          3. Queue the  Christmas music starting with  "Straight No Chaser"
                                    (Note to self - delete the "Eggnog" song asap); and
                          4. Let painting the windows for Christmas begin.

                          Here's a sampling of what the kids served up this year:

Andrea2416

CJ872

Kaitlyn1173

Jennifer408

Brigit17 and Karen1032

Olivia8287

Jennifer408

Wishing you a blessed Christmas!

Pumpkins Please

Jesus Pumpkin "Come Unto Me"

Jesus Pumpkin in the light

Art Club Painting Pumpkins

More Art Club Pumpkins

The houses on Route 619 approaching Hartville are growing ghosts, goblins and ghouls.  A flying witch replete with broom annually wraps herself around a telephone pole on the North side of the road.  You'd think she'd navigate more adeptly after all these years.  Besides the shimmering fall colors washing the trees, I love to see pumpkins standing sentinel on front stoops up and down the street. 

Now, I have to confess that as an art teacher, I'm not a lover of pure orange.  I think it has something to do with traffic cones and they way they stress me out when driving.  However, pumpkin orange elicits a warmer personal response evoking the smell of baking pumpkin pies, and sipping lattes in front of a crackling fireplace.  The iconic fall symbol transcends Halloween hoopla and speaks of harvest and changing seasons.

The carved pumpkin above was completed in about 4 hours using a free pattern from http://www.pumpkinglow.com/.  Sr. High Art Club painted theirs this year to excellent effect. 

The Art of Painting on People

 You have to be quick with a brush to paint a moving target.  Especially giggly targets like young elementary -school students who desire anything from muffins to aliens painted on their cheeks and arms.  My art club kids have manned the face-painting booth for a number years at Lake Center Christian's "Pony Express."  Over time, we’ve streamlined our methods, employing stamps and quick drying paints to good effect.  However, some things will never change, like the smile a kid beams at you for a cool design you just painted on their person.

 

Chalk Festival and the Art of Drawing on Sidewalks

By Isabel1215

By Riley3972

By Brigit17

 I've attended Cleveland Museum of Art's Chalk Festival over the years in everything from  soaked- to- the- skin downpours to bone-crushing heat, so Saturday's  temperate climate felt like a smile spread across a perfect day.  When drawings were completed, some of the kids looked like they were camouflaged in pastels.   Fortunately, rigorously applied baby wipes restored them to their  recognizable selves.   Inside the museum,  my students scoured the art collection in a wicked little scavenger hunt.  It's rather gratifying to see kids reading didactic labels and comparing the merits of various pieces in order to find answers to clues.  Since all four teams tied for first place, my lollipops were evenly distributed at the end of the day.   I'm  really not a competitive person, so everyone "winning" was just fine with me.

The Final Chapter: Mural 2010 - 2011

Finished!

Ribbon cutting

Signing

Red Velvet and Chocolate Cake to celebrate - delicious!

Kindergartner stops in the hallway as I'm passing and asks, "Why do you paint on the walls?"
Me:  "Well, ...because it's fun."
Kindergartner,  with a worried tone responds,  "Are you allowed to?"
Me:  "Yes, I got permission."
Kindergartner, adding doubtfully, "OK."

If I'm totally honest in answering the first question,  "fun" plays only a small role in why I muralize wall real estate.  Besides growing my students' artistic skills, the  main reason I keep painting our walls is because art has the power to make us think and question.  It has the power to affect the way we perceive  public and private spaces.

Since I'm a quiet person, visual art is the voice I use to encourage and lift the spirits of my school community.  It's gratifying that the rather dull hike down the hallway formerly dubbed "the tunnel,"  is now an inviting walk towards the newly christened "crossroads".

 Heartfelt thanks go to my art club kids who helped transform our space with their time and talents, and to a supportive administration who really does allow us to color on the walls.

Mural Chapter 14: Text and Image

Lettering with a liner brush makes a difference

Text and image, we unfold the meaning of the written word with marriage to a strong visual.  This year’s mural, paired with Jeremiah 6:16 yields a rich and refreshing look at Auguste Macke’s painting “Vegetable Fields”.  The verse reads: 

“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it...”

This past Friday and Saturday, I painted a portion of the verse across the top and took care of a few minor mural details.  Frankly, lettering isn’t something I do well - I used to watch my Grandpa letter signs for a living,  fascinated by the rhythmic flow of his brush across the surface.  My lettering skills fall short in comparison to my Grandfather’s; I’m just happy it’s legible. We unveil the mural tomorrow!

Mural Chapter 13 - Barefoot Endings

  The Closers and me

There are people who like to paint barefoot, and others who like to paint wearing shoes. I'm a fairweather barefoot painter, generally preferring to feel the floor beneath me provided it's not too cold.  It's comfortable working thus, and it's somehow more friendly and informal. So despite the cozy carpet, this afternoon feels bittersweet. I'll miss the camaraderie of working easily side by side sharing a common purpose. We've worked in everything from companionable silence to fits of giggles.  We've shared stories, jokes and dreams.   We've worked through artistic issues, deciphering Auguste Macke's loose brushwork and interpreting color passages to the best of our abilities.  With no apologies to Mr. Macke, we've worked to interpret the spirit of the painting rather than create a Xerox copy.   So even when it's too cold to work barefooted, I'll miss the kind of teaching that invites one to kick off one's shoes and smell the roses; or paint the vegetables in our case.


You're invited to attend our unveiling on Tuesday, May 10 at 3:00 pm in the central office hallway. After our ribbon cutting ceremony, we'll celebrate in the art room with punch and cake.  I'll wear my party shoes for the occasion.

Mural Chapter 12 - The End is in Sight

Mural Chapter 12: So close!

Auction obstacle course helped warm us up for painting session

Our progress was slightly hampered last week as only half my students remembered to stay and paint after school.   With one more scheduled mural session, the list of what needs to happen looms rather large on the agenda.  A full court press to completely resolve several bare patches of gessoed wall rests in the hands of the last group of assigned students, my closers.  Comprised mostly of the older kids, I’m banking on their abilities to thoughtfully interpret Macke’s loose brushstrokes into color shapes.  I think we can do it, and I’m praying that we will finish strong and on time.     

Mural Chapter Eleven and the Last Tube of Paint

Painting Edges

Undaunted by the lack of Pthalo Blue, student works on blue passages

Student displays a very well-loved pie tin of paint

Mural Chapter Eleven

Note to self - check at the end of every session to be sure you have enough  paint.  If you're foolhardy enough to ignore this tenet, palette gymnastics become necessary to move forward.  Today I'm a  sadder but wiser art teacher who plans on making one last shopping trip to pick up some more Pthalo Blue. In the meantime, thanks to the perserverence of one of my students, we made due today by adjusting Ultramarine Blue.   

Mural - Chapter Ten

Brush Curlers help reclaim crisp edges

Mural Chapter 10

After two long weeks of not looking at the mural, we paint twice this week.  Wednesday, Chapter 10 involved fine-tuning the lower left and right of the painting.  Tomorrow, we tackle those pesky white spots showing through the cinder block and deal more significantly with the cabbage patch on the lower left.

Mural - Chapters Eight and Nine

Painting shapes of color in the foilage

Another student who enjoys applying paint with fingers!

Wednesday, Chapter Eight

Thursday, Chapter Nine

Two back -to- back painting sessions this week helped get us  on track.  We won’t paint for the next two weeks  due to mini-term and then spring break.  So, while would I normally experience a mild sense of panic  at not touching the mural for 14 days:  this year, no fear!  (At least that’s what I’m telling myself.)

Mural Chapter Seven

Mural Chapter Seven

A sea of pie tins

Our pie tin palettes multiplied; they literally covered the floor this week.