Artist, Educator, Student

I am here to learn, love, and experience all that I can. For the past eight years I have been teaching in both regular and special education settings. I have taught art, english language arts, mathematics, social studies, and life skills. Teaching and working with children has always been something that I have needed to do. I love what I do and I can't image a world in which I don't work with children. Currently I am working towards a Master's in Art Education with an Emphasis in Special Populations at Moore College of Art and Design. I am thoroughly enjoying my experience and learning so much about myself, more impactful ways of reaching and teaching students students on all levels, and how to be a more compassionate and passionate educator. I can't wait to see where life takes me!

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Exercises in Op Art.

For this project the students were learning about form, creating space and movement, optical art, and warm and cool colors. They were to create a sense of movement and three dimensionality through the use of color and line. 

This particular student was so immersed and focused during this lesson that she rarely spoke while working. It was a pleasure to watch this piece take form and to watch her sense of accomplishment grow as her piece neared completion. 

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Getting creative with watercolors

This student was hanging out in the Art Room after school one day and just playing around with watercolors. I was busy planning for the next day and happened to get a glimpse of what she was doing and I was so glad that I did. I ran over and wanted to take a picture of her creativity and exploration. This is the result of her imagination! I couldn't be happier with it. It is in these moments where we really get to have fun and truly become artists.

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Watercolor and tempera reflection painting, 1st grade.

For this project we discussed seeing reflections in bodies of water. We looked at various photographs of lakes, ponds, rivers, and oceans to see the reflections cast upon the water. The students came to the conclusion that it is a mirror image reflecting upon the water. 

On the first day of the lesson students folded their papers in half and painted the top half with blue watercolor and the bottom half with gray watercolor. The next class the students used tempera paint to create a scene along their bodies of water above the folded line, they then folded their papers along the folded line and pressed down, and voila a mirror image along the body of water! 

The students were very pleased with the results, as was I!

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Monochromatic landscapes, 5th grade.

For this project my classes took a look at different landscapes that showed perspective and appeared to the eye to be one single color. We discussed how we new that some of the parts of the photographs appeared to be farther away than others, through this discussion students arrived at the answer that the images become lighter and lighter. 

We then discussed how to make colors lighter, how to change the value and hue of a color by adding white paint to the original color. We also discussed what the term monochromatic means, which is one color. The students then decided on what type of landscape they wanted to depict in their landscapes and what one color they would choose. From there they began with the foreground with the pure color, and each step further and further into the background they added a little white to the pure color creating the illusion of space on a two dimensional surface. 

I was really excited watching them develop throughout the process, work through their frustrations, and accomplish successful pieces of artwork. 

I definitely recommend this project, the kids loved using paint, and the results were really beautiful.

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Student created art- Self-portraits, 6th grade.

This was the first project that my students did for art class. I wanted to learn about them as individuals and when they first came to my class. I wanted to refresh the students on warm and cool colors, repetition, and self-portraiture. This project gave them the freedom to express themselves while not worrying about making a self-portrait that had to look exactly like them.

I wanted to give them a chance to show off who they are and have some fun while doing it. Self-portraits are usually difficult for beginner artists and I wanted to simplify the process a little bit, so they were abstracted self-portraits. They drew an oval for their faces and then a triangle for their bodies. The then folded their papers up into three sections, they labeled the top section with repetition of their first name, the middle section was an adjective that described them, and the bottom section was a verb that they loved to do. 

The projects turned out really colorful and fun. The kids were really excited about the results and were really glad to see them hanging up in the sixth grade hallway.

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Blog

The more I talk about my anxiety, the more I learn that others feel it too. Come along and find out you're not alone.

I have another blog that I created about my life and its ups and downs. Check it out if you would like. 

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Well, hello there!

Hi friends and friends not yet made! I am here trying out tumblr. I am interested in seeing where it takes me. 

Currently, I am taking a class on Technology for Special Populations as I work towards my Master's in Art Education with an Emphasis in Special Populations, at Moore College of Art and Design. We were given the opportunity to start a website or blog and I am taking this opportunity to start a tumblr. 

I want to share my ideas about education, life, and art. I hope that it brings me knew inspiration and excitement! 

Love and light to you all!

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Because you are alive, everything is possible.

-Thich Nhat Hanh

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