Mile of Music: Mile 3

Art is flowing through Appleton! Mile of Music was a weekend for the record books, filled with talented artists and musicians to spare. 

Mile of Music is a handcrafted artisan festival held in the great city of Appleton, Wisconsin. This year, Mile 3, featured 200 original artist performing over 800 shows and was attended by over 50,000 people! I was one of them and these are the highlights from my weekend in one great place.

In my personal opinion the BEST part of Mile 3 was the Feather and Bone gallery "Houdini in Art". This was the second year that Feather and Bone put on a pop-up gallery just for The Mile. Thirty or so artists were chosen to display artwork inspired by native Appletonian Harry Houdini. I was honored to be one of these artists. It was one of the first times I've had my artwork displayed and I was honored to grace the walls with many a talented artist.

Photo by: Graham Washatka

Pardon my face

The gallery also was home to some talented gents. Henry from "Henry's Like New Buff & Shine" brought some old world charm to the space. He was there daily shining shoes and looking dapper. He's a former student of mine which made it extra special to see a talented young entrepreneur enjoying local art. 

My husband getting a quick shine

Setting up a photo studio in the upstairs part of the gallery was the ever talented Dave Jackson of "Jackson&Co". All Mile long, Dave and his ever so handsome producer (my husband) Adam offered professional portraits for all the musicians performing at Mile of Music. I had the pleasure of observing Dave and Adam as they created stunning photographs. Plus I got to meet musicians! 

In the studio with Swear & Shake

In the studio with Hello Death

In the studio with Chris Gold and The New Old Things

(yes that is my husband. He's the drummer!) 

Extra special pop-up performance from Suitcase Junket

I also had the honor to help set up both the gallery and Dave's photo space. I guess our mile was a little longer :)

Photo by: Graham Washatka

One 10 ft. carnival barker in the entry space: CHECK

One "Come One, Come All" window in the entry space: CHECK

One sandwich board for street advertising: CHECK

As you can see my weekend (and longer) was FILLED with art of all fashions, which for an art teacher is basically a dream. But what about the music? It was Mile of Music after all. There was definitely plenty of that! College Ave (where the Mile took place) was packed everyday, even in the rain. As you navigated through the crowd you could feel the excitement and hear the music. There were many great performers but here are a few that I got to see and enjoy;

The Crane Wives a personal favorite of mine! The Crane Wives are from Grand Rapids, Michigan and they kill the crowds with indie-folk-rock.

North by North from Chicago, Illinois filled the space with intricately written songs. They tore the roof off the place!

Chris Gold and The New Old Things from Appleton, Wisconsin. With a lead singer that was known as "the marathon man" during the festival for playing a whopping 18 shows during Mile 3, this band was on everyones must see list! With my husband being the drummer I've seen this band many a time, but I just can't get enough. They play some darn good tunes my friends. 

Porky's Groove Machine from Appleton, Wisconsin. I dare you not to move to their big band, funky style. 

Hello Death from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This quartet will fill your soul with haunting melodies and you'll love it.

Corey Chisel and the Wandering Sons from Appleton, Wisconsin. A local legend, Cory was crucial in handcrafting the passed three Mile of Music festivals. He filled every venue he played and everyone left feeling a little better about life. Thanks to Cory for all the hard work you put in to making Mile 3 so successful. 

Other amazing artists (not pictured) that I had the pleasure of seeing included;

-Swear and Shake from Nashville, Tennessee. These guys (and lady) have played with some big names and it's no wonder why. Their songs make everyone stop and listen 

-Suitcase Junket from Amherst, Massachusetts. My dear god this man knows how to play a tune. He just a man with a microphone, a junk-set and whole load of talent. His songs gave me chills they were so good. 

So all and all, Mile of Music was well....AMAZING!!! We all had so much fun and can't wait till next year's "Mile 4". If you are feeling a little jealous and would like to join next year, mark your calendars! 

I leave you with a few extra shots from this year's Mile...Thanks for stopping in and I hope to see you all at Mile of Music 2016

Enjoying the photo space with some silly friends.

Catching some music with my teacher buddies.

Laughing with Alex as she danced with strangers

Live music with this beautiful gal.

Cory Chisel helping me fill in my daily sketch!

So You're Teaching Summer School?

Are you missing your classroom and your kiddos one week after school is out? Then you might consider teaching Summer School! Did I convince you? Well if you do choose to teacher a few summer classes then here is some advice from me to you. 

KEEP IT SIMPLE!!!

Of course some planning is required, but the less stress you put yourself through the more you'll enjoy the short days and the fun environment Summer School can be. 

Now when it comes to planning, Pinterest and blogs are definitely the number one step. If you're like me, you might get frustrated with the "best-case-scenario" photos that Pinterest is filled with. Colorful monsters cut perfectly, picture frames ready to sell on Etsy and a parade of messy painting ideas that look effortless. As Art teachers we know that this is a charade. I'm here to give you some SIMPLE  project ideas with REAL examples created by kiddos from grades 2-6. Here we go....

Beaded Wind Chimes: Very simple to make! All you'll need is paper cups, string, beads, assorted charms, and a hole punch. This project took my students one and a half hours to make and get this....THEY WORK!!!

Charms and Other Beads: My kiddos FLIPPED over this project! We used Polymer Clay (available at any crafts store) and they made whatever they wanted. My personal favorite was the food related charm set. To bake them I took them home in labeled muffin pans. I had 40 kids and each made about 10 charms/beads. The whole cooking process took me 20 minutes tops! 

Shooting Stars: We did this craft for 4th of July, but a lot of kiddos opted to make rainbow or traditional shooting starts. The materials are popsicle sticks (mine were pre-colored), ribbon/yarn/string,  and glitter/gems (optional). To put together we used tape and a little hot-glue. Very simple!

Paper Hand Puppets: Alright this one does need a little extra help from Pinterest. Click here for the folding instructions. Once folded students cut scraps to make animals, monsters and a whole bunch of other creative puppets! 

Now these are just some of the kiddo's personal favorites, but there are lots more ideas out there. Just remember; Pinterest pictures don't always tell the whole story, keep the planning simple and of course let the fun fly!

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping in!

Art Show!!

The past two years I've created a video to help promote the school wide Art Show. Last year I had some help from my videographer husband, but this year I rocked it solo! Check it out!

Hope you enjoyed and I hope your shows go well!

Playing Cards and This Week's Sketches

Alright I know you've all heard of "Artist Trading Cards" but have you heard of "Artist Playing Cards"? Well I stumbled upon this really awesome set of playing cards. Each of the 55 cards is created by a talented contemporary artist, compiled together into one awesome set. They just came out with a another! If you haven't heard of this click here. On the website you can view each card and read a little about the artist that made them. Let's get out there and order some decks!

My kiddos had so much fun exploring all the cards and then they got the chance to make their own! We threw in a little on colored pencil shading, symmetry and other fun artsy concepts. I have big plans to expand and make a full set of 55 cards! How fun would this be as a fundraiser?

Do you all have the same anime obsessed kiddos I do? 

Also, just in case you're playing along. Here are my first 7 sketches for the month of May. I can't believe it's May already! Days are ticking by and still so much fun to be had in the Art room!

My New Love of Metal

I know what you're think, NEW? Yes, new! I've never worked with pliable metal and boy did I have fun when I got to explore the process at a recent professional development. Made me feel a little silly that I've been missing out all these years! 

If you haven't tried working with pliable metal you must give it a try! This material creates an impact, can be molded, embossed, colored, painted, layered and so many more possibilities. This inexpensive material really packs a punch! 

With that long list of possibilities, I wanted to leave my first exploration into teaching pliable metal as open ended as possible. Simple requirement were give to students;

• Use the metal to demonstrate the concepts of depth (foreground, middle ground, background)
• Use knowledge of composition to show movement, contrast and whatever else you want to dazzle me with! 

I peppered in some art history to get their wheels-a-turning and then I demonstrated a few techniques for adding texture, pushing metal forward/backward to emphasize space location, and how to add metal to create a 3D effect. What fun the students had. It's a little difficult to see some details because of the shininess of the metal but still check it out!

 Here's a good look at the 3D effect the students got by manipulating the metal

IRON MAN!!!

GIVE IT A TRY!!! Sharpies/metal paint definitely give the most shine but acrylic paint gives a really nice contrast with a matte look. My students also really liked my white paint markers for some added details in white. 

LEARN FROM ME!!! I chose to use hot glue to stick on the extra metal on. Big o' did NOT work! I suggest using E6000 for adding any materials to this unique material.  

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for stopping in!

Identity Part Two

Hopefully you checked out my previous post on the topic of "Identity", where I talked about two projects all based around the topic of identity and how artist use their identity to make meaningful artwork. In the three years I've been teaching, I've done a lesson on identity with my 6th grade students. It's a great way to start the year and fun way to get to know my students.

I wanted to share with you all the conversation I have with my students before I begin my identity projects. I start by having student close their eyes and visualize a word (I typically use the word "cat"). When they open their eyes I have them share what they thought of. We see really quickly that although we all have a similar image of a cat (small, hairy, four-legged animal) we all have different experiences with cats. These experiences allow us to have an individual idea of what a cat is. Are you thinking of your childhood cat? Are you thinking of a cat that scratched you once? Are you thinking of a recent cartoon cat you've seen? What's fun is that no two people will ever answer the question same. We all have different experiences and this is what helps shape our identity.

We also look at a few pieces of artwork and discuss how although we can't experience what the artist experienced when creating the piece, we can use our own experiences to interpret the work for ourselves. Isn't art the greatest!!!!

Here is our most recent exploration into identity. Students created identity handprints. We talked about dynamic composition, contrast and using analogous colors to layer colored pencils!

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for stopping in!

Tatebanko- Japanese diorama making

For the past two years, I have done a unit called "Art and Social Activism" with my 8th grade students. I had only ever seen a unit like this in the high schools and I felt my students could 100% relate to the topics. I have been pleased with just how well my students handle these difficult topics and how much pride they take in their work as they express themselves creatively.

For my 3D Art students, I had them choose a social issue that effects our local community. They researched statistics and local organizations that help those in need throughout the Fox Cities. I was impressed with the wide variety of topics the students chose.

Next we learned about the Japanese art of diorama making. It was a good way to incorporate 3D knowledge of deconstruction, balance, depth and overall structure building.

If you're not familiar with the art behind Tatebankos, check out this cool video! Even if social activism doesn't fit as a unit in your classroom, this is a really fun project for students. It involves a lot of problem solving and is a really fun take on the classic diorama/tunnel book.

Social Issue: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Step one was to have students thumbnail sketch their ideas. I urged students to use metaphors/similes. This made the imagery a little more unique and personal. Then using colored pencil they labeled each layer so they had a good idea of what needed to go where and I could see how they understood the concepts of creating depth.

Social Issue: Bullying

Social Issue: Depression

Step Two was to conference with each student on what materials would work best for their idea. Most used chipboard (thin cardboard) with paint or colored pencil. As you can see some students resourced alternative materials like transparency paper, puzzle pieces, etc. 

Social Issue: Mental Illness (primarily schizophrenia) 

Social Issue: Depression

To create the "cloud" around the cool colored person this student used sandpaper to create texture on transparency paper! Super fun!

Social Issue: Bullying

Social Issue: Pollution

Social Issue:Bulimia/Anorexia

The final step was layering their pieces on the base and finally building the box. Some students made full boxes and some chose to leave the top off to allow a little more light in. A few students even utilized black light to give their piece a "darker" feel! 

I can't express how happy I am with the outcome of this project. It was exciting to problem solve along side my students and to encourage all their amazingly creative ideas. Each Tatebanko turned out a little different and that is a beautiful thing! These were a hit at our "Art and Social Activism" art show!

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for stopping in!