Mom Incorporated

I'm now listed (at least temporarily) by a wonderful site called Circle of Moms on their Top 25 Creative Mom blogs. (See your opportunity to vote for me once a day on the circle at right.)

I started looking at some of the other creative blogs and began to wonder about what other mom-business owners find most challenging about working from home.
For me it's a no-brainer: shifting from Mom to Teacher and back again in my family's eyes. 

I teach a thriving little art program from home.
You can see all the students' work on my other posts and on our Artsonia Gallery.
But when the students arrive and I head to the art room I boldly face (insert dramatic music)

THE CHALLENGES OF THE TEACHER/MOM:

1. My 13 Year Old Secretary 
I've arranged to have my older son to answer the phones while I'm teaching. He tends to forget this when he is deep in the midst of some fantasy-oriented-computer-based-role-playing-game.

My secretary

It goes like this:

• I hear the phone ringing ringing ringing. 
• I begin to call my teenager's name over and over. 
• The dog wakes up and begins to bark.
• Paintbrushes fly. 
• Chaos ensues.

SOLUTION: A reminder EACH and EVERY time before class starts. Apparently teens can only retain their instructions for a 1 hour period. Who knew? Now I remind my secretary regularly.
Problem solved.

2. My Tiny Juvenile Delinquent
My 8 year old is a joy to have in class, says his Second Grade teacher. 

In her class he's always studiously working, says his Second Grade teacher.
But at home the lines are blurred. Very very blurred.

Pint Sized Delinquent

It might look somewhat classroom-like but he knows better. 

• He knows it's really Home. 
• He knows where all the places are to get into trouble. 
• He knows if he reads my ART ROOM RULES list and adds the word "NOT" in front of each rule to the amusement of the other students he will not be sent to the Principal's office. 
• He knows where all the hidden items are that his Mom/Instructor says are not to be shared just yet. 
• Chaos ensues. 

SOLUTION: The CRACK DOWN. After months of struggle I've discovered that 8 year olds are much like teens. They need reminding. And so each class I remind said 8 year old of how privileged he is to have a class in his house. How fabulous he is at being a role model for the other kids. And how if he doesn't knock it off he's getting booted out of the class. 

Problem solved.

3. My Dog

Joxter 

My dog also clearly sees me in the MOM role and he does NOT like to share MOM. 

• Students arrive. Doorbell rings. Dog barks.
• He barks at the beginning of each class until he eventually settles down on the rug and becomes the class mascot. 
• For the younger groups I crate him in another room. He barks barks barks through class.
• The phone rings and my Secretary doesn't answer. (See Problem No.1) and the dog barks more.
• Paintbrushes fly.
• Chaos ensues.

SOLUTION: TIME. Only time.  I've had him for 3 months. He now barks less and less, he's used to the kids in the basement. He likes curling up near the older kids. Only the crate time during the younger classes remains difficult. All suggestions will be considered seriously! 

So my questions to you Mom/Teachers/Business Owners/Bloggers: 

• What are your biggest challenges? 
• What solutions, if any, have you found? 
• And would you like to walk my dog?

Indonesian Shadow Puppets

Shadow Puppets on display at Picasso's Basement Gallery Show at the library!

Traditional Shadow Puppet

I'm going to cut to the chase with this post. No ramblings about how the Picasso's Basement kids and I "traveled" to Indonesia and learned about the culture and ate Indonesian fruit. Which we did. But what we really did that even I found miraculous was that we made SHADOW PUPPETS!  You know those beautifully carved and decorated puppets that are manipulated with sticks? And are then shown behind a screen? Well, we made them! Sorry, I don't mean to gush but it was pretty cool!

MATERIALS:

• Black Card Stock
• Hot Glue Gun
• Strong Balsa sticks from craft store (test them at the store: too thin and they will break)
• Xacto knife (teacher should use this)
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Markers that show up on black paper (Gel markers often do)
• Fasteners from the stationery store (the gold kind that you poke in the holes and then bend back)

Artist with her mermaid puppet

Each artist sketched out their ideas and then drew them on the black card stock with a pencil (you could see the lines fairly well.) Then they cut out the basic shapes with scissors and brought it to me to use my xacto knife to help with some of the detail work. I encouraged details because it would add to the effect when a light was shined on them and the shadow was created. We cut eyes and mouths into them, made cuts for hair and fingers. I asked all the artists to be sure to add at least one appendage which was cut separately and attached with a fastener.

NOTE: If you are doing this project encourage the kids to make the appendages wide, at least in the spot where it connects with the body. The more delicate the appendage the more likely it is to break off. This is another prime example of my learning curve: I realized that appendages were too delicate about half way through the lesson.

Anyhow, after you attach the appendages with the fasteners the fasteners can be trimmed from behind (by an adult or older child only) with sharp scissors. The artists then embellished their puppets with the markers. We used the hot glue gun to attach the sticks to the puppets. And here they are:

Artists with their shadow puppets (complete with articulated tails, arms, etc.)
Posing unhappily because they REALLY wanted to put on their puppet show!

I have to say I'm so proud of the Picasso's Basement artists. They utilized so many new skills, were patient while waiting for help with the details, and were amazingly creative. I thought they would all make people. But we ended up with a monster, a horror movie character, a cat, a giant person, a mermaid, a pegasus, a hippie with his Love Bus, and (last but not least) Zeus with his lightening bolt! Fantastic work, guys! And thank you to my teen assistant who kept the peace through all of this!

Step Right Up, Ladies and Gentlemen!

I have a little thing for circuses and sideshows and carnivals. Everything about them: the colors, the noises, the barkers, the incredibly greasy food, and the brightly colored rides. I’m not in love with the huge circuses but prefer the smaller wackier ones. (And yes, I plan to use the work wacky at least once in all my blog posts.) I like the small town shows and the few existing side shows with promises of two-headed ducks and sword swallowers.

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the artwork.  Everything from old circus posters to carousel horses to the brightly colored rides. They are so uniquely American. 

In Coney Island there is not only an operating traditional ten-in-one sideshow but there is also a class to learn banner painting. I dream of taking this class if only to be with others who love side show banners as much as I do. But in lieu of this I thought it would be fun to teach my Picasso’s Basement students about side show banners.

I had to carefully select the images to show them because some of the acts were pretty…well…out there. Early sideshow art could feature oddities that might not be suitable. We focused on people with special abilities and animal oddities: the tall man, the snake charmer, dancing ducks, and 3-tailed mice.

The students noted that almost all the banners had red borders painted around them. Since it wasn’t unusual for people to find that they’d been tricked into paying to see acts that were nothing more than taxidermied animals or mannequins, the banners often featured large circles bearing the claim “ALIVE!” to entice the patrons.

The children came up with all sorts of wacky (see! I told you) characters: Turtle Man (complete with top hat and briefcase), Pencil Sharpener Nose Girl, Flying Man, etc. We used large sheets of brown craft paper to give our posters an antique feel. First we sketched in pencil and later used acrylic craft paint that is thinner than tube acrylics but opaque and dries quickly. It’s also inexpensive and frequently on sale at local craft stores. It’s my new favorite for teaching but that will be another blog post!

Some of these are still being worked on but here's our first result:

THE FLYING MAN!  ALIVE!!!!

This Is Not A Marker

My students love markers. Why? Beats me. I do like using an archival non-bleeding pen for my illustrations but as a child I was never a marker fanatic. Always preferred pencils, paint and collage, etc. Perhaps the marker selection wasn’t as abundant when I was a kid. Did we only get tiny packs of primary colors? I don’t remember. But I do know what a challenge it is to get some kids away from the markers. Some of my kids challenge me when I pull out any other material.

So my goal for my last single summer class before my upcoming Picasso’s Basement Camp in August was to come up marker project that I loved and thought they would enjoy.

Let ‘em go marker crazy!

I did a little thinking and, although I did alter it, in the end I have to credit one of my favorite art teacher blogs called There's a Dragon in my Art Room http://plbrown.blogspot.com/ for this lesson. She leaves this project for her substitute teachers because it is so easy to set up. But I fell in love with it for several reasons:  

1. It involves a lot of creativity. 
2. It encorporates recycling. I’m a recycling freak.
3. It requires very little prep work. Always a nice factor in the summer. 
4. It allows the kids to work with those darned markers.

First we read a wonderful picture book called Not A Box by Antoinette Portis. Simple plot: A rabbit is sitting in a box and is asked “why”. Because it’s NOT A BOX! It’s a ship. Why is he sitting on the box? Because it’s NOT A BOX! It’s a volcano! The book was for much younger children than those in my class that day, but I was surprised to find that they enjoyed predicting what the rabbit would do next with the box and were also quick to guess the moral: With some creativity and imagination you can make something into something else!

I dug through my collection of scratched and damaged CDs for this project, but also set out a pile of recycled soda bottle caps.  I kept a hot glue gun handy at a safe distance from the kids.

I pre-glued the CD’s on large sheets of heavy paper using the glue gun. The Picasso’s Basement Artists were told that they weren’t CDs and that their assignment was to surprise me by turning them into something else by drawing around them. With markers. (Imagine the delight of those marker-loving kids!) I gave them the option of adding bottle caps.

I also suggested that they could title their work.

Gentle readers, kindly remind me that in the future I should specify that they put the title and their names on the BACKS of the drawings. Luckily in this case the titles seemed to add to the wackiness of the artwork! Here’s a sampling of the pictures they came up with:

The Space Craft 

The Space Ship

The Eyeball

The Lady Bug

Blogging with Purpose

Those of you who have been tuning in to read my rants about suburban living, attempts at self-motivation, and the stresses of parenting while trying to find a new direction in life may notice the focus of my blog shifting a little.  What's happened, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.  If you remember my very first posting (and I know you all read my blogs repeatedly and can recite them by heart) I said this would be the Year of Paula. Well, I’m as surprised as anyone to be able to say it really became just that.

Here is what I’ve done within the last  10 months in no particular order:

• Passed the Art Teaching praxis test.
• Received my certification to teach art in NJ which now requires me to find gainful employment. No more bon-bon eating for me.
• Started sketch work on a mural being designed at the request of my town Mayor.
• Started a home-based art program “Picasso’s Basement” where I have been teaching young children from my newly cleaned (although not quite renovated) basement.
• Vacuumed the floor. At least twice.
• Returned to the workforce as a substitute teacher in the local elementary and middle schools (High school schedule was too difficult to work out with my kids. Although that did not stop the automated system from attempting to retain my services as a fill-in for the male Gym Teacher. Those who know me may appropriately guffaw now.)

So here’s what you’ll probably see a lot more of in my future blog posts:

• Art projects and lessons
• Photos of cute kids “arting”
• Photos of my basement
• Craft ideas
• My sketches

Here's what I promise you won't ever have to see:

• Photos of me from behind picking up the mess left behind by cute kids who were busy "arting". Not to say I won't clean up but no photo of me taken from behind can be allowed to be publicly displayed. Photos of me from behind are THE main reason why digital cameras have all been equipped with a DELETE button. I promise you it's true. Check Wikipedia. 

Here’s what I promise to not lose:

• My sense of humor.
• My appetite.
• My mind. Here’s hoping.

STAY POSTED FOR CUTE KID PHOTOS! 

No more checking YouTube for cute cat videos!**

Just check in with me!

**although those darned Scottish Fold kittens sure are adorable....