Watercolor Oceans

Time for a new skill for my fabulous Middle School kids. They can draw and design. But can they feel comfortable with watercolor? Well, not at first but hopefully we changed all that last week.

One thing I've discovered is that until they play around with a new medium most kids use all kinds of paint the same way. Thick. Now here's the thing; once you master watercolors you can use them anyway you want. Go translucent, go opaque. Go to town. But the middle school kids needed to really understand what watercolor was about. Colors covering other colors or blending in or forming drips. Translucence. Cool unexpected things happening on your paper. And learning to control it as much or as little as you like.

Undersea Plant. Love the brushstrokes on the leaves!

I had them pick ocean scenes because I thought that would give them a limited palette to work with and because...well...it's an ocean scene? What's not to love? They looked at many photographs for inspiration.  They picked sea creatures and closeups of a plants.

Horseshoe Crab

I had them do a drawing on the watercolor paper in pencil before they started to paint. I encouraged them to experiment on scraps of watercolor paper but they wanted to dive right in. Fine, so long as they played around a little on the painting.


It took a lot of convincing for them to realize they could leave areas unpainted, could lift color off once it was placed down. One student was really determined to paint over the pencil lines but I convinced her that the underpainting and the light coming through was what brought her piece to life.

Fabulous work, artists!

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?

The Joys of Pinning!

I am not usually inclined to recommend websites unless they belong to wonderful artists, teachers or cooks. OK, I take that back. I can blather on endlessly about an awful lot and I probably DO end up recommending sites. But not on my blog.

A Group of Boards on Pintrest

I must now make an exception. Pintrest. My new obsession. I thought it was just a cute idea at first: a site that allows you to pin virtually any picture or link onto virtual bulletins. I started with a few of my favorite subjects: Making Stuff, Vintage Cereal boxes, Roadside America, etc. Then I noticed that Art Teachers were using it to collect lesson ideas. So I set up ONE and only ONE board called Art for Kids. It grew. I started finding wonderful ideas. Crazy imaginative people were out there pinning and I could repin their pins. They could repin mine. Some late night frenzied pinning was going on. I became a pinatic.

Now I find it downright inspiring. AND helpful. I have many many art lesson boards now: broken down by grade, subject matter, even material. I found myself sort of getting to know other artists and instructors by their pins. I see a wonderful lesson and think "Oh, that Abigail is so clever" or "Wow, Thadeus is really edgy". And I steal their ideas. Legally. Woo hoo!

It might only be my virtual reality but Pintrest makes me feel organized and inspired. Heck, how often can you say that about a website?

If you're a fellow pinatic please comment and let me know what you like the most about it.

WHY THE NEW BLOG TITLE, PAULA?

I am changing my blog title from Artburbia to “Picasso’s Basement”. The old title worked for me while I was finding my way in the art teaching world, balancing parenting, suburban living (which at times still felt foreign to me after my years in Brooklyn, New York), illustrating, and learning how to teach.

Now that I clearly have found my groove with this teaching business and I seem to be spending all my time thinking up new lessons it feels like it’s time for a change. My art classes are called “Picasso’s Basement” so it seemed only natural to pick that for a new title.

I’m curious to see if you like the change. What do you think of the new title? Is there a time that you found you wanted to change something in order to reflect what was happening in your own life?

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....

Inspiration Smells Likes Peroxide

I am completely distracted in my own home. Oh sure, I can paint and assemble and color at home. But the ideas, the real thinking, the actual inspirations and subsequent designs just don’t happen there. Much as I’d like them to.

Here’s last month’s scenario: I realize I must come up with a new illustration in order to create a self-promotion piece. I know I need to start the idea process but as I putter about my house this seems to become my priority list:

1. Check email and Facebook. Must get messages out of way so I am free to work.

2. Clean drafting table.

3. Pick up every sock that my husband and two children have left balled up on the floor.

4. Snack to boost energy.

5. Check email and Facebook again. Someone important may need to reach me.

You can see where this is going. This all leads to a marginally clean house and a remarkably spotless yet empty drafting table.

The following day after discovering that cleaning products do not make me want to draw, I go to get my hair cut and colored. In order to cover the vicious gray that my hair has been blessed with since my early 20's my Miracle Worker, the phenomenal Russell of Russell Scott Hair Designs in Clark NJ, must gunk me up and leaves me to sit in the corner in shame with my head resembling and a putrid bowl of ice cream covered in Magic Shell. I look ridiculous. I reek. The Black Eyed Peas are pounding in the speakers and I am stuck sitting next to two Kardashian-wanna-be housewives who are deep in discussion about their jewelry. 

BUT there are no balls of socks. No dishes to do. No one calling me “Mommy”. And so, sketchbook balanced on smock-covere lap, I find that my mind is actually functioning. In fact on that one visit alone I came up with a slew of sketches for a series of animal musicians AND a sketch for a painting of Coney Island that I’ve been thinking about for years. AND the start of this blog entry.

Here’s where I do and have done my best creative thinking:

1. Hairdressers

2. Laundromat

3. Doctor’s Office

4. At the drivers wheel when on long drives by myself (rare but precious occasions)

So fellow creative friends, where do find your inspiration?
Where do you do YOUR best thinking?

National Tiki Day

I'll start by acknowledging that I am waaaaaay overdue for a new post. And believe me, more are on the way. But I have an excuse. My poor old emac computer (posthumously named Fergus) completely, utterly and totally fried itself. I'm talking toast. Flambe. It took 3 days for my attic to stop smelling like a weenie roast. Luckily some kind friends have helped me set up shop again and I'm back to work.

So until that new post is ready I give you some inspiration from my wonderfully creative 7 year old who, last week, declared a "National Tiki Day". It required the wearing of costumes during dinner, an abundant supply of fruit (perhaps to humor the hungry Tiki gods), and of course some great homemade tiki decorations. 

Given that a busy day of football watching and shelf dusting was already in progress we had to use whatever supplies we could find to make our tiki decorations. "And what would that be" you ask? (Go ahead, ask!)  Why, the cardboard inserts from toilet paper rolls and a strand of holiday lights. The results speak for themselves. 

Metamorphosis

This is supposed to be My Year. The Year I've Been Waiting For.

My children can officially dress themselves in weather-appropriate ensembles. They are now old enough that they cringe at the sight of me in a Halloween costume. Particularly when I wave at them maniacally from the curb. They can find their own snacks without setting the kitchen ablaze. These were my first clues that it had finally arrived. The Year of Paula.

Like Kafka's Gregor I plan to metamorphosize. Hopefully my resulting transformation will be more of a positive experience for me than it was for poor Gregor. For starters, I hope not to repel people. In fact, I hope the opposite to be true. Hopefully this year and this blog will be the start of a journey that will take me to new wonderful places and help me meet fantastic people. I hope to make it a positive experience for those around me and I want to pass my excitement on to the children I teach and those that I raise. And I hope to avoid setting off the smoke detector in my kitchen as much as possible.

I usually measure my year in school years. September to September. I don't think I'll ever stop measuring my years this way and since I intend to teach art in elementary schools, I suppose it's fitting. So from September 2010 to September 2011 I will attempt to do the following:

• Update my illustration website. (Thank you to web designer Linda Bradler, designer to the stars. And me.)

• Start substitute teaching.

• Get certified to teach art.

• Finish illustrating the children's books I've written.

• Continue to keep my family fed in the half-hearted manner to which they've become accustomed.

• Not get so distracted with all the above that, instead of art, I create roadkill.

• Keep you updated on all of the above. Particularly the roadkill.