Celebrating Dot Day

"Make your mark and see where it takes you" is a quote by "The Dot" author/illustrator Peter H. Reynolds.
I love the powerful messages in his books and read his stories each year. This year, we participated in International Dot Day by creating circular shapes with designs on simple construction paper with markers and/or oil pastels. We are now working to collage the designs together for a hallway display.

I love the hand drawn and cut shapes as much as the beautiful, individual designs that my students created as they are a reflection of how individual and special each artist is. So many students and staff members wore dots (or stripes) today as a visual reminder of Reynolds' quote. Being a Monday, I was impressed by how many members of our school community actually remembered. And the funny thing is that this message is a special one for adults as much as children. Have the courage to make a mark and see where it takes you.

"Oxie's on the Map!"

"Oxie's on the Map!" I can't take this phrase out of my mind that a BT parent said to me. So here it is... Oxie's little spotlight

I am loving this picture of Dexter Philip Oxford, III or simply "Oxie" traveling to Bear Tavern for installation a little over a week ago. Doesn't he look noble? Living up to the name, I guess. Speaking of the name. Oxie's name is a combination of a few names the Bear Tavern kids mentioned last spring. Honestly, the name could be much longer but I am content with what we've got.

Photo from mercerme.com
THANK YOU FOR TAKING SUCH A GREAT PHOTO!

Enjoy viewing all of the oxen throughout Hopewell Valley, the energy for these oxen is through the roof! 

See you soon!

Heya! And the Ox is finished

Hey everyone,
I am back from my temporary blogging vacation. I've missed writing but ultimately had some things on my plate that took up the end of my school year at Bear Tavern.
The first was matters of the heart. I spent every single free moment that I could with students (especially 5th graders before they moved on and up to 6th grade).

Every year it has been tough to let go of students and make the transition from seeing and speaking to them daily to not knowing for sure that our paths will cross again. So, I spent as much time as I could with my lovelies and wish them the best of luck in September and always. Part of that fun was watching World Cup soccer. Ok, a lot of the fun was soccer. I am a huge CBF, Selecao, Brazil through thick and thin fan. Over the years, I've realized and cherished the events and experiences that happen outside of the classroom or off (art) topic things that bond us. We spent some incredible quality time working on projects, talking soccer, thinking about summer and those sorts of things.

The second thing was our Bear Tavern ox. I blogged at the start of the spring about a project that the arts community in Hopewell Valley had been working on-- designing and painting full sized oxen for the Hopewell Valley Arts Council 'Stampede'. You all saw the "Ox Selfie Cam" of my colleagues and me posing with the blank canvas. At our art night, the school community had a great time painting the ox and then a smaller group of students, staff and I went in to finish it up.
Our ox was finished in July and I was able to view our ox along with the majority of the others at an estate in Pennington before they were placed throughout the community. Here are some pics of a few of my favorites and the oxen that my colleagues created with their schools.

Love this one AND it's on my way to and from school

 

                                        

Another favorite

Another fav. Loved this concept by Timberlane artists and Donna Cariola

Hopewell Elementary- cute fingerprint froggy's!

Stony Brook Elementary- intricate stars 

Toll Gate Grammar-super neat paint lines!

Hopewell Valley Central High School- gotta love the primary colors!

Soooo pretty 

Grazing in the Field

 Hopewell Valley is buzzing with the excitement of these new public art pieces. Check out the Arts Council web page for a map to find the 60+ oxen, artist bios/art statements and a ton more by clicking on the logo.

Glad to be back, I hope that you are all well and my best wishes to you for a great end of summer and start to the fall.

Welcome to Bear Tavern You Grand Old Ox (featuring the Ox Selfie Cam)

How often do you have an ox at your school to paint? My guess is never. That's because out of the many artsy animal parade that have crossed the globe, the ox is a bit rare. You will see more dogs and horses but the ox was chosen by the new Hopewell Valley Arts Council Committee because it is " a symbol of the Valley’s agricultural heritage, teamwork and enduring sense of community, the ox, an historic reminder of Hopewell Valley’s farming tradition, was chosen as the icon of the HV Arts Council’s public art event. Today, a team of oxen is still used to plow the fields and haul heavy loads at the Howell Living History Farm in Hopewell Township, uniquely connecting the past and present."

Photo courtesy of the Arts Council (there were only 2 oxen on our delivery truck FYI)

Our ox, who is yet to be named, was delivered to the school by a team of energetic, fun people yesterday afternoon. Honestly, if they had more deliveries to make, I would have asked to go along as it really seemed like a lot of fun. The first graders were coming out of the gym at the time from recess and were the first people in the building to see the ox come through the doors.

It was quite exciting,

Ok, so there is a celebrity in the art room now... Eight feet long and weighs 75 pounds.....(tell me your secret!)....

Cast of fiberglass for the Arts Council, is hollow so therefore very light. The ox is quite easy to move around. 

The Bear Tavern students and staff have been intrigued by this special new community member. It's only white but quite interesting to look at. Stop by and see. 

We are going to paint the ox to look very earthy cool by using cool colors on one side and higher contrast blue/white on the other with zentangle designs. 

We will paint the base colors during van Gogh art night on March 31. 

Keep you posted!

The Lady who got the selfies' started!

 

Art Teacher Shopping Trip for OX PAINT @ Jerry's Art Supply
from Left) Gillian Beck, Gay Hong Hua and I.. Not Pictured: Kathleen Belton who was there shopping with us earlier on.

Hopewell Elementary Art Teacher, Ms. Hua with their ox on Friday