Pop Art, Pope Francis and Perry Milou

One of my 5th graders shared with me that her cousin was commissioned to create a painting of Pope Francis. Of course I asked if it was her famous, Philadelphia based cousin, Perry Milou who she has mentioned to me over the years.

How exciting! She brought in a print (below of Pope Francis with the art museum in the background) the next day and I felt so happy to see his amazing work and it's connection to this historical first visit of Pope Francis to The United States. Regardless of religious affiliation, this visit has been impactful in numerous ways to those of us living in this area. See the beautiful cathedrals on television and seeing fine art connections has been fabulous.

A Pop artist, Milou has depicted countless famous faces with his rich palette. His "Faces" collection of Pope Francis can be viewed on his website. There is a nice video towards the top of his site that talks about how this collection was a perfect match as he realizes so many personal connections to the Pope and his visit to Philly.

http://perrymilou.com

I am truly thankful to my student for keeping me up to date on some amazing local art that is being created and influencing the world. Milou's paintings are quite special. 

All images are from perrymilou.com

Yearbook Cover Contest!

Fifth graders, It's your time to design a cover for our yearbook cover contest!!

I know you're so excited.

Check your email for information. Below are a few photos from past yearbook covers to use as a reference. 

Fantastic Tots on Tour!

Today's Tots on Tour class goes down as one of my very favorites. And let me tell you, I needed it to be! I've been so happy to be back to school and seeing my elementary students but like the majority of teachers, I've been exhausted!!! 

September presents so many tasks to organize and new systems to learn. 

As I drove up 295 this morning it was beyond foggy. As I entered Hamilton, the sun took over and the rest of the day was  energy packed, creative and fun.

Today's focus was Monet and water lilies. After reading a great book "Where's the Frog" and taking a nice walk over to the Japanese Bridge, we created clay water lily pads and flowers. I created this lesson so simply and am excited to modify it for different ages. 

There's something about those first clay projects that melts my heart. Each year when I blog about pinch pots with first graders, it's the same thing. Being able to facilitate art experiences for young people that are meaningful and rewarding is what I love. Today was such a great day because the excitement and energy and precious moments that my two Tots groups expressed reminded me of everything important as an Arts Educator.

 

A Rainbow!

II am so excited about the full rainbow that I just saw in Hopewell by the Township building. Almost all of the rainbows I've seen have been in the area.  

Out of nowhere it was just there and it made my day! We're going to have such a fantastic year in art. 

Here are some facts about rainbows from kidsplatandcreate.com:

• Rainbows by definition is an arc of spectral colors that appears in the sky opposite the sun as a result of refractive dispersion of sunlight in drops of rain.

• A rainbow occurs when it is raining in one part of the sky and sunny in another.

• The colors of the rainbow are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet.

• An easy way to remember the colors of the rainbow is ROY G. BIV.

• It is believed that rainbow got its name from its shape.  A rainbow’s arc looks similar to a bow for  shooting arrows.  People also noticed that this colorful arc would only form when it was raining so they called it a rainbow.

• Scientist Isaac Newton explained how a rainbow forms.

• Sunlight is really made up of the colors of the rainbow.  When those colors are all mixed together it is called white light. White light is the light we see everyday.

•  When sunlight travels through the air in the same direction we see white light.  When the sunlight enters through a raindrop the colors separate causing us to see a rainbow.

• Each raindrop makes its own rainbow but it takes millions of raindrops for us to see a rainbow.

• A rainbow arch is a 42 degree angle starting from the direction opposite from the sun.

• Sometimes sunlight is reflected twice inside a raindrop.  When this occurs we get a secondary rainbow or a double rainbow.

• The colors of a secondary or double rainbow are in opposite order of the primary or first rainbow.  You will see violet on top of the secondary rainbow instead of red.

• Moonbows or lunar rainbows occur when the moon’s light reflects through the raindrop.  This type of rainbow is rare because the moon’s light usually isn’t bright enough for a rainbow to form.

• Did you know that no two people see the same rainbow, why?

• A person standing next to you is standing in a slightly different spot and sees the rainbow in a slightly different place.  The rainbow may look the same but there a little different because the person next to you sees different raindrops.

• When the sun is lower the rainbow will be higher in the sky.

• When the sun is higher the rainbow will be lower in the sky.

• On the ground we only see a semi-circle rainbow but from very high up such as on an airplane you can see a rainbow in a complete circle.

• Did you know you can never get to the end of the rainbow. When you move the rainbow moves too.

• You cannot touch a rainbow.

• How you ever noticed that you don’t see many rainbows in the winter in cold climate.  This is because in the winter raindrops freeze into snowflakes so less raindrops fall.

• You see more rainbows in tropical locations and by waterfalls.

• Earth is the only planet in the solar system where rainbows are possible.

• Upside down rainbows or cirumzenithal arcs can sometimes occur they are also known as sun smiles. They form when the sunlight reflects through ice crystals.

• In ancient times many different civilizations had different beliefs about rainbows.

• In Greek mythology Iris was believed to come with the rainbow as a bridge between the heavens and earth.

• The ancient people of Serbia believed that the rainbow was the Storm God’s bow and that he used it to shoot arrows of lightening through the sky.

• Ever try to make a rainbow at home?  Try standing with your back to the sun.  Take a water hose and spray it in front of you keeping the sun behind you.  Watch what happens. A rainbow should form.

Summer drawing challenge

Last week we started school! It feels great to be back so that we can continue on our art journey exploring, creating, imagining, and discussing what art truly is. 

I am really proud of my students who complete the summer drawing challenges each summer. 

This year, I gave close to 100 drawing prompts of which students completed as many as they wanted with the goal of 30 (one month).

Below are a few drawings by one of my lovelies. I cannot express how happy I was to flip through the pages of the carefully organized binders, folders and clamped pages. 

A little practice each day goes a long way!

Letter to Basquiat

This simple letter that Keith Haring wrote to Jean-Michel Basquiat is so powerful.

The second paragraph and more prominently the last sentence is thought provoking.

In my classroom, I hope that my students feel that they are creating art for themselves.

Generally, they tend to be thinking of a person that their creation will be FOR before the pencil or brush hits the paper. They are such sweethearts. The kindest , most thoughtful people. 

But it's through the process of enjoying what they are creating where I hope they get selfishly lost. 

Not every person (child or adult) can get in a comfort zone to allow themselves to get lost but as an Artist, it is an incredible feeling.

I tell my students a big chunk of the journey that I've taken to become the educator and artist that I am. It may be hard for them to appreciate but I hope that they do someday. 

Until then, I just hope to create an environment that encourages creativity and ideas and support. And, I hope that they enjoy the process of creating because that joy is incredible....whatever the style, wherever the location.... Just keep creating and be happy.

Crafty Evening

I'm a bit sleepy as you can see but had a great time with the Spirit Committee working on our new staff t-shirts this evening! Every year staff and students receive new shirts generously funded by the PTO.

We met in June to design this year's shirt and they are awesome.

I can't spoil the surprise but can show you that we personalized the shirts. We had several irons and boards out and went to town ironing on staff names. 

It was quite a production and ended up being a great time. 

Shiny New Supplies

Unpacking supplies was really fun this year. I forgot what supplies I had ordered until I started opening the boxes and then remembered that it was not only a Sharpie supply year but a fun year in general to stock up on some new types of supplies! 

One of the boxes that I opened last week had some of our Sharpies and they were packed on top of each other without additional wrapping. The colors that jumped out of the box was unexpected and exciting. Gold, silver, neon, rainbow, fat and thin. I literally felt as though I was in the Sharpie aisle at Staples.

The other funny thing about unpacking supplies this year was that I thought I'd gotten through everything and then the custodians come in and say "your clay order is here!" Uh, it wasn't a clay order, it was the remainder of my regular order.

The way the companies pack, sometimes I'll receive a single pencil packed in a box 500 times its size. So, with this unexpected palette, I didn't know what I'd find... 10 pencils?

Can't wait to show everyone our new art stuff- lots of fun new and old goodies. 

See you soon!

Basquiat & Sneakers at The Brooklyn Museum

I finally made it! On my list of exhibits to see since written about in the NY Times this past spring, I've been wanting to head out to The Brooklyn Museum to check out Basquiat: The Unknown Notebooks.

The exhibit was inspiring but not as full as I had hoped.

I love the limited color palette that Basquiat used and his iconic organization of drawings and writings.

And, well, of course just being in Brooklyn is inspiration in itself. Visiting family in Williamsburg and Park Slope is always a fun journey. The rooftop gardens, the colorful graffiti, lovely outdoor restaurants and pop up street fairs. It's so easy to get lost in the warm feeling of being on the block.

Just as much (if not moreso) as the Basquiat exhibit, I really liked The Rise of Sneaker Culture exhibit. 

It was... Well, COOL.

Looking at my own kicks, I felt that I could use a slight upgrade as these sneakers were quite a piece of art in themselves.

The Basquiat exhibit has now concluded but the sneakers will be at the museum until October 4.

Can't wait to tell you about both when school starts in a couple of weeks.

Mrs. Johnson

Members Musings 2015

Today was the opening for the GFS Members Musings exhibit.

Here is a sneak peek at a few of the pieces. 

I took close-up pictures to spark your interest.

For those of you that have been following this blog the past 5 years, you've seen images like this one above sporadically.

It's by my favorite sculptor Katie Trul. 

She is amazing! Her work is beautiful and she is big on reusing materials in her art and green art like I am.

So, guess who I saw today at the opening? Katie! She has two pieces in the exhibit and she showed me pictures of a new installation she is currently working... Let's just say-- it looks insane!!! Can't wait.

Here are a few more beauties from the exhibit :)

The exhibit is located in the Education Gallery. 

Tots on Tour: Elephants

It was a great (and packed) day at Grounds for Sculpture for my two Tots on   Tour sessions. I was a bit surprised because today feels like a day for families to be at the beach or "the shore" as they say in Jersey.

We began by reading 'Elmer' by David McKee

and then dove into creating these awesome elephant paintings.

Every month I do my best to connect the project with a related themed book. It has been one of the best parts of running Tots on Tour for all this time and I've read hundreds of great children's stories.

Elmer is a pretty popular book that is in most classrooms of early elementary level. Art teachers enjoy using tissue paper squares to create the lovable elephant.

I chose to go with a grey elephant and interesting background because it related more to the realistic colors of elephants which was what we were discussing today. We loved the idea of being unique and how special a patchwork elephant is.

I was really happy to see the kids make these elephants their own. One of my frequent students who is a huge shark fan, put the eyes on the ears and before he made mention, I immediately thought his elephant looked like a hammerhead shark. As Picasso said- Every Child is an Artist.

Watching the kids cut and arrange and glue their pieces in creative ways is the best part for me next to how happy they are to have spent the morning and early afternoon creating.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Art in the Park: Lighthouses

It's my 7th summer of Art in the Park and we're having a fun time.

This week, the other two guest artists are Mrs. Schlette and Mrs. G. Johnson.

My unofficial name this week is "Ms. JJ" which they got a kick out of. What else are we to do with two Mrs. Johnsons in Kunkle Park?!

Great group. This first week is for 5-7 year olds. Next week we go from ages 7-12.

My first project for the week is this lighthouse painting.

We talked about the history of lighthouses for a bit and the kids impressed me with their knowledge and creative thinking.

On Monday, we set to drawing a lighthouse and used watercolors for the backgrounds.

Today, we added some of the details in and started our second project. 

Tomorrow will be more details and work on the background of the second project (giraffe painting).

I am enjoying being outside in the mornings and seeing all of the art in progress. We have all sorts of projects happening and I look forward to sharing the art show images with you later in the week.

So far, I've seen two Bear Tavern students this week (yay!). Gavin is in the camp with me and Aldo happened to be biking by with his family and stopped to say hello and chat for a bit.

Over and out until later in the week.