See You in September!

I made my annual August trip to the art room last Friday to unpack and check in our art supplies for the year. The school offices are closed on Fridays during the summer, so other than the tech staff and a few random workmen, the campus was essentially deserted.  The sun was streaming in the classroom and the fact that I could open the window wide on this unusually comfortable late summer day and work in my casual clothes and flip flops, just made the trip that much better.
The covers I drape over the bookcases to keep the dust off the books and knick knacks were half hanging and although some of my trash cans and furniture have made their way into other classrooms during summer cleaning,  the room is sparkling  and I am very happy to see a new work table and 2 new computers.
I quickly opened the boxes with the energy of a child opening her Christmas gifts. There is something intoxicating about the look and smell of brand new art supplies! There is so much promise of the many ways they will be used during the course of the year. The thought of all the magical images those supplies will produce, never ceases to excite even a veteran teacher like me.  The day I hang up my teacher's smock for the last time, is going to be a very sad day indeed, but that won't be for quite a few years, hopefully, so for now, I will enjoy checking in the dozens of pencils, tubes of paint, and stacks of paper.

The 2 weeks I spent at my daughter's babysitting my grandson this summer, allowed lots of time to work on my curriculum, sprucing up the courses I have been teaching, and developing one I haven't taught in a while.

Teaching art is sometimes a hit or miss proposition.  Sometimes things just don't work as well as they are supposed to, and sometimes the projects that seem questionable come out much better than expected.  Then there are the somewhat happy accidents.  Those are my favorites.  The projects that somehow undergo a metamorphosis along the way often come out the best. But that's what art is all about.  You have to let it take its own direction, and let the artist just enjoy the journey.

Some of my favorite projects from last year were some I tried for the first time, like branch

weaving, 

 mixed media composition with a black construction paper overly, 

    a "zentangle- esque" collage composition

.

and digital composition in thirds.

I had taught Drawing every one of my many years as an art teacher, until about 5 years ago when we started our Graphic Art program.  Because of its popularity, I had to give up my Painting and Drawing classes to the other member of the art department, so I could concentrate on the Graphic Art classes.  But this year, I have the opportunity to pick up 2 Drawing classes, so I had to develop a new curriculum, sifting through projects I had done previously deciding which ones to keep, and adding some new ideas.

Great idea I found here

I found a great idea to try with my Mixed Media class which uses a children's puzzle as a base to create individual mixed media images.  I have lots of fun projects on tap for my students this year. I never tire of the planning process, and always look forward to putting those plans into action.  It's hard to believe the summer is almost over and pretty soon August will be in the the rear view mirror,with the promise of a brand new school year on the horizon! See you in September!