More Art Room Pics

I am very proud of my re-organization of my classroom this year. The powers that be decided I needed crazy technology hanging from my walls like a speaker system controls and a projector mounted on an arm. I am trying to forget about these monstrosities and horrible eye sores. I did want to share what I love about my room. The pictures are of the new table organization and classroom management system incorporating the paint splotches on the table with coordinating jobs listed on the cabinets. Last year each table had a job to help with classroom management, but this year I decided I wanted each table to be it's own microcosm and be self sufficient. It will take a few weeks to get into the groove, work out the kinks, and get the kids properly trained. So far, I am loving it! I have my first year under my belt and I am ready to rock and roll this year.

Sad, but true. . .

I was hoping to post the wonders I got out of the latest kiln firing. Sadly, the pottery studio I go to hasn't fired the kiln yet. I've been doing test tiles and experiments with fusing my drawings and my ceramics as I've mentioned in previous posts. I am having a hard time moving forward without the information from the results of my experiments. Sigh.

I am off right now to start my first day of school with the kids. I am really excited for this year. It is my second year as an Art teacher and with a lot of the kinks worked out from last year, I am hopeful for smoother seas. In an effort to better organize the information of lesson planning, I have created a Pinterest account. You may have noticed the button on the right. Other than the usual fun stuff, this is the place I plan to collect ideas for my lesson planning and imagery to use in the classroom.

Wish me luck!

This is a picture of my new display above the classroom library.

Free Printable Party Invites

Found and posted by Poppytalk

HGTV offers 16 free printable party invitations. Check it out!

Etsy Treasury Lists

I had an "ah ha" moment this morning. I finally figured out what the Treasury Lists are for on Etsy. I was updating my Shop as well as creating a Treasury list myself, when I realized it is used for PR and spreading the word about your shop as well as helping others showcase their work. Which of course everyone is grateful for! Check out the collection of cool items I curated by clicking on the photo below.

**One of the shops has a model that has inspired me to create new paintings. See if you can figure out which shop! Let me know what you think.

School Days Fast Approaching

With tomorrow the official day I have to report back to duty for school, I have been frantically trying to draw as many ideas for paintings before my momentum stops. All the wood plaques and boxes around my house are getting filled up with drawings to paint at a later date. Since I know me well enough to know that some days are idea/drawing days and other days are relax and paint days, I am trying to stock pile paint day activities to relax to when needing to unwind from work. Here are some of the newest works. I am having the best time with these little 2.5x4 wood plaques. So tiny and so cute.

Notice the school girl theme. Hmmm, wonder what is on my brain?!

(taken with instagram) by Constantly Constance

Porcelain Experiments

I've been working on alternative ways of combining my drawing with my ceramics. Right now I am experimenting with porcelain, working with both thrown forms and rolled tiles. I am experimenting with carved and low relief techniques when creating my designs. I hope to eventually transfer my figures from a 2-D application on the forms to the actual forms themselves. I look forward to this evolution as it has been an amazing transformation just within the last week. To get a better idea of what I am working on, I have attached a few photos. The pictures are before the ceramics are fired. I will keep you posted on their transformation to completed project.

Art-o-Mat Stash

My friend and I went to the Cosmopolitan Casino/Hotel to check out the local Art-o-Mats. We found that they had 4 machines divided into 2 areas. I am pleased with what I purchased and love the novelty of purchasing a sample of someones art for $5. I love the idea of miniature art works and it is a great advertising opportunity. My friend Thom at Whirledmud, who is currently participating in this, gave me the idea to have the Facebook page listed on the back of the work and ask customers to comment or post pics of the artworks new home.

I am going to start production of a sample to send for judging and cross my fingers. I absolutely adore this idea and hope I can be apart of this art movement.

Here is a picture of what we bought last night. One is a darling painting of birds at sunset by Lindsay Mathews and the other is a mixed media work with miniature knitting on it by Pauline and Mike Griffin.

Busy Bee

I couldn't be more happy with all that is going on right now! I have more projects than I know what to do with. My only regret is that I have to go back to school next week. I tried all summer to be inspired and to create work to showcase or sell and hit nothing but a brick wall. All the pieces are falling into place all of a sudden and I am doing my best to keep up.

Current projects at this time include:

Creating sample work to apply to sell my artwork through Art-o-Mat. This would mean selling 2x3 sample pieces of my art via vintage cigarette machines across the US.

Creating a themed body of work for a future show. (fingers crossed)

Designing a set of notecards.

Christmas gifts

Ceramic work combining my drawing ideas with porcelain.

Creating and finalizing my website.

Overall, I am in the process of creating a body of work to build my business, fill my shops, and promote myself. I feel inspired and excited and wish this feeling and forward movement will last through the beginning of school.

Wish me luck!

new website!

New Muse: Deborah Ann Woll

Don't be surprised if all my 'ladies' in my work start looking like Deborah Ann Woll, currently known for her role on the tv series 'True Blood'. I love her features! I can not say enough good things about them. I am in love with the size and shape of her eyes, nose, and mouth. They are the kind of features that I LOVE drawing. Not to mention the fact that I am a sucker for a pretty red head.

Before and After

I have always gotten a kick out of seeing the before and after process from concept to execution. This is true of my own work and seeing the evolution. I thought you might like to see this also. Sometimes the before can be nothing more than a shape or stick figure or it can be more polished like the example today. I am quite proud of my drawing from yesterday. I feel it is my best pencil drawing EVER! I'm glad to feel I have graduated to another level with this picture.

concept drawing 2x3in.

final drawing 10x12 on wood (close-up)

Artist Spotlight: Melissa Haslam

I seem to be on a roll for finding artists I have never seen before that inspire me. Melissa Haslam is from Melbourne Australia. You can also read about her process and such from her blog Cherry Fields. I love her passion and detail of foliage in addition to her tongue in cheek use of stuffed dolls in some of her work.

New Artist Crush: JAW Copper

WOW!! I just found a new artist to admire and study. She is amazing, I love her style! Her name is JAW Cooper and here is her website and her blog to be able to check out her amazing work and process. If you are in the L.A. area you can see her work in the L.A. Weekly. She has an amazing cartoon like quality to her work. I also noticed that all her lines are curly and curved.

Brainstorming Brilliance

Feeling the need to do some brainstorming of ideas for future prints and paintings, I am spending the day drawing a plethora of 2x3in. pictures. I just finished a page full and am now going back to ink them in as well as move on to page two! I am enjoying the design, simplicity, and the play between negative and positive space. This also gives me an excuse to use all my new pens. (darn)

I would also love to hear which ones are your favorites and why! Stay tuned, there is more to come!

Here is just a taste of the fun I am having today. . . .

The photos are taken with Instagram and can also be seen on my tumblr.

Twins

I'm trying to decide if I want to make this a print or make it into stationary. Postcards maybe? Let me know what you think!

"Twins" by Constantly Constance

Artist Find: Kristin Tercek

I just found a new artist that I think is really cool. Kristin Tercek started a company in which she sewed dolls and over time turned to painting them instead in an effort to explore deeper themes. I like the idea of a single subject to explore varying ideas with. They make me smile and remind of Garbage Pail Kids!