a day for...

working on my latest cards.
slowly building up a stack of frames for the cards.
teaching my last full day of school for the year. it feels like summer now.
also feels like summer because it was 100 degrees today.
and I rode my bike in the hot hot heat.
so stopped to cool off at a coffee shop. and started a list of summer goals (still in progress..)
and am now inside. listening to the new death cab for cutie album.
while making henna. and painting.
and smiling to myself. because i have a nice life.
and i get to escape to Michigan this weekend.

colorific friday

 it's downpouring, thundering, and gloomy outside, so color is on the agenda for today.  First, these new paint pens that I am super excited to use. the colors are good enough to eat.

 the kiddos are finishing up their murals, and they're looking great!

and since the kids are working together, I'm having them cut and collage their murals when they're done so each of them can take a part of it home.  This guy is my favorite. he's like a lego sailor with an amazing visual thought bubble. i was tempted to steal this one and sneak it home with me, but I refrained. good teacher.

 Kindergardeners made these watercolor ice cream cones.  We were talking about our favorite flavors, and one kid said his fav was "superstar" ice cream, and it was red, white and blue.  I asked what flavors they were, and he said:

red is lava.
blue is water.
white is snow.

woah. really? I said - and he nodded, along with most of the class, who affirmed that this was correct, and was a really great kind of ice cream, and I should try it.

the end is near.

 We have just over a week left of school, so it's time to break out the super fun projects - like making a paper lizard friend. I saw this on an art lesson website, and I was excited to try it out with some of my students. It turned out to be pretty easy, fast and fun - a great combination for the end of the year! cause lots of us are "checked out" and the kids are getting crazy... one perceptive first grader asked me during a particularly rowdy class this week, "Miss Rokos - would you like me to make you a "do not disturb" sign and tape it on your back?" yes, I wanted to say. yes. that would be nice.

 All the art from the art show is finally off the walls - and the school looks all institutional and colorless now. but I have this amazing tape ball that is coveted by many.

"so, Miss Rokos, I guess you love tea, huh?" yes, kid. I do love tea. and I also love the 3D movie glasses you left in my room with the lenses taken out: the ultimate fake smart glasses.

what does it MEAN??

I finished something.

last night,  I built these frames. and this evening framed two of my cards. I finished them and couldn't stop smiling, because I rarely actually see things through to completion. and I thought these turned out pretty nice - a little lopsided, but that gives them character.

My new summer goal is to build frames for all of my cards. I imagine they would look amazing all on display together.  Maybe I'll need an art show. I have ideas. wheels are turning.

upcycled.

soaking on the window sill....

Here they are: the upcycled markers. I soaked the dried up markers in water overnight, and the ink colored the water making... watercolor paint!! And then the best part is that the markers are then usable again, but they're more pastel in color, and have a watercolor paint look to them. 

painting with brushes. painting with markers = double the awesome.



We used them today in third grade - I had the students experiment with using both the markers, and painting with brushes dipped in the water.... and I had just as much fun as the third graders



So pretty!!



I started taking their mess ups - trading them for a new sheet of paper - and adding to them - more and more paint - then we traded back - lots of colaborating going on. and lots of fun.

I'm caught up!!

For the first time in weeks, my cards are caught up.
it feels good to have just one card sitting in the middle of my desk waiting for me.
the last one might be one of my favorites.
blue. simple. circular.

the final picture is my friend Emily. she made us those awesome necklaces. they're so I can clip things to myself and not forget them.  She gave me a paper to clip that said, "Emily" - hers says, Miss Rokos - "so we don't forget each other." Emily says she wants to be an artist and an inventor when she grows up. I don't doubt she will be. And I can't wait to wear my necklace around with paper clipped on every clip. Functional, quirky and super cool.

and speaking of things super cool, I found an AMAZING use for dried up markers. I was giddy this morning in the art room when I realized it would work. but I didn't have my camera, so I'll post it later..... that's the teaser to keep reading my blog. (and thanks, to those of you who are. I don't know who you are, but I appreciate it!)

happy mother's day?

 I got this card today. The front had a picture of a paintbrush and paint that the student had drawn. I opened it up, and completely lost it - couldn't stop laughing. It was supposed to be for teacher appreciation week, but the student's mom said they were making a lot of cards last night, and he started getting confused about what to write on each card, and accidently made me a mother's day card.  I laughed about it all day. I mean, I do sometimes feel like I'm a mom to these kids... but more often, I feel like I'm a little kid: like when my nails are all painted different colors, I'm wearing a Princess Tiana ring, and I have an (unpictured) large pink bow in my hair. I'm wearing a kindergardener's dream outfit today.

today we...today i...

today we: worked on creating a large scale group painting. 

 First, each student in the group drew ideas individually based on a theme/idea/word chosen by the group. these ranged from the basic beauty, peace, love, to the more complex and interesting: light vs. dark, "the flaming future","air, light, nature" and "evo"

 Then students compared sketches and combined them into one composition.

Then we finally enlarged the image and sketched it on large white roll paper. I really liked this one, and then when I looked at the picture, I couldn't stop thinking about how the student's hand in the top right looks kind of like this. except more awkward.

(this project was inspired by the process and project I worked on with studio242 the past few weeks: pictures here)

Today I:

 Repurposed a strawberry container to hold my little notebooks. I've been inspired by Scout books, and I kind of want to make a reproducible book of my own, so I gathered my little idea books together to see what great ideas might be hiding inside their pages.

 I worked a bit on catching up on my card project. I got about three weeks behind, so I've been working on multiple cards at the same time. These are not finished, but they're getting there. slowly.

and finally, ironed some canvas to start another project on.  it will be a cool project. a secret project. so secret that I don't even know exactly what it will be yet.