Friday, August 29, 2008

My own Friday Vintage Finds

I love, love, love vintage housewares, and getting the Etsy Friday Vintage Finds in my in-box always makes my day. Today's theme really knocked me out, and I was so inspired by the discovery of ModishVintage's shop that I had to post my own Friday Vintage Finds! Seriously, this has got to be my favorite vintage shop yet, you have to check it out!

These bird mugs - what can I say? I love them.
I think I have this trivet already...but I want it anyway!
My heart actually skipped a beat when I saw these adorable glasses:
And I nearly cried when I came across this Acapulco plate in the SOLD section - why, oh why, couldn't it be mine? I have a large casserole dish and a square tile with the same pattern!

So there you have it! Some of the most wonderful items on Etsy are in the vintage category.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

See Chuck Drum

Chuck is still "filling in" as the drummer for Advisory, and they are playing at Audio Cinema's multimedia art event this Saturday evening. Come out, PDX!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Parents Teach Art - a DIY Approach to Elementary School Art Education

The following article, written by me, was published yesterday in the Storque.

Where I live, there are billboards all over town that simply say, "Art. Ask for More." At the bottom is a line of smaller print that says, "Are your kids getting enough?"


As an artist and a mother of two, I feel fortunate that my kids attended a public elementary school with a thriving, well-established, award-winning art education program that is available to every student during the regular school day for twelve weeks out of the year.

This is rare. Many schools have after-school programs with enrichment classes or occasional projects with artists-in-residence, but very few public schools have a comprehensive art program incorporated into their regular curriculum. Portland, Oregon's Duniway School, which my kids attended, is even more impressive when you consider that they don't even have an art teacher. Instead, the entire program is organized, funded and taught by parent volunteers.

Are you a parent who is frustrated by the lack of art education at your child's school? Are you "asking for more" but still not getting enough? Maybe it's time to take matters into your own hands, in the true DIY spirit. This is the first in a two-part series that will provide some tips and resources for starting and maintaining a parent-led art program at the elementary school level.


[First grade "Sunflowers" lesson based on the work of Van Gogh.]

Start Small
All you really need to start is one classroom and one lesson plan. Talk to your child's teacher at the beginning of the year. Ask for a chance to come in for one hour to teach a fun, simple art lesson. What teacher could refuse that? To find great lesson plans specifically for your child's grade level, you can visit the Duniway Art website at www.duniwayart.org.


[The Duniway Art website]

These lessons were all designed to be taught by parent volunteers who don't necessarily have any art or teaching experience. Passionate parent artists like Michelle Smit, a mom of two boys who creates abstract paintings and fused glass works, revamp the lessons each year based on student and parent feedback to ensure they are fresh, relevant, and easy to understand. Michelle also makes sure these aren't "cookie cutter" projects, but rich, meaningful lessons that engage the child's heart, encouraging free expression, imagination and "happy accidents." The program encourages exploration of a wide variety of media, while building technical skills and incorporating art history and multiculturalism.


[Artist and parent volunteer Michelle Smit with her favorites from the fourth grade Picasso lesson, which she wrote.]

The program earned Duniway an Oregon Creative Ticket Schools award last year from the Oregon Alliance for Art Education and the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education.

Duniway's lessons are all downloadable PDF files with sample images of student artwork. Each lesson includes the concept and objective of the class, prep work and supplies needed, vocabulary words and detailed instructions for teaching the lesson. Pick one and try it out in your kid's class. Or take a look at some of the many other great art lesson plans on the web (see the Further Resources list below for some links). Or, write your own lesson plan! You don't have to do it all alone — team up with your spouse, a friend, grandma, another parent or neighborhood volunteer to make this an experience the kids will never forget. Take pictures and have fun!


[Fourth grade "Sumi-E" lesson based on Chinese brush painting.]

Get the Community Involved
If you'd like to take this beyond just teaching one class and create a school-wide art program like Duniway's, there are three elements you must have in place: support and commitment from the school, help from lots of parent volunteers, and funding to buy supplies.

Talk to your principal and teachers to see if they could carve out one "art hour" per week for up to twelve weeks. Explain that parent volunteers will be doing all the work. If there are objections that art time will take away from valuable time teaching other subjects, point to Duniway as an example. Duniway is consistently rated an "exceptional" school year after year, based on high test scores and overall academic achievement — yet kids take time out for art, physical education and music one or more times each week. It's no surprise, really — according to Americans for the Arts (the group behind those billboards), kids actively engaged in arts education are likely to have higher test scores than those with little to no involvement.


[Fifth grade "Musical Collage" lesson]

Start talking to your school community. Find out how many parents are interested in art and are available for an hour or so a week to volunteer. Find out which parents own print shops, frame shops, art supply stores or other businesses that can help out with in-kind donations.


[First grade "Houses" lesson]

If your school has a PTA or similar organization, find out if you can form an art committee. With a handful of like-minded parents, your committee can begin to recruit and train parent volunteers and organize fundraising efforts to pay for supplies. How much funding will you need? At Duniway, the PTA's art committee has a budget of $4000 each year, which includes all supplies, as well as expenses related to putting on an annual Student Art Show. With a population of around 400, this averages out to only $10 per kid! As Michelle Smit says, "Where in the world could you purchase 12 great art lessons, including supplies, for under $10.00?"

Further Resources:
EyePopArt's blog post about the 2008 Duniway Student Art Show
Duniway Art
Princeton Online - Incredible Art Lessons
The Educator's Reference Desk
National Endowment for the Arts - State and Regional Art Agencies
Lowe's Toolbox for Education
Americans for the Arts
Arts Education Partnership
National PTA
No Subject Left Behind - A Guide to Arts Education Opportunities

Coming Next Week...
Stay tuned! Next week we will take a closer look at how the program works, including roles and responsibilities of the art committee, scheduling classes, teaching tips, and ideas for hosting an exhibit of student art.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Still lives (without Woodpecker)





Inspired by a trip to the Farmers Market, I decided to re-take some of my Mandala Record Bowl photos by making little vignettes (ha ha) on my kitchen table. I am liking it. I think it makes them a little warmer and more realistic. What do you think?

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Back-to-School Art Supplies on Etsy

I just finished writing an article for the Storque, the first in a two-part series called "Parents Teach Art - a DIY Approach to Elementary School Art Education." (Who knew it would take me all day to write 800 words?)

I had fun picking out "related items" and used the poster sketch tool to make the above treasury. It's so pretty, I just had to post it here!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Which Record Bowl would you pick?

Here are the six Mandala Record Bowls I shipped out yesterday at the request of Viva Terra, the eco-friendly catalog and website. They are considering my bowls for their Summer 2009 catalog. I'm so excited! This is a really beautiful catalog, full of incredibly gorgeous items. You can view it online here.

I have no idea what will happen but I am very curious to see which designs, if any, they will decide to order. What do you think? I have started a poll here on my blog, over on the right column. Vote for your favorite bowl! Which one would you pick if you were an eco-friendly catalog company? I'd love your opinion. Thanks!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Dartun & The Vignettes - Saturday Night

Melodie from Cootie Platoon will be filling in on bass for this show. Don't miss the first chance to see her rockin' the bass since she played with The Plague in 1995!

Check us out on myspace: DARTGUN & The Vignettes.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Studio shot and other news

Ages ago, I joined a flickr group called "Studio Shot Tuesdays." But I have never actually participated until today. This is my photo, showing my messy table and some works in progress as I continue to plow through my big wholesale order for Mountain Green Goods, coming soon to Denver, CO.

(The awesome psychedelic coffee cup came from an Etsy vintage shop called Lishyloo...I am so excited about it as I used to have one just like it, but it broke.)

I also have received a request for samples from an eco-friendly catalog company called Viva Terra. They are considering ordering quantities of 100+ of my Mandala Record Bowls!

I am really glad that I managed to meet my goal of creating some new designs this summer before all of this hit! Here are a couple more of my new clocks - I have more in the works but they are on hold until after I finish my orders.


Oh, one more thing - there's a new interview with yours truly up on the Etsy Trashion blog. August is "vinyl month" for the Trashion team, so check it out to learn more about my upcycled vinyl creations! Click here for the scoop.