Summer Sketches

The 3 hour flight each way to Houston got a little boring this summer. Here are a couple sketches I created of the grandkids plus a couple I never posted for some reason.

They could still use some work but I like their beginnings. It was a great way to kill time and stop the anxiety of flying I tend to have in its tracks. 

These ones are of my son and my granddaughter that I did over the last couple years. 

Romero Britto brings the happy!

Our first project of the year, school-wide will be based on the work of Romero Britto, a Brazilian born artist who has found a way to make money doing what he loves.  His work appears on Disney, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, lots of other merchandise, and even on cars!

He has done portraits of many popular people including Martha Stewart, Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Michael Jackson. His bold lines and colorful patterns are everywhere!

While Britto is a great artist, he is an even better man.  You can learn more about him in his bio found here. Much of his philosophy of life surrounds helping people wherever he can and sharing his art because "it is too important not to share."

Britto is always working hard to grow as an artist, so that he can use his talent and knowledge to help others in need, especially children.  He has even won a Humanitarian award for the good work he has done to help others.

He is quoted saying,
"Through my art, I try to express the things I would personally like to experience on a daily basis, such as positivity, energy and joy. I don't want to depict events like death and tragedies which we see in the media every day. I wake up every morning with the goal of being a source of hope and inspiration for everyone, including myself. I want to feel good and I hope that this is reflected in my art."
I hope that you have found something that makes you as happy as Britto!

Here is a presentation about Romero Britto.  There is an interview video at the end that is very good.

What do you hope to grow into one day?  What is it that makes you happy?

It's Your Turn!!

Draw a simple portrait of yourself as what you hope to become  or do when you grow older or draw yourself doing what makes you happy.  Keep your lines simple and don't color anything in...yet.  Leave room to add some colorful patterns like Romero Britto.

Here are some of Romero Britto's simpler portraits for inspiration.

New Adventure

I have embarked on a new adventure. I have joined the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Art Learning Program. I now have two schools in which I teach visual arts. I am excited to get to know the faculties and students at each school and I am ready for a fun and creative year. 

I have been hard at work getting the new art studio ready at Roosevelt Elementary. Here are a few pictures. This is what students will see as they enter the room. 

These are the cabinets at the back of the room. With the elements and principles hanging out. The color wheel lives here as well. 

This room had backpack cubbies that I have used for storage and covered up with some fabric and duct tape to hide the clutter. Aren't they pretty?

This is my objectives board. All drawn in wet erase or vis-a-vis marker. Then I can use dry erase to write in the objectives for each lesson.  I think it looks pretty sweet.

Right next to the objective board are these posters and soon to be a table holding the artist statement forms.

This is my mystery artist wall. I have yet to add the bio. But you might be able to guess who it is. This will change monthly, hopefully.

This is our rules and game board. Up in the right corner is a game piece for each class. When a whole class works together to follow the rules of an artist, they get to roll the dice. If they get to the finish line, something good will happen.

Here's the rules a little closer up.

I have fun posters around the room to help budding artist get some ideas to help them be successful artists.

Pictures from Wilson coming soon!  I am Art on a Cart there and its not quite ready... yet!