Swapping Old for New

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….art projects

Last week I started to remove some of the older art projects in the hall for the newer assignments. I have close to 300 projects to display and I’ve barely put a dent in the collection but it’s a good start. Funny how things can be on display for weeks and people just start to notice them when you’re ready to take them down. Oh well at least they made an impression before they were removed.

I’m close to finishing the Faces projects. The kids really seemed to enjoy the process. When the collage assignment was done I shared the painting technique I learned on Carla Sonheim’s on-line class, Faces 101. It started out as an experiment with a grade 2 class that I don’t normally teach and it was so successful that I decided to pass on the knowledge to my other classes. Here are a few more ‘faces’ projects that I’d like to share with you:

As you can see I have a few students who like to think ‘outside the box’. I encourage creativity as long as I see some of the components in the lesson in the final piece.

The halls are starting to fill up with new work. Here’s a sample of what one might see if they came for a visit.

Having a ‘Hoot’ of a Time

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….drawing owls

I recently signed up for an on-line art class using gelli plates. I did one last summer and I loved it. So when Carla Sonheim offered another class I jumped at the chance to participate again. This class uses some of the prints I’ve done in the past and involves drawing on the actual gelli plate. I, therefore needed a subject to draw that was relatively simple and would work in a print application.

I choice to draw an owl. I’ve always been attracted to owls and wanted to create an owl that is somewhat whimsical yet simple. Here are some of the owls that I played around with tonight.

photo 5-30photo 4-34 photo 3-36 photo 2-46 photo 1-43

I think I will probably use the first two in my prints. We’ll see I may change my mind or I may draw a few more.

Cheers!

A Word a Week Photograph Challenge – Frame

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…..every week Sue Llewellyn goes into her Oxford dictionary and randomly pulls a word that becomes the challenge for that week

The word this week is frame. I suppose you could take it literally and find pictures of frames or things held within a frame or one could go with the verb ‘to frame’.

A natural hand made frame made by a student in grade 3

A natural hand made frame made by a student in grade 3

A gate framing the entrance to a home in Dublin.

A gate framing the entrance to a home in Dublin.

An arch framing the entrance to Dublin Castle.

An arch framing the entrance to Dublin Castle.

A statue in Dublin framing my silly husband.

A statue in Dublin framing my silly husband.

A tunnel framing Croagh Patrick in Westport.

A tunnel framing Croagh Patrick in Westport.

To see more  ‘A Word a Week Photograph Challenge – Frame’ go to Sue Llewellyn’s site.

29 Faces – Day 15 to 25

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….these faces weren’t done by me but I did teach my grade 2s how to paint them

Today I covered a grade two class that should have had music but the music teacher was at the Kiwanis festival with two other classes and the class I should have had was one of the two classes at the competition. When the grade 2s came into the library I decided to turn the period into an art class. I thought that they could probably handle making faces using watercolour paints.

I demonstrated how to add the skin tones and face shape first and once that was dry we added the hair. I recommended that the facial features be done with marker. Some followed the instructions and others didn’t but most of them had a lot of fun and their faces were pretty good. Here is a gallery of faces for you to enjoy:

Too Tired to Draw or Write

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….falling asleep in front of the laptop

I was hoping to draw some more faces but I’m so tired that I am literally dozing off in my chair in front of the computer. So it’s off to bed for me and it’s only 10:00. I have to get up early tomorrow anyway for another basketball practice. The boys won their last game so they’re moving on to the next round on Wednesday.

Today I took 35 boys to a choir competition. I wasn’t slated to go but one of the adults supervisors was away so I volunteered to help out at the last minute. I rescheduled some of my classes and spent a couple of hours listening to the angelic voices of nine and ten year old boys. This was the first year that L entered a boys’ choir and they managed to secure a second place standing with a “gold” designation. Bravo boys!

Good Night! Maybe I’ll have more energy tomorrow for drawing and writing. Sweet dreams!

Share Your World – Week 8

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…..these questions required a bit more thought than normal for me

Would you rather be given $10,000 for your own use or $100,000 to give anonymously to strangers?

At the moment I’d rather be given $10 000. for my own use. I’m trying to pay off some debt and if there was any money left over I’d rather give it to someone I know than to a perfect stranger.

When you’re 90 years old, what will matter most to you?

I guess at ninety my ability to get around and do things for myself will matter the most to me. I don’t want to become a burden to my children. So, therefore I need to stay physically and mentally fit and healthy to achieve this goal.

Candy factories of the entire world have become one and will now be making only one kind of candy. Which kind, if you were calling the shots?

I’m not a big candy eater but if I had to choose one it would probably be chocolate covered nuts. My husband reminded me of a candy called Bridge Mix that our parents would bring out for special occasions. It contained a variety of chocolate covered nuts, mints,raisins and jellies. My husbands choice is jujubes.Milk-and-Dark-Bridge-Mix11

So, you’re on your way out and it’s raining. Do you know where your umbrella is or do you frantically search for it all over your apartment/house?

It’s usually in the back of the car or I’ve left it at work. Luckily I have more than one umbrella but unfortunately most of the time I have to search for it. 

Cheers!

http://ceenphotography.com/2014/02/24/share-your-world-2014-week-8/

Reaching Goals Early

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…..600 followers as of yesterday

Thank you to everyone who has chosen to follow me since I started blogging. My second anniversary is coming up in mid April. Last May I set a new set of blogging goals for myself but the only one I remembered was reaching 600 followers by May 1, 2014. So I went back to my post on May 1, 2013 and reviewed what I had written. Here is an excerpt of that post:

…. I reached 300 followers

I reached all my goals before the end of April with your help.

Where do I go from here? Here’s what I’m thinking:

150 likes for one post (114 for https://mamacormier.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/a-word-a-week-photograph-challenge-blue/) This one will be more difficult to reach. It seems that I get most of my likes when I participate in a photo challenge

Our principal taunting the boys and girls
August: Niagara Falls, ON

200 views for one day (currently sitting at 159) I reached 303 views on June 7th

600 followers one year from today I reached 600 followers 10 weeks early

30 000 views one year from today I am 5500 views away from this goal – That would be 550 views a week, 79 views a day – right now I average about 50 views a day

300 new posts in the next year I’m at 262 so I have 38 posts to go – that’s 3.8 posts a week….very doable. My magic number will be 614 posts in total.

Of course once you reach a goal it’s time to set new goals. So in the next 10 weeks my revised goals are to:

• attract 75 more followers

• write 50 more posts

• reach 320 views in one day

• average 80 views a day

Of course none of this is possible without your support. Looking forward to hearing from you. Hopefully I can give you something that sparks your interest and makes you want to visit here. Carol (aka mamacormier)

Cheers!