feeling gravity's pull

by karen #1965 third grade teacher well i fought gravity again, folks...and i won!...now if you haven't been reading the soul sister blog, you won't know what in the world i am talking about...here is the post about my disaster project...gravity gives art a bad name...

so, you caught up now...well, i got a new pot...because i just happen to teach my secret pal's son and he loved the pictures of the first pot (before it got broken) and he was really sad it got broken and he wanted me to do another...and i just love that dude...so i went a got this pot...this is the kind to buy...the $5 kind...

so...once again...i spread my stuff out like this...

and get to work...

and da da da daaaaaaaaaaaa!...i once again have a finished product...and look...no slipping and a sliding this time...

so...everyone is gonna be happy....

my little student dude is happy cause he liked it...

i am happy cause i not only felt gravity's pull, i conquered it...

and hopefully...my secret pal will like this pot when she is sitting on her back porch sipping coffee in the morning and eating powdered donuts and reading a medical journal about the treatment to cure a streptococcic sore throat in 24 hours...

so...i end this post saying something that reaches deep in my soul...never give up...endure...u push and push...and work and work...and try and try...and redo and redo...and you get the job done...

honestly...this pot was sweeter the second time around...now, since i have conquered gravity, i plan on using some concrete patch on the pot below this weekend...oh yeah...the bigger the better folks!...cause i now know i can

stomp gravity in the floor...

Read the scene where gravity is pulling me around

Peel back the mountains peel back the sky

Stomp gravity into the floor

It's a Man Ray kind of sky

Let me show you what I can do with it

Time and distance are out of place here

(REM, 1987)

REM "Feelng Gravity's Pull" YouTube

Happy April 30, 2010!

Ceramic Keepsakes

Ok, so does this just say it all in the form of Keepsakes? I have tiles and plates in this post that we have made. I even have my tiles from 1973 and 1974! Yep, I sure do. My Kindergarten teachers (Mrs. Naomi Posey & Mrs. Jean Davis) made these in class with us at the First Baptist Church of Butler, GA! My mom took good care of them and when I married they became my property.  So here is a shout out to Mrs. Naomi, Mrs. Jean and My Mama ("GA")...Thank You!  These hand-print tiles are priceless and don't cost very much. The butterfly feet prints are so sweet to do for a Daddy and it goes with that song and book Butterfly Kisses

So the fish is a platter measuring like 14 x 14 inches. We just finished it. It is going to be presented to our school head on Monday at HCES. The platter has all of the thumb-prints of each lower school child on it. We painted it for her and on the back wrote the Fish Philosophy on it. We blogged about that in a previous post. Click, here, to see the post on FISH! Anywhooooo, I knew Mother's Day / Father's Day was coming up and thought I would do a quick post on these! This type of Keepsake activity / lesson can be performed on paper too! 

I hope you found this helpful! Thanks for stopping by....1969 - Kim

gravity gives art a bad name

by karen #1965 3rd grade teacher all i got to say is...  @#!!!! ...so i am in this "do good stuff for others club" and we do this dumb secret pal stuff...i mean...from august to may, you are supposed to do stuff for your secret pal...i am terrible...no matter how hard i try, i cannot keep my identity secret once i start giving gifts...they always guess... by the third gift, they know it is me...so anyway...i decided this year to wait until may to give all the gifts at once...so of course, the celebration luncheon is 6 days away...welcome to panic city!...i go get this ceramic "very glazed" pot from walmart...and some concrete patch from ace...now if you take a liking to this project and decide to whip up one of these pots...well get ready mix concrete patch...easy stuff...buy anything else and you waste your time and money......

so, i get to work...i get all my stuff out...and start putting the concrete patch on the pot...look...

now my secret pal is a doctor...and if you know her, please don't tell her...cause she doesn't know yet...or i guess i should say that she probably knows...cause like i said...they always know...may be a conspiracy like watergate...so anyway...i got all this doctor stuff all over it...take another look...oh yeah...nice i am thinking...

 then, i start notice the concrete slipping under the lip...take a look...WHY DID I BUY THE POT WITH GLAZE?...I KNEW THE CONCRETE WOULD SLIP OFF OF IT...!...I HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE...WHY DID I NOT LEARN FROM MY EXPERIENCES...YOU KNOW WHY, FOLKS???...cause i loved the cool glaze on the pot and i had a little extra faith in myself and thought i could make it work...me verses gravity...wrong...

so now i get creative, and i think if i put this pot in mid-air, well it will stop sliding...i know...stupid...but i just did not want to give up...

sometimes wood is stronger than concrete and a terracotta clay pot...when, you might ask 1965?...uhmm...uhmmm...well, never prolly...like i said...i was just hoping...anyway...about 5 minutes after i got this creative ladder contraption set up...i heard...

BOOM!

yep...it fell and broke...and i sat there and stared...and mr. o husband came out to check and make sure i was okay...and i just sat and stared...and i got up...and i cleaned up...and i took a shower...and got in the bed and continued to stare...

so...

mr. o husband comes in the room and says...sorry about your pot...

gravity...we are not on very good terms these days...it is messing with me and my body parts and my art...gravity gives lots of stuff a bad name...

Shot through the heart and you're to blame

You give love a bad name

(Bad name)

I play my part and you play your game

You give love a bad name

(Bad name)

Hey, you give love a bad name

(Bon Jovi, 1986)

Happy April 28, 2010!

Lions! No Tigers or Bears!

What a hoot! This make ya wanna have a belly gut ROAR! Ok, we did them the same way as we did the elephants in a previous post. They are huge! I beleive they measure like 12+ Inches by 27+ inches!

Let me break down the steps for Ya:

• watercolored with brown-zy and gold-zy colors on 8x12 piece of white paper
• Once this dried kids had to cut out and glue behind face
• I had body, face and ears cut out
• Kids had to glue head to mane
• Kids had to glue ears on (hee hee some of them are priceless!)
• Kids had to glue the body to the head
• Then we had to add detail to the face (My oh my....some of them were a HOOT!)
• They added texture to the body with crayons creating a "fur" effect
• Some wanted to add jewelry...so they did!
• Our Lions are definitely mixed media, but turned out super cute and fun to make! They will make an awesome backdrop for the K Circus!

On a funny note, I have had 2 hilarious moments in art class this month. You know....you like your job when you go home and share stories like this (or blog about them):

Story #1: 3 first grade boys are sitting at a table close to my desk and I am close by within ear shot. I am looking for something like an ice pick to perform surgery on a poor Elmer's glue bottle...you all know how that goes. Well, I hear one boy #1 say to boy #2..."Hey, do you like art?" Ok, not knowing what will come out next...Boy #2 says..."Yes, I like art". Ok....drum rolllllllll...............Boy #1,#2 & #3 all bust out singing that Tim McGraw song...."I like it. I love it. I want some more of it...." (Roll On Floor Laughing now...ROFL)

Story #2: First grade girl at clean up time in art today. She says to me. "Mrs. Daniel, I got a joke for ya" I say, "oh yeah". She tells me the joke.  JOKE: Why did Cinderella get kicked off the soccer team? Me: ???? I don't know? Why? Punchline:  Well, Mrs. Daniel Cinderella kept running from the BALL! (get it?) LOL 


2 Side Stories....When daughter of 1969 was 4 years old. We lived in Tallahassee. ...Trace Adkins had this song...called One Hot Mama.  Well, Mary Frances bust out in the car one day on the way home from school....Mama...You are ONE WART HOG Mama! No kidding! (Can you say, maybe she was thinking of the Lion King Cartoon???) Priceless....In previous post, We told you that we do love music in our family...Ok, here is another one....MF (short for Mary Frances, especially these days when we text!) was like 3 years old. We still lived in Peachtree City, GA. On the way home from church (Fayetteville Methodist Church), we are jamming out in car. She is singing Wilson Picket's famous song...Mustang Sally. Yep, we hear her and we are like...hum....are those the words??? Nope, she was just a singing MUSTARD and SALAD instead of Mustang Sally.....bhahahahahahahahahaha!

Oki Doki, Thanks for stopping by - we are lovin' life on our magically delicious art journey! 1969

an essay by my daugher on Johannes Vermeer

by karen #1965 third grade teacher so you see my daughter (15 year old) can write...i mean really write...and she was given the topic below and had to just start writing and had a couple of hours to complete the essay...and she decided to write on the artist, johannes vermeer...now of course, i am a proud mama, but i thought this might be something you high school art teachers might use to share with your students about vermeer...maybe this essay could kick-off your study...and for you elementary teachers...well, i will get to you later...here is the topic question...

 If you could have a conversation with a person of historical prominence (deceased or one who is still living) whom would you choose, what would you ask them and why would you choose that person?


Johannes Vermeer by 1965's daughter-


Looking back at History and thinking of all the important figures that made our world what it is today, one person comes into my mind. Not only have I always been interested in this character, but I can relate in his talents and characteristics. His life has been studied by many historical scholars to this day, and many parts of his life are still misunderstood. As a brilliant artist and beholder of a fascinating biography, Johannes Vermeer is the person of historical prominence that I would choose to have a conversation with.


Johannes Vermeer was an artist living in Europe in the years of a growing trade and naval system. The small towns, such as the one he resided in, were growing rapidly with their important locations and rapidly growing populations. These cities were becoming a place of trade, and Vermeer’s artistry and paintings were falling into a period where art was bought and sold just as much as meet and vegetables were. His paintings were unique and different from any other artist at his time. In his studio, he would introduce blank canvas with themes that greatly represented the time period he lived in. Vermeer usually painted pictures of mostly women and men that could be found doing daily activities, such as simply pouring water out of a vase or sitting at leisure with fellow friends. His mastery was found in his use of light and colors and making the canvas come alive with realistic details. Vermeer also was believed to use the camera obscura to help him achieve this work of near perfection. After his death was when all of his works became popular. While he was alive, the fascination that people have for him nowday was not found in people he lived around. In fact, he struggled to make ends meet for his family. But today, many other artists and scholars of the arts look to Vermeer as a fantastic artist who should continue to receive attention.


Being in the presence of such an interesting artist would not only humble me, but there would be too many questions that I would want to ask. First, I would ask Vermeer about his life as an artist. Questions I would ask him could be: “Was it difficult to find an object to paint? Were you always thinking about the customer when you painted?” But the most important question I would want to ask him would be the following: “Did every one of your paintings have a story or personal experience behind it?” Whenever looking at Vermeer’s paintings, I am always fascinated by not only his skill, but I wonder what truly inspired him. Was it his family or friends, or was it something completely random he saw while taking a walk down the cobblestone streets? I would hope his answers could help me further understand his life and the meaning behind all of his beautiful paintings. Maybe, he would even help me as an artist to see the world from his point of view so I could try to achieve the mastery he reached in his lifetime.


I can personally relate to Johannes Vermeer as we both share our love of painting. Starting young with watercolor and producing meaningless blobs of color, I became fascinated with the ability to create colorful pictures. Now, I continue to have this love for art and still am fascinated with the artists who contributed to the history of art. But the most interesting and skilled artist I personally look up to is Johannes Vermeer. I have read many books about him and learning about his interesting life helps me to understand his paintings. In the novel, Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier, I learned of Vermeer’s painting of the young girl with the mysterious look on her face and the one pearl earring in her ear. This is a perfect example of a painting that I was extremely curious to know the story behind, and although the book is a work of fiction, it still presents a fascinating theory and gives me an idea of Vermeer’s difficult life. It does accurately show his methods of painting and his distinct style, and I continue to study the book along with many other writings about this interesting man.


Johannes Vermeer is a pioneer of the history of art as he used new techniques to show his abilities as an artist. While his subjects and themes perfectly represented the period and place in which he lived, he gave people an accurate pictures of hard-working way of life in the seventeenth century. Interviewing and conversing with Vermeer has always been a dream of mine because of my curiosity towards his work. I hope someday to better understand his meanings behind certain paintings, and a chance to talk to him would give me the perfect opportunity to do so. Although I would never achieve the skill and brilliance Vermeer reached in his lifetime, I would hope he could give me some advice and hints on how to be the best artist possible. After this interview with Johannes Vermeer, I would continue to be mesmerized by his life and amazing abilities, but mostly, I would never forget Vermeer’s important contribution to the history of art. -The End

check out some of vermeer's paintings...

there is tons of interesting stuff about johannas vermeer...at first i thought, how could you get kids interested in this?...i even thought...how can i get me interested in this?...so i started googling and wow...wayyyyyy cool!

high school students...show the movie if you can watch PG-13...

go to Essential Vermeer website...very detailed information...

or study camera obscura...many think that johannes vermeer used it in his work...it was really interesting...What is camera obscura?

now...as i promised...elementary teachers...here is some action for you...

read the book...Chasing Vermeer...

visit these cool places...
Scholastic
Kids' Wings
Kids Off The Couch: If A Vermeer is Near
National Gallery of Art
Garden of Praise
Ms. Julie's Art School

so...my daughter wrote this at 15...at 15, she has dreams and aspirations...she grabs at chances to experience things...she sinks in every moment...at 15, i think she realizes that life is only a few moments...i think johannes vermeer was kinda like that...he lived in the 1600s...lived to be 43 years old...a short time really...he only had 35 to 40 paintings...but...even with that small number, they stuck...and we are still studying him and his amazing work today...we all will go one day...hopefully, to the pearly gates...and when we reach the pearly gates, most of us will not have left behind famous paintings behind like "the girl with a pearl earring"...but...we can live a life that leaves behind little pearls for others...pearls symbolize purity, spiritual transformation, charity, honesty, wisdom, and integrity...all the best within us...so leave little pearls along the way...for others to find...and hold in their hearts forever...

15 there's still time for you

Time to buy, Time to lose yourself

Within a morning star

15 I'm all right with you

15, there's never a wish better than this

When you only got 100 years to live

(five for fighting, 2006)
"100 Years" by Five for Fighting on You Tube

Happy April 26, 2010!

Elephants! (Getting Ready for the Kindergarten Circus!)

The visuals say it on with these elephants! They are so super cute! They turned out pretty large! Yep, they measure like 20+ inches vertically and horizontally. These kids cracked me up by the way they would glue it all together making a master piece! When we started to add detail....the pink painted ears and marker colored eyes turned out hilarious....these were a hoot to make (Yep, folks....a hoot- kinda like a CHI Omega HOOT!!!). I must confess that I had 2 projects going at one time. I let - like 4 kids create their individual elephant at a different table. Over the years, I have found that this is better especially when it will be the backdrop for the Kindergarten Musical. The other students were hard at work on another art project that I will post at a later date! So, for now...enjoy these!  

As for 1965's post on our Facebook Fan Page (Like Page) ...if ya don't know what I am talking about - click the FB Fan page up at the right and check it out. We agree that color does look better on toes! So, here are our latest "toe color designs" for 1969 and 1969's daughter - LOL!!!

Hope yall are having a fabulous weekend! xox,  1969

Thanks for stopping by....

How to Look at Things and Spread Positivity

by karen #1965 third grade teacher how do you look at stuff?...i mean...everything...how do you look at art?...how do you look at a day when it is jam packed with things you don't wanna do?...how do you look at a person that constantly drops the ball and does not follow through?...how do you look at a state patrol guy that stops you going 75 in a 55?...how do you look at a co-worker that never works?...how do you look at those folks that are at church on sunday, but are total jerks during the week?...how do you look at folks that are not nice to your children?...how do you look at a teacher that never gives you a good grade on an essay?...how do you look at a situation where you know folks are making mistakes, but it is really not your job to push them in the best direction?...how do you look at people that are truly the opposites of you?...how do you look at a close family member that sometimes hurts your feelings?...how do you look at that husband or boyfriend or wife or girlfriend that never folds the clothes?...how do you look at the puppy that constantly tears up everything and could probably chew the tires off your car?...how do you look at that walmart checkout lady that does not smile when you crack a joke?...how do you look at friends or family that let you down and make you sad?...how do you look at people that are SOOOOO negative and never have a positive thing to say about anything?....

folks....i am telling you...you have to make the best of stuff...if you are looking at things and becoming angry or hurt or annoyed...well, find a new way to look at it...just that simple...think of another way to look at it...surely there is an explanation for the behavior of others that you must learn to accept...so................don't judge a man until you have walked 2 moons in his moccasins or as elvis sang....until you have walked a mile in their shoes...

here is how i look at art sometimes when no one is around...this is a robert rauschenbert painting...now i am gonna start trying harder to look at everything in my life this same way...i think i can do it...i may take a little energy or creativity, but it i will certainly have a different view...funny how you can apply stuff in art to everything in life...check me out...having fun looking at art....

like elvis sang in the 1970s..

If I could be you, if you could be me

For just one hour, if we could find a way

To get inside each other's mind

If you could see you through my eyes

Instead your own ego I believe you'd be

I believe you'd be surprised to see

That you've been blind

Walk a mile in my shoes

just walk a mile in my shoes

Before you abuse, criticize and accuse

Then walk a mile in my shoes

Now if we spend the day

Throwin' stones at one another

'Cause I don't think, 'cause I don't think

Or wear my hair the same way you do

Well, I may be common people

But I'm your brother

And when you strike out

You're tryin' to hurt me

It's hurtin' you, Lord HAVE mercy

Walk a mile in my shoes

just walk a mile in my shoes

Before you abuse, criticize and accuse

Then walk a mile in my shoes

Now there are people on reservations

And out in the ghetto

And brother there, but, for the grace of God

Go you and I,

If I only had wings of a little angel

Don't you know, I'd fly

To the top of a mountain

And then I'd cry, cry, cry

Walk a mile in my shoes

just walk a mile in my shoes

Before you abuse, criticize and accuse

Then walk a mile in my shoes

Elvis...singing...Walk a Mile in My Shoes...

happy april 24, 2010

The Art of Thierry Noir (Berlin Wall Art...Funky Graffiti People)

The art of Thierry Noir...found this dude on this art education blog...check it out - Kids Artist.Thierry Noir wrote the story of the Berlin Wall here....click to read it! I had never heard of him and I am so thankful that I ran across a post about him on a blog that I follow! Check out this blog out, super cool stuff going on there! Thanks, JACQUELIEN!

Date of Birth

3 June 1958, Lyon, France

Mini Biography

Thierry Noir is the man to whom we owe the longest concrete painting in the world. His paintings, with their bright colors and their melancholy poetry, represent nowadays the art of the Berlin wall. His wall works survived longer than all the others even after the fall of the wall in 1989. Thierry Noir was born in 1958 in Lyon, France. He came to Berlin in January of 1982 with two small suitcases, attracted by the music of David Bowie and Iggy Pop, who lived in West-Berlin at this time. From April 1984, he and Christophe Bouchet started to paint the Berlin wall. As the years went by, the paintings took on phenomenal proportions which were rapidly recognised by the international arts community. The object was not to embelish the wall but to demystify it. The paintings of Thierry Noir became a symbol of new found freedom after the reunification of Germany and the end of the cold war.

This lesson was really easy to teach. We used 9 x 12 white drawing paper and I showed a few YouTube clips on Noir. The kids had a blast with this lesson! Tons of cross curricular information for older students! Noir on YouTube, Click here for link. Go to Thierry Noir Gallery to see more examples of his work! They are so fun and spring like with the bright - bold colors!

Happy Friday, xoxo --- Kim, 1969