Arts & Activities articles from June 2008

Arts & Activities archives from June 2008

Mosaic Basics: 5 Great Projects.(Brief article)(Video recording review)
June 1, 2008... MOSAIC BASICS: 5 Great Projects. DVD/127 min./$14.95. Level: Middle School through Adult. On Air Video, Inc. With this presentation, On Air Video presents a very detailed DVD about creating mosaic projects. Five projects are presented and...

Culture Is Everywhere.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2008... CULTURE IS EVERYWHERE (2002; $25), by Victor Margolin and Patty Carroll. Prestel Publishing. George Kubler begins his book The Shape of Time with the observation: "Let us suppose that the idea of art can be expanded to embrace the whole...

Focus on Photography.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2008... FOCUS ON PHOTOGRAPHY (2007; $44.95), by Hermon Joyner and Kathleen Monaghan. Davis Publications. In 1888, George Eastman brought out the first box camera, calling it "Kodak No. 1." "You press the button--we do the rest." Thus, for many,...

Clay Connections.(shop talk)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Craig Hinshaw, a frequent writer for Arts & Activities, recently self-published Clay Connections, a book aimed at elementary teachers who work with clay. The approach places ideas before technique and contains clay...

Paragon industries.(shop talk)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Paragon announces the portable 120-volt FireFly Digital kiln. The 8-inch square by 4.5-inch high interior is rated to 2350 degrees F to fire glass, silver clay, porcelain and stoneware. The kiln is made of 2.5-inch...

North light books.(shop talk)
June 1, 2008... Artist's Photo Reference: Wildlife assists in capturing the details that make wildlife painting come alive. Artist and photographer Bart Rulon provides hundreds of full-color images showcasing animals from a variety of angles. Guidelines for...

"Art Projects for Kids".(shop talk)(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Art Projects for Kids" is a new blog authored by Kathy Barbro, a visual art professional and parent. The blog contains art projects for elementary-aged children featuring various artists, styles, techniques and...

Delphi.(shop talk)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Delphi introduces the 90 COE Millefiori glass, fully compatible with 90 COE glass rods, stringers and sheets. These colorful glass slices are convenient to use and offered in various colored assortments or by...

Barron's educational series.(shop talk)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Cartoon Clinic teaches the basics of tools and equipment, basic drawing elements, character design, page layout, script pacing and techniques for inking your work with a variety of media. Selections of cartoons by...

Jonti-Craft.(shop talk)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The child-friendly design of Berries plastic chairs promotes comfort and durability. The chairs feature an easy-to-clean polypropylene shell and heavy-gauge steel frame with non-exposed rivets, and are available with...

Planning a new art room: an art teacher's dream!
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] I have taught as a K-12 art specialist for the past 36 years. My entire career has been spent working from "rolling carts" and going room to room for the Bridgeport School District, in Bridgeport. Ohio. The student...

Young artist.(Brief article)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] My name is Alexa Maizes and I am nine years old. I taught myself how to draw when I was about three from a DVD of a movie called Spirit. I worked on the horse, Spirit, over and over again until I finally got it...

Jim Henson's fantastic world.(LEARNING from EXHIBITIONS)(Biography)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] The amazing creativity, imagination and innovation of Jim Henson (1936-1990) are celebrated in this unique exhibition now on a 10-venue national tour through January 2011. As an artist, puppeteer, film director and...

Foto fun 5 ways.(PHOTOGRAPHIC expression)(methods of manipulating photographs)(Cover story)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Photography is phun... er... I mean fun! Most people enjoy taking pictures and seeing the results, whether digital or silver halide. Manipulating pictures is a great pleasure, too, and it's not limited to computer...

Turtle with a punch!
June 1, 2008... Most art teachers have precious little time for their own artistic work, despite the fact that we know how important it is to feed our own creativity so we continue to bring new energy to our teaching. Whenever I feel like I am not really an...

To the letter!(water color painting techniques for high school students)
June 1, 2008... It was the end of the school year and my watercolor class, mostly made up of seniors, was finishing up a big, time-consuming assignment. Several students were completely finished and were at loose ends, so I encouraged them to play with a few...

What's really in hand? Mind over matter.
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Have you ever looked up at the clouds and imagined what each cloud looked like? When I was a child, my sisters and I would be lying on our backs looking into the sky and we'd see all sorts of things made from clouds...

Screamin' for ice cream.
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Since I only get to see my fourth-graders once a week, I try to combine as many things as I can. In this case, a little art history, a little drawing, a little painting and a lot of fun! After a very brief...

Ir-resist-able fish.
June 1, 2008... If it's true that fish is "brain food," then this method of teaching your students about batik will give them extra brainpower. On a recent trip to the Caribbean island of St. Kitts, I visited a wonderful batik studio, Caribelle Batik....

Color as actor.(art ACROSS the CURRICULUM)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "We should discover, for instance, that music, too, has to do with proportion and the values of line and volume; also that literature can be static or dynamic, and can have staccatos and crescendos, and poems can...

Clip & save art notes.
June 1, 2008... ABOUT THE ARTIST Edward Hopper (1882-1967), the American painter, printmaker and watercolorist best known for his iconic painting, Nighthawks (view the painting at: www.artic.edu/artaccess/ AA_Modern/pages/MOD_7.shtml), was born in Nyack,...

Classroom use of the art print.(Edward Hopper's painting called People in the Sun)(Brief biography)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Edward Hopper (American; 1882-1967). People in the Sun, 1960. Oil on canvas; 40.375" x 60.375". Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. THINGS TO KNOW Edward Hopper was born in 1882 in a small town...

Mexican "sun" in brilliant colors.
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] My school was preparing for its Multicultural Family Night. Each grade level was choosing a country to investigate, and the third-graders chose Mexico. The third-grade teachers asked me if I had a project that would...

Award artists.(CHILDREN'S art diary)
June 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Candy trophies, certificates with apple borders and smiley stampings are special awards for students. I roll along my shopping basket and look at the wall chart of medals and trophies ready for free inscribing at the...

Document your doings!(eARTh ... it's got ART)(organizing art teachers' lessons thru scrapbooking)
June 1, 2008... The final piece in our "eARTh... it's got ART" yearlong curriculum series takes us to the world of scrapbooking, otherwise known as "Document Your Doings!" [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I have found over the years that it is extremely...

School year's end.(tried & true tips for art teachers)
June 1, 2008... Phew, the end of the school year is quickly approaching! Yet there is still so much to do! Perhaps you have to follow through with I.E.P.s, grades and students' files. You'll also need to pack everything away so the room can have a thorough...

Errata.(tried & true tips for art teachers)(Correction notice)
June 1, 2008... Tip #2 in May 08's "Tried & True Tips" should have read "... plastic wallpaper trays can be filled about 2 inches deep" (not feet). We apologize for the error and any inconvenience it may have caused.--Editor