Sunday, July 31, 2011

Claire Loder, Them

Today I'm loving Claire Loder's heads.  Aren't they fabulous?  There is something about Them.  I could never pick just one.  I want to scoop up the whole bunch and take them all home, (especially that little blue one).  Claire is a ceramic artist from the U.K.  About her heads she says...."Although relatively shallow in physical depth my sculptures are intended to have a psychological complexity, they rarely look directly at the viewer, are often lost in thought or otherwise occupied." 
Clair has an amazing website and a blog that you can visit to learn more about her work. Very inspiring.  Can't wait for school to start because this makes me want to haul out the white clay and start a portrait project with the kids. 
Thank you Claire Loder for allowing us to share your work here!   

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Counting in the Garden, Kim Parker

Looking at Kim Parker's colorful watercolors makes me say...
"I want this book....
...and all these toys. 

Monday, July 25, 2011

Tankie...Blankie

Doesn't this just beat it all.  Tankie Blankie is here to keep the Balloon Tank good company.  Yarn Bombing is defined as the art of crochet and knit graffiti.  I love it.  Good for the old.  Good for the very young.  I totally embrace their philosophy: "Why destroy public property when you can be a postive force of warm feelings?"  I come from a long line of knitters and crocheters, and I know my own gram couldn't have said it better herself.
I would love to explore this topic with kids.  What about you?  Are there places you know that would benefit from the positive force of warm feelings?
http://www.arsenalpulp.com/bookinfo.php?index=294
http://yarnbombing.com/
http://iybd.blogspot.com/

Sunday, July 24, 2011

No Rain No Rainbow

No Rain No Rainbow (2011)
The work of Argentinian born artist Augustina Woodgate makes me want to throw myself down and roll around in the scrumtpious plush of her quirky hand pieced rug made entirely of recycled stuffed animal skins.
You can see more of her work by visiting her website. http://agustinawoodgate.com/


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Free Rice

I don't use to many web based programs in the art room, mainly because we don't have time, but today I was looking for interesting sites for a computer center for my youngest artists and found this...Free Rice. This interactive site lets you get smarter and feed the hungry, at the same time. I cannot wait to share this with my art students.  
Here's how it works.  Answer a multiple-choice question like the one below.  If you get it right you get a harder question.  If you get it wrong you get and easier question.  For each right question Free Rice will donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.  Get five questions right and Free Rice will donate 50 grains of rice to feed the hungry.  So here's a sample question for you to try: Olive Trees with Yellow Sun is by:
Franz Marc
Vincent Van Gogh
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
JMW Turner
Think you know the answer?  Go to Freerice.com and find out.