Gonna miss my friend, Mr. Nottage!
This post is long overdue...I want to just take a moment and blog a little about a place that I has been a part of my life for the past four years...that place is Indiantown Middle School. When I was looking for jobs in Florida...it was such a stressful time. John had found out he got into some PhD programs and after talking about it we chose Florida. I ended my school year at Wintergreen and pretty much left for Japan for a month with John's sister and a group of teachers on a Fulbright Study Abroad. We would tour Japan all day, visit shrines, schools...walk, walk, WALK...and then, every night...I would look for jobs. And then I saw the posting for IMS, and I applied. I was able to schedule the interview while in Japan. I think I was back in the US maybe two days before we headed down to Florida. I interviewed and got the job...and I have been there for the past four years. I taught art, wrote a bunch of grants, coached cheerleading, some good friends...and was even lucky enough to be the Teacher of the Year there...good times indeed. Probably so much I could say...but instead I just want to post a few panoramic views...so I can take a peek back at my time at IMS when I miss my students and friends..if I ever doubt myself when faced with a new challenge... I will look back at these to remind myself that I made a difference, and I will try to do that wherever I go, regardless of the demographic of the school. First view...my classroom. A very lively place...with lot's of...well...EVERYTHING. I think I really found that our when I was leaving because I had to get the entire room packed up and moved across the way into a temporary location. They are going to tear down almost the entire building that I taught in my fours years at IMS...so in addition to packing up my own personal items in the classroom...everything else had to be packed up. And I did it- WE did it. My students not only finished their projects and helped me sort and distribute them to each class, but collectively we boxed up that entire room. I can only hope that it will be a little easier for the new teacher to set up the art room next year...I am so OCD I couldn't just box it up...I had to do color-coded labels..sigh. Life would be easier if I wasn't so set on organization! And then...of course...the art. We made SO MUCH ART. Seriously. I covered any wall that the tape would stick to. They thing that was unique to IMS was the amount of space that I had, especially the past couple of years. We opened up a new building which left the old cafeteria open for...art. It became a gigantic gallery, we even used it for creating/storing sculpture. Then, when they moved even more teachers tot he new spaces I had a room for 'resources' (basically, recycled materials)...a room for cheerleading...and a room I set up just for drawing and printmaking. I definitely had space...and we filled it with art and art-making. And now...well, now I am looking to the future. My future includes moving farther south and leaving the public school system to teach private school. I will be teaching digital photography, drawing, painting and survey classes to middle school and high school students. Nervous? Yeah, a little. Excited? Alot. (sorry, Mrs. Aldridge, I know that isn't really a word) Yes, I am. I am so excited I don't know what to do! But first...I will just spend some time relaxing and enjoying my summer...but I will always have my memories of IMS to take with me wherever I go.
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I am such an art nerd. I wanted to take a moment and dedicate one post to Faith Ringgold, and the lecture that she gave yesterday at the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach. My apologies in advance, there will be some rambling. Faith Ringgold is one my my personal 'art rock stars', so when I saw the email from PBCATA- it was a no brainer, I had to go. I admire her for being an artist...she is a painter and, though she does not consider her work to be textiles so much (seriously, she said it several times yesterday)...fibers folk love her. She is a teacher, an author. She is a teaching artist. And she was sparkly. Folks, she was sparkly, on the inside and out. All things that I can identify with and strive to be. 'I love to teach, and I love being an artist. I can do both.' When Faith spoke of her love of teaching, it was so genuine. She said her mother was a teacher, and she was so proud when she spoke of her, and of being a teacher herself. This really resonated with me. So many times as an art teacher, folks think you can't DO. Why are you a teacher? You can't be a real artist and be a teacher. But you can. I can. We can. Sure, it means you have to steal away bits of time to dedicate to your work. But I always think to myself...this is the whole reason I got into this gig in the first place- I love making art. If I stop doing that- then what? And sometimes it is discouraging. I have had some moments in the past few weeks, especially trying this whole licensing thing...when I have thought to myself..WHY am I doing this? WHY am I making all of this work? WHY bother? But...I just have to do it. It's who I am. Like it or not, I am going to make this art, even if it's just for me. 'When they say you can't do something, so more of it'. Prove them wrong. Wait, who is this 'them' anyway? Sometimes...'them' is just our own self doubt. I know this to be true. Do.More.Art. Note to self...everything else will fall into place. I will keep on teaching art and making art...and if all these pieces don't get out there someway, somehow...I will just amass a huge collection of work. It's a win-win. Faith Ringgold said alot of things, things that I scribbled down in my sketchpad...but these are just a couple of the things that I wanted to put out there, hoping that her words will inspire someone else like they did me.
Ya Gotta have Faith. Dear four day weekend, I love you. I really do. Wait, sorry...I was distracted by the awesomeness of having an extra day added onto my weekend. Where to start? Well, judged a competition on Saturday...I know that not everyone out there can relate, but I really do love art and cheerleading pretty equally. After turning my head for every shimmery t-shirt, bag, jacket, uniform or pom that passed by...I am beginning to think maybe it is the sparkle that keeps me coming back. Came for the cheer. Stayed for the sparkle. So after driving back from Fort Lauderdale...yep, nap. Then, yep, right again- art. My husband has somehow dragged me into watching another show. So we watched the show and I worked on my art...my favorite thing ever. Below are some in progress pics as well as the final picture of CED13- 19. That was last night. I have been working on the backgrounds a little more, adding line, color, texture, pattern... The first pieces in the series just have white backgrounds. One reason...in my head I was thinking that if I tried to license the images or use them for cards I could have more options with a white background...change the background color, apply it on a textured background digitally...but I have decided to just go ahead and add the backgrounds if I want to and not worry about any commercial aspects. My daily pieces seem to just be for me, occasionally I sell some...they don't seem to be right for the art licensing market... So I will just make them for me. Last night's gal is surrounded by a swirly background, and she has a birdcage tattoo on her shoulder. I was thinking of a line from an Avett Brothers song, ' Head Full Of Doubt, Road Full Of Promise' There was a dream and one day I could see it For me...these words really ring true to what I have been going through the past couple of weeks with trying to get my work out there. Having really wrote much about it...but I have been sending inquiries out regarding getting my work licensed. It can be very discouraging, and at time has been just frustrating... but I really had to just remember that I am going to make my art, no matter if art licensing folk want it, or anyone for that matter. I can't doubt myself, or what I do... like the art in my is the bird, and I am freeing it. But it wasn't all negative...I did have a promising phone call this past week. Fingers crossed, I am working on some images and I hope that this could be something good...but if not, again, I won't doubt myself. I can't. I will just keep on doing what I do, making this art. Bright and early this morning, I awoke with the idea to paint an angel. An angel to give to Faith Ringgold. So I did. I draw out an angel in a patchwork dress, holding a needle and thread and reaching for a star that says, 'Faith'. I just had to do it. Then I took it to the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach. I was distracted by an awesome installation in the front lobby of the museum, hand beaded images on vellum with the bare threads showing in the background, framed. I love this idea...especially the fact that the work was combining textile technique, the beadwork, with a more traditional presentation, framed paper. In the back of my mind I remember...I love beading...and fibers...I definitely need to revisit my own textile combinations. I digress. Of course I had to find the bee and take and Art Hive pic...then I checked some of the exhibits. I was inches from a Nick Cave Soundsuit. The textures...attention to detail...wow. A Faith Ringgold art quilt...right in front of me. Art Heaven. ...then I headed to the lecture hall, packaged up my gift and sketched while I waited for the lecture by Faith Ringgold, one of my art idols. She was dressed in a red lace shirt, a shimmery headscarf, oversized spiral earrings and red sequinned boots. A lady after my own sparkly heart! And the lecture was great. Will dedicate a separate blog post to that...maybe tomorrow. After the lecture, Faith was signing books. She signed my copy of Tar Beach and also really seemed to like the angel I painted for her. A-ma-zing! Jenny, come back to earth. Oh, oh yes. Reality. Hello. After the Norton...back home to watch some football with my husband (yay, Ravens!) and finish up the piece I started before the lecture, CED13- 20. Decided to add a little more color to the background of this one, and working with a paisley design. I think maybe I saw a paisley at the Norton today and it turned up in my work. And...that's it. Time to watch a show with my favorite person in the world, my husband. Night ya'll!
...between my brother being in the hospital, end of the semester grading, homecoming week, the Art Hive magazine launch and trying to make my workouts...I just may have a nervous breakdown or get a gray hair. (Gathering myself) I can do this.
Less than 48 hours...but man, did I pack in some experiences. My flight was delayed but it worked out great, was able to chill for a minute and complete CED #273 while I waited a few minutes in Penn Station for Cat to get off work. We made it back to Brooklyn, stayed up at while chatting at the kitchen table and then it was off to bed, with visits throughout the night by Charlie the cat. Saturday morning, it was off to the museums. Cat (not Charlie the cat, but Cat my cousin) gives the best directions ever and this small-town girl was able to travel the subways with ease. I felt a small sense of accomplishment that I made there. (yay, me!) After an amazing lunch with Cat, Aunt Belle and Cat's beau, Jon (I now have a new standard for blue cheese burgers)...it was off to the Met. Now, I have already walked, alot. The Met almost did me in. The combination of the enormous building, all of the people and trying to look at all the art made me feel overwhelmed. My eyes started to ache.I think I would need a few days, a week, to really view the collections.
So I just wandered around, feeling almost lost but loving it and taking pictures the while way. I tried to find some of the artists/works from time periods that my 6-8th graders are studying so that I can show them especially to show the scale of the work. Just wandered...aimlessly. Later, sitting on the steps of the Met, waiting for Cat (who didn't have to work after all, yay!)...I just tried to take in that moment. The city is so vibrant, so alive...constantly moving...it just felt right to sit and try to be an observer, just trying to take in the moment. Cat and I had an awesome walk along central park, which was partially closed off due to a concert...Band of Horses playing off in the distance...live. Wow. And we were just chatting it up, heading to Times Square to see a former cheerleader, Antwan Bethea, in the Broadway production of 'Bring it On'. Just when I was thinking, wow, this can't get much better...I get a call from my sister-in-law, Maria, and...she's engaged! So happy! (my next project...Maria's wedding! I can't wait!!!!) I can't even express how amazing the show was. This was my first Broadway show, and to be seeing it so close, to see someone that I know and I have coached...there were several times that I got tears in my eyes watching Antwan on the stage. It feels so good to know that he is living out his dream, and knowing that I was a part of his story. He is so talented, but more than that he is just an awesome person with a good heart and I know that this is just the beginning...After the show Antwan got us on the list to go back stage and gave us a tour of the theatre....man...it was just...amazing. I can't find another word. Amazing. Then...back to Brooklyn...which the trains were their own little adventures on this evening...and then met up with Jon to grab a drink and something to eat. I showered and hit that pillow hard..four hours later it was time to get up and head to JFK for the trip back to West Palm Beach. And of course...artin' on the plane. Completed my last CED for this month, #274, and five fashion illustrations with a little hint of Kusama... I am babbling. I am still trying to just grasp the weekend. It was so much in such a short amount of time. I am just excited that I was able to make the trip, see the art, see family, see Antwan's show...and find time to make art.
Oh...and speaking of here are my fashion illustrations for the day, #41-45. Definitely inspired by Kusama's red and white dots and all of the New York ladies I saw, dressed in black, over the weekend. ..I guess a side note would be...today I think finished Tom's dragon piece...waiting to hear back from him regarding possible revisions... When I was planning the composition, I wanted to design it so that Tom could place the images side by side in any arrangement and the pieces would still line up, which I did by using the horizontal line as the connecting compositional element. Below I created a collage showing the different ways he could arrange the three separate pieces; ...still got to finish my self portrait(s)...plural because I realized I still have some touch ups to do on the one fro August in addition to completing this month's portrait...finish up a piece for a Day of the Dead show in Fort Lauderdale..and I really wanted to make a special necklace to wear for the Monster Mash opening...busy, busy!
But for now...sleep...finally! Well, maybe after I take a peek at the next CED monthly theme... ...a little Monday for ya...this...yep, this here was my day...teachin', artin' and coachin'...and now...nappin!
…the sigh isn’t because I am dreading going back to work, I actually have a pretty good gig…they pay me to teach art. Awesome. But I will miss the freedom to do things on my own schedule, which for the most part has been great about this summer. This has definitely been a productive summer for me…I feel like I have gotten some work done, not that I attained some sort of enlightenment or anything…I just put these hands to work. As the school year looms ahead, I know that I will just have to manage my time. (IMS kids, if you are reading my blog- help keep me inspired and motivated to work on my own art! Ask me what I am working on!) Completely achievable. Rambling on… I will be photographing and posting the trees later this week. I had planned to do this earlier today but that didn’t happen. I got lazy after lunch, and the stormy weather sure didn’t help. I did, however, manage to take some group shots of the drawings before lunch, thanks to my husband. (See photo above) Last night I had was trying to think of a place that would be big enough, and have enough light, to photograph the group as a whole, before I nodded off to sleep I thought of the mall. There are a ton of open courtyard areas with skylights, and it was pretty empty except for the mall-walkers. I have already sold one of the trees, and will be posting others on Etsy later, so I may not have all of my trees later…but they are documented. Now time to move on. I have two projects that I need to work on now; first priority is my entry for the ECU School of Art and Design Alumni Show. That is due this month. Also, I am creating a piece based on the film ‘Firestarter’ by Stephen King for a show down in Fort Lauderdale. (Right) In typical fashion, I started that latter first even though it has a later due date. Go figure. |
AuthorArtist and Art Teacher
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