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| I know that you have probably seen some of these 'teacher wears dress made of student art' articles on the interwebs, and so have I, but every time I see them I have three thoughts; Thought 1: Cool! (followed by, "I bet the kids LOVE it!") |  |
Thought 2: I am pretty sure my art sister, Cassie Stephens was one of the first, if not the first, to do this.
(If you don't know who she is, she's kinda the elementary art teacher that every art teachers wishes that they had as a kids, total rock star and definitely a forced to be reckoned with. She was our FAEA keynote speaker this past October, click here to read my blog post!)
(If you don't know who she is, she's kinda the elementary art teacher that every art teachers wishes that they had as a kids, total rock star and definitely a forced to be reckoned with. She was our FAEA keynote speaker this past October, click here to read my blog post!)
This gal is so stinkin' fab!
Thought 3: I would love to make a version of that- but one that fits my style more....like...as in it's gotta be black or in ain't happening.
(I joke that if I even think about wearing white the garment gets a stain...but it's not a joke)
So I started working on this top secret project.
I decided that instead of using student artwork, that I would use my graduating seniors signatures. I found a dress on sale, a black faux wrap dress that is all me and took it to school. Two challenges I faced right away were that I wanted to keep it secret- and also I was running out of time since the seniors were finishing up early. To handle the first challenge I wrapped the dress around a box and taped it down, leaving only a section at a time open for my students to 'autograph' with puff paint. I would take it off and reposition it every few days to try and get the signatures on different areas, but also to control where the writing was going on the dress. I didn't want them to know what it was, they thought it was a t-shirt- I just let them think that. Challenge two was time- I did my best to get all the seniors to sign it, but it was pretty tough with testing and some of them bring exempt from exams.
I brought the piece home and laid it out with some cardboard under it to 'connect' the signatures with the puff paint and add some additional designs, planning for the design to be asymmetrical to mimic the diagonal of the 'faux wrap'. Then I bagged up my dress form to protect it, watered down some acrylic paint, put the dress on the dress form and took it outside to spray with layers of paint in teal, purple and blue. I repeated this process a few times until the design was filled in the way that I wanted.
I think I did a pretty good job making my own version of Cassie's 'kid's art dress';
Inspired by Cassie- hope I did ya proud, sis!
Oh wait- ya'll know I had to ACCESSORIZE this look, right?
I decided it was the perfect time to wear the bag that
my student Tahisha hand painted for me!
After THAT...nothin' left to do but watch these kids GRADUATE!
I love you class of 2019!
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...especially if you're like me and you don't bake.
I want to work on my art, but I also want to 'pet the belly' so sometimes I throw a kitchen towel over a baking sheet and spread out my tools so I can have everything nearby and it I can find what I need quickly. It was Mackie's idea but usually Milky benefits from this set up, since that's his spot on the couch. This month I am using Prismacolor markers under PC pencils, and a white gel pen.
 | I am working on some pieces that I can't post yet...kinda secret...so will be posting those at the end of the month, maybe with a tiny peek ever so often in my Instagram and FB stories...maybe not. This has to do with the end of school, you'll see. Stay tuned! |
 Peek-a-boo! | I have only been posting partial views (like this one) of what I have been working on so far this month. At first it is because I was waiting to introduce the series. Then the series changed, and I was only posting 'peeks' because I was trying to keep it a secret- until at least til this past Friday. |
First, let me give the back story.
| Long story short, our cousin's wife is good for a surprise package in the mail out of nowhere packed with fun stuff just 'cause. Oh, and I should mention that she is an art teacher, so that means the gifts are EXTRA good! A while back one of the items in the package was a fab 'Feminist Saints' book. I read it, then put it in the windowsill with some of my other smaller books (which is why it is discolored) I thought, 'hey- maybe this month I will focus on women (and maybe some fellas) that inspire me'. Saints? not so much. Inspirational? So much yes. So there's that. |  Caitlin- I love my book! Thanks again! |
As far as the materials, I have worked on toned paper and it is something I really enjoy working with, usually using Prismacolor markers and pencils, sometimes with acrylic paint and gel pens. Here are some examples;
May 2013, 'flowers'
November 2013, 'mustache'
May 2017, 'greek/roman myths'
May 2018, 'bridal illustrations'
When I was trying to figure out the subjects for my 'saints' of course I went straight for some of my favorite female artists. This isn't anything new, I love art history and have my arsenal of fav artists that keep me inspired. I have paid tribute to the first four ladies in this series in previous themes;
Frida Kahlo:
Click here to read about the trip to see the Frida show in St. Pete
Frida has not only shown up frequently in my work...but I have dedicated whole months/themes to her. She's my favorite!
Yayoi Kusama:
'Love is Calling' ...trip to Tampa- so goood!
Yayoi Kusama is my road trip muse. I planned a solo trip to NYC to see her work at the Whitney, and John and I went to Tampa to see one of her installations this past spring. She's got me seein' spots, and I love it.
Georgia O'Keeffe
I always felt like O'Keeffe embodied an amazing sense of independence and strength. I love her work, the colors, the abstraction, the feminism of it all. But you know what I love even more? Her STYLE! She is one of my style icons- the all black, the large jewelry...LOVE!
Faith Ringgold
...that one time...when I gave Faith Ringgold an angel painting...
Here are the first four *art saints:
(*Disclaimer: Not sure if that is what I will be calling the series yet)
|  This was me running off about 3 hours of sleep a night for a week and a half- two week period. |
I pushed myself (and my students) to get things as ready as we could before I left for my trip, that way when I came back I could add in any pieces that they re-vised when I got back, then we cold double check everything and send it off the day before the deadline.
We had our final 3D photoshoots for Elmwood and Junique's recycled garments and Jean's cosplay before I left....and any time I had a second I was running behind my 2D kids to see what they were working on, offer some comments, snap pictures...it was a busy time. And it didn't stop when I got on that plane in Fort Lauderdale, or off it in Raleigh. When I was in North Carolina I was spending every night on the computer going through the final images and editing. I think some AP teachers have their students do this, and that's nice and all, but I am a control freak (a nice one) and have OCPD impulses (that are totally unchecked) and well...that's not the way I roll.
And then something happened without me knowing it, or even thinking about it...and I will get to that, but I want you to see what I saw;
(Left) Junique's magazine dress (Middle) Jean's cosplay- the tail she created features LED lights that change based on SOUND! (Right) Elmwood's magazine dress...both of those magazine dresses were displayed at Art Palm Beach in January!
Each block of images represents the work of one of my 2D students. From left to right (Top), Antonio, Nehemie, Jane (Bottom) Yessica, Mayda, Pradeline
(Left) Junique's upcycled look, love all the embroidery on the front! (Middle) More of Jean's cosplay- these wings were all made from scratch and were AMAZING!! (Right) Elmwood modeling her own upcycled men's dress shirt embellished with scrap upholstery fabric.
I realized that yeah, I have my favorite artists from art history and also contemporary artists...but I actually TEACH some of my favorite artists (and there is totally a t-shirt out there that says that and I need it ASAP!) And they are in my 2D/3D AP Studio art sections and my Portfolio sections...and the ones so far that I have featured are leaving me. They are my graduating seniors.
So, that's my excuse for not posting the final images for eighteen days.
I am not sure who I will add to the collection now. I have three remaining girls in my advanced class, all underclassmen. Two are AP, on Portfolio. I am not sure if am going to add them to the series...or make'em wait til THEY are the seniors. I have to think about it.
|  |
So, I am naming my April series AND writing a bit of a 'closing' to that same series...ummm....
14 days AFTER it ended.
But hey, it's not 15 days, right?
I could not for the life of me figure out just what to call my April 2019 series. So...I didn't call it anything, and I just went on making the work. But now, 14 days after the fact it came to me. This is a continuation of my #ButterflyBellasJLG theme, but if I had to give it a sub title it would be 'revisited and recycled'...because it is both.
I am REVISITING a theme that I have used several times, the idea of butterflies interacting or incorporated somehow with my whimsical big eyed gals. Sometimes I would do this within the garment or details of the figure, almost like an adornment of fashion statement. In this case, there are small butterflies in each piece that the figure interacts with, even if only a little bit.
And these Bellas are RECYCLED, so that sets them apart from my previous butterfly ladies. For this series various parts of the work, sometimes the hair, or the clothing, the background or bits of everything, include actual 'trash'. I used mostly newspaper and magazine scraps, the foil tops of Mackie and Milky's food (those are our cats), plastic drink rings, and also pieces of 'junk mail' that I had on hand.
Here is a peek at my first 'Butterfly Bellas' series (below)... and to read more about not only THIS series but also other butterfly pieces I have created over the years (well, up to 2016!) visit this link, https://www.jenniferlovegironda.com/blog/new-series-for-july.
I am REVISITING a theme that I have used several times, the idea of butterflies interacting or incorporated somehow with my whimsical big eyed gals. Sometimes I would do this within the garment or details of the figure, almost like an adornment of fashion statement. In this case, there are small butterflies in each piece that the figure interacts with, even if only a little bit.
And these Bellas are RECYCLED, so that sets them apart from my previous butterfly ladies. For this series various parts of the work, sometimes the hair, or the clothing, the background or bits of everything, include actual 'trash'. I used mostly newspaper and magazine scraps, the foil tops of Mackie and Milky's food (those are our cats), plastic drink rings, and also pieces of 'junk mail' that I had on hand.
Here is a peek at my first 'Butterfly Bellas' series (below)... and to read more about not only THIS series but also other butterfly pieces I have created over the years (well, up to 2016!) visit this link, https://www.jenniferlovegironda.com/blog/new-series-for-july.
And here is the latest version of my
'Butterfly Bellas' with the recycled twist;
A few things were consistent throughout the series, the wide-eyed female, with exaggerated eyelashes, small nose and mouth, and a thin neck. The faces were done with my mechanical pencil, then a touch of watercolor in the eye and on the lips. Lashes were sometimes done in black pen/marker or paint, or both. I used watercolor to add color to the backgrounds for the majority of the series, starting with just literal splashes on a mostly white background, then adding more solid areas of color until yielding to collage. The use of recycled elements in each work was also part of the theme- but as the month went on I would use more and more recycled material, starting with just the hair and butterfly motif and ending with a mostly collaged/recycled group of works.
And that, my friends is my closing for my April 2019 series. But don't worry, you know I like drawing/painting pretty ladies and butterflies, so there will be more Bellas in the future...I just don't know when.
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