Lighthouse From Terra Cotta Pots

I'm on summer break now and as I'm catching up on cleaning and purging all of the unwanted items from my home, I'm taking some "me" time--time to do things for myself (puzzles, journaling, reading, sketching, creating art and doing crafts). This past year was HARD as a teacher (and a mom and a human) and I'm enjoying some self-care!

The puzzle I'm currently working on is a Vintage Lighthouse Poster puzzle by Eurographics.

It's been wonderful looking at all of the illustration styles of these posters as well as dreaming of visiting them! Side note: my daughter and I are hooked on the Netflix series "The World's Most Amazing Vacation Rentals" and we're in love with the Sitka Lighthouse in Alaska--definitely going there someday!!

So, back to cleaning and purging...I had bought some terra cotta pots to make a mini lighthouse for the garden years ago and finally decided that it was time. Either make it, or clear the space! 

I sprayed the pots with Rustoleum "Boston White" spray paint, used acrylic paint for the red and black and used hot glue to attach the rope and pebbles. Hot glue should be OK for this as it is under a covered porch and hot glue melts at 200-250 degrees F. I'll let you know if anything goes awry as it ages. The solar light is from a local store and cost me $10 (I hadn't bought that when I originally bought the pots. 

I am so happy with the results. The light really lights up at dark and illuminates my front porch a bit. And, BONUS: I now have three terra cotta pots out of my shed!

What projects do you have that you could revisit? Maybe give them a go, or pass them on!

Supplies: Three terra cotta pots that stack, solar light that fits into the pot on top of stack, Rustoleum "Boston White" spray paint, red, black and brown acrylic craft paint, Rustoleum clear varnish for outdoor use, rope, pebbles, hot glue.

Little Visitor

Today I was journaling outside and enjoying the summer weather before it gets too hot. I love sitting on the back deck before the children get up! 

I looked up and saw this little visitor. Thankfully he was gracious enough to wait while I darted inside to grab my binoculars for a closer look. His ears were the most beautiful shade of seashell pink--I had seen this little guy before, but had never noticed that. He was enjoying the clover in the yard and looked adorable with a piece hanging from his mouth!

Supplies: Micron pen (PN) and Prismacolor colored pencils (Scholar quality)

5000 Miles

Sketching Sailor Jerry tattoo-inspired art this morning. I just love the look of that art style and the history behind it. 

The bird is a Swallow and some say that sailors would have this tattoo if they have sailed 5000 miles. I feel like in the past year I’ve been 5000 miles all without traveling anywhere. It’s been a tough year (or more) that’s for sure. 

Supplies: Fine point Sharpie, Reeves watercolor pencils, Derwent watercolor brushes (the kind that stores water inside them), brush tip watercolor markers (Tombow and Artist Loft brands).

NEW OP ART VIDEO LESSON: Movement With Lines

Hello artists!

During distance learning I created a bunch of videos--I HAD to! Being an art teacher is sooo much easier when you can SHOW people what you are talking about! Some of the videos were just screen recordings I did in Zoom, and my philosophy, at first, was get the videos done to the best of my modest abilities so the students could connect with me and do the work. But towards the end, I started to get a little more fancy. 

Don't get me wrong. I didn't WANT TO learn how to do anything with video. OK, that's kind of a fib. I love to learn, but I had learned SO MUCH new stuff while being home for 10 weeks. So many new programs, so many new ways to get content out there to students (and did I mentione I was home with my four kids?). So many things in my brain!! I really didn't think I handle more or give more of my time.

But, I wanted the videos to be better. So I forced myself to try a video editing program. I chose to go free and online, so I tried out WeVideo. I really liked it! There was a 30 day free trial and I just sneaked this video in at the last minute. It's a how to for my most popular post ever--"Movement With Lines" this post has had almost 120,000 views since 2012.

I was looking back through the blog the other day, saw it, and noticed that in the comments someone had asked if I had a video for the lesson. Ummmm. No. BUT I COULD! I started planning the video out and, guys, I FORGOT HOW FUN THIS PROJECT IS!! Really, I ended up making a few just for fun.

I changed this up for students who were working at home--using index cards as the base for the art since I thought many people would have index cards on hand. I also scaled it down so that it could be done during one of my weekly hour-long Art-a-Long sessions I offered to students and families. If you want to go bigger (or smaller), please do! The original post has students use 8 1/2" x 11" paper and clever teachers photocopy the numbered lines on the back BEFORE having students do the work.

So, here's my quickly cobbled together video for "Movement With Lines." It's not going to win any video awards, but it's out there for the masses. I hope you can use it with your classes, your children and you try it yourself! I promise, it's fun and you can totally do it!

ENJOY!