Friday, January 20, 2012

Day 35: Peephole

My art buddy Lauren Brevner made this beautiful necklace she called "Peepers" that I can't get it out my head.  It's so me, and I want it so bad, I just had to make one of my own until I can buy hers!   I used a small wooden disc, paper jewelry cord, a few wooden beads, graphite, a little color pencil, and a little gouache.  I think she looks like she's looking through a large peephole.  It's true what they say, eyes are the "peephole" to the soul.  Thanks Lauren for the inspiration!








Thursday, January 19, 2012

Day 33: Mrs. D's Revenge

(Forgive me in advance for the rant, but I have to get a few things off of my chest and it ain't gonna be pretty!)

The stress of work must be really getting to me.  Yesterday on my way to work I came up with a brilliant and slightly twisted idea to create a comic featuring my students to hand out to everyone as a parting gift on Friday, my last day of work.  (insert happy dance here)  I wanna go out with a bang by showing the students who tried to learn something from me, my apprecation, as well as show the 5 students that gave me so much hell that I am seriously thinking about never teaching kids again, just what I feel about them and their shenanigans.

Well I didn't think I'd have time to pull it off by Friday but I was so driven to take this stance that I stayed up all night long, drew and inked a 5 paged comic with a cover!  The story is awesome and I will be getting the last word in a very "EPIC" way!  And now more than ever I am convinced that I can do anything that I put my my mind too.  I'd like to present, "The Flunky Five's Epic Fail".







The Flunky Five are the 5 students who will be failing my class because they don't do anything in class but cause problems.  That makes them flunkies, yeah I said it!  They have funky attitudes all the time and it stinks so I made sure to draw flies flying around them.  They are evil little monsters with horns and tornado bodies because they reek havoc everywhere they go.   They spread so much negativity around that they make everyone miserable.  They are selfish and don't care about anybody or anything, I am so sick of them!  And I'm not the only one!

In the story, my supportive and positive students develop a plan to maintain peace in the classroom so that we can have a healthy work environment.  By the end, we all realize that the world is a much brighter place without haters and trouble makers!

Although I am tired, making this comic was extremely therapeutic as art making should be.  I feel so much better and I can't wait to hand out copies to all the students so that I can put those little terrors on blast!  That's exactly what they get for making my life hell.  I've said it before and I will say it again, "Karma is a bitch with a pencil!"

Monday, January 16, 2012

Day 32: Top Ten Tuesday!!!!

So I've finally gotten myself together to do a feature post where I give you a peek into what fuels my inspiration.  There are ten categories that I have come up with that are arranged in 15 different places on my motivation map, and each place is near and dear to my heart.  I'd like to do this every Tuesday, but I'm not gonna promise that I will be able up to keep that schedule, we shall see.  I've fallen into the Pinterest addiction, so that should help!

1) The River of Chaos:
There's nothing that represents the miracle of motherhood like a gorgeous belly bump. It's not comfortable at all, but you can't help but to fall in love with the notion that God made woman able to carry a little life inside her. I'd love to paint some baby bellies in the future and I'm mad I didn't have mine painted!


2) The Upper Room:
You know, I could look at trees all day. They are so majestic and are my greatest muse...since we're on the subject of giving life, love birth's life.


 
3) The Dollhouse:
This beautiful bjd by Twigling reminds me of who I really am and the cloth that I am cut from. I am a queen. Strong, fierce, and fly. And don't you forget it!
 

4) The Road to Awe:
My journal page inspired by today's photo booth picture, "The Road to Awe" by artist Keit. 




5) The Book Nook:
The God Machine by Chandra Free is my favorite graphic novel right now. I'm so inspired by her fluid illustrations. It's an interesting story line too, I can't wait to read Book 2.
 

another illustration from The God Machine


6) The Gallery:
I can not get this illustration out of my head. It's inspired by the movie "The Fountain" and the artist does an impeccable job depicting the quote from the movie. Click on the pic and go read the breakdown of this piece at VidhiD's deviant art page. Now that's my kind of illustration....

 
7) The Fitting Room:
I've been thinking about doing some entertaining. I'd love to invite some folks over for a wine tasting. So I've been scoping out the perfect look for the occasion. It's comfortable, but so grown and sexy.


I need this jumpsuit and the chunky jewelry!

 

I'd rock these!
 
8) The Spirit House:
I wish I could live in a tree house. I'm imagining myself here, sipping wine, with no bugs in sight. Oh to dream . . . 
 
 
9) The Inner Sanctum
I haven't slept much over the last few days, maybe that's why I'm obsessed with beds right now . . . I want this one!


 
10) The Brewery:
The Sweat Shop: I could so sew this! I need one for color pencils, pens, pencils, etc!


The Photo Booth: I love this picture. It inspired my journal entry. I try to imagine being behind the camera in this place. This artist is the bomb! Click on the photo and check her out.

The Bistro: These will be served at my wine tasting...


The Ball Room: Where are all the black swans? I know they're out there somewhere.


The Travel Bureau: Stamp my passport! Greece, here I come!


The Sound Booth: Finally! I can't get the haunting images that came up when I googled, "The Road to Awe". It made me think about the powerful message from the movie, "The Fountain" and the beautiful quote: "They planted a seed over his grave. The seed became a tree. Moses said his father became a part of that tree. He grew into the wood, into the bloom. And when a sparrow ate the tree's fruit, his father flew with the birds. He said... death was his father's road to awe."- The Fountain (2006).

The artist Keit has captured the essence of the Road to Awe so well that I had to create an image inspired by the beautiful colors and juxtaposition of her photograph. I created the journal piece to the "The Fountain" soundtrack, an extremely moving piece of music. Have a listen and enjoy your own road to awe.

 

Day 31: Back in Business

Okay, so I know I've been MIA since day 30 and it sickens me.  But with the holidays came a whole lot of . . . drama!  My wonderful oldest son broke my computer cord then my lovely youngest son killed my cell phone, so I was left debilitated and discombobulated.  It has taken me some time to get back on my feet and get my groove back.  I was on a role too, but now I'm back at it again.  Sorry for the hiatus!  I'll just pick up my 100 days of art from here and keep pressing on.  Life happens! 

Not only was my technical world flipped upside down, but my job . . . let's just say it's been a challenge to stay away from the ledge.  The kids that I teach have a lot of issues and when you put all of them together on one floor in a newly established school, with a minimum budget, understaffed, with not nearly enough resources to address their overwhelmingly unmet needs; it's a recipe for disaster.  And frankly it has literally sucked the life out of me.

I am a community artist down to my core and all that I want as a teaching artist is to have a beautiful art experience.  Sadly, I haven't had one of those in a very long time.  It is long overdue but now the organization that I work for has decided to cut ties with the school that I'm working in because it's just not working.  No one, including the artists, administration, and students are getting the support that they need and we have to bow out until somebody goes back to the drawing board to rework the plan.  It's depressing because these kids are suffering from deprivation.  It's no wonder why the inner city communities are losing their vitality by the second.  It makes me feel helpless and dumbfounded.

However, on this day that we celebrate the birth of the great Martin Luther King Jr., I still feel driven to service.  I still believe that little ol' me can do something to make a difference in an impoverished child's life.  It's part of my purpose.  So I'M going back to the drawing board, having faith that even the tiniest seed with the most humblest beginning can still hold an enormous promise.