Summer musings

I have no idea if i use cookies or not. I just write a blog. However my business bank account was hacked and it is still such a mess. personal consumber accounts are protected but not business!!  My advice is Yall be careful now ya hear? If any cookies are in use here I sure dont know it! I am not that computer savvy.
 I have been busy making candles, bath bombs, soaps, and lotion bars for my business, but  I have made one nice batch of lessons for out door art. I hope you all will enjoy it. Here it is:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Art-Lessons-for-the-Outdoors-3849980

Valentine TPT Sale

That's right- You heard it here! Treachers pay TEachers is having a Valentines Day Sale! So when you are tired from those class parties and cant make to Ash Wednesday service, come go shopping with us! Everything in my store will be 20% off and Tpt takes an additional 5% off your entire purchase.
Click on this link to get to my store:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Gena-Mcwilliams

Valentines Day is coming!

I have Valentines Coloring Sheets, Valentine Collages, Valentines connected to Symmetry and Valentines and the art of Jim Dine. Here are the links:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Valentine-Coloring-Sheets-2979429

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Valentines-and-Symmetry-534034

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Easy-Valentine-Art-Projects-1090267

Snow and Valentines

Well last week we got snow! It was only for one day and it wasnt much but enough for schools to be cancelled. The next day some schools were still out because the snow melted and then the roads had ice. It was my birthday too. At least the weekend before I went to Saint Simons Island- my birthday gift to myself.
So now it's time to start preparing for Valentines Day and Black History month and Presidents Day. That's a lot for one month. My store has lessons for all three. One of my favorite lessons is the one about colonial art and the Limners who were really house painters. They also would paint portraits. They would take boards and paint bodies of people and children in various poses, all holding something. They would let the customer choose which pose he liked and paint the customers portrait on the body and also whatever personal object the customer would be holding.
Here's the link to the lesson:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ye-Olde-Colonial-Portraits-a-cross-curricula-drawinghistory-lesson-422600

Snowflakes

Ok I 'm here in the South. Last week or so ago the snow missed us and went to Atlanta. This week the snow went to South Georgia and turned to ice on the beach of Saint Simons Island. Again we were missed here in Middle Georgia.
 Monday is the big Georgia/Alabama game and they are calling for rain but a low of 33. I wonder if we will get any ice or snow? It usually happens when its not predicted.
I still have a cool product for cutting snowflakes, linking it to symmetry(both math and an element of art design) and some cool ideas about creating art with those snowflakes. Here is the link:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Snowflakes-and-Symmetry-1007433

I also have Winter coloring sheets. Here's the link:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Winter-Coloring-Sheets-2197096

thanksgiving

Wow! I haven't blogged in awhile! So what's been going on with me? My grand children started a new school. We were hit by Hurricane Irma on September 11. My husband had back surgery already scheduled for the end of October so I had to help him clean up on the weekends and get the yard and any of his projects completed. Now we are in the recovery stage. I still have to help him because he cant bend. lift. or twist or drive a car or even ride in a car until December.
Our candle business has had some huge orders come in lately so that has also kept me away from blogging.
Thanksgiving and Fall art is one of my favorite times of the year. I like to introduce and study Native American art. The National Ocmulgee Indian Mounds is in my town. There is a lot of history here and over the years children have found scads of arrowheads.
A favorite lesson is my Easy Native American art lesson. It tells a bit about early Native American art  and can be taught as a review of geometric shapes.
Click on the following link to find the lesson:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Easy-Native-American-Art-Project-1545675

Back to School Sale

My store is having a sale- Tpt is having a sitewide sale! Save upto 25% off ! Please remember those needed art projects! Click on my link to get to my store! www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/Gena-Mcwilliams

Happy Fourth of July

I am usually on Saint Simons Island for the fourth of July. Saint Simons has fireworks going off from several spots on the beach and from the pier. It is a fantastic display if you can position your self to see most of the fireworks and Jekyll Island's display and there is another one off in the distance.
I am working on creating art projects organized by grades. My first one is posted on TPT. Here's the link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Art-Projects-for-First-Grade-Bundle-3227204

Summer Art

It's  summer time and the living is easy! I wish... There have been two too many deaths so far- Gregg Allman was the first. He was buried here in Macon and the fans all partied. Unfortunately one of my former art students (now a grown young man) ingested something that took his life while asleep. A lot of folks had drug overdoses and a few have died from fake opioids. The young man's family is suspicious that he may have taken one.
 On a happier note my grand children have gone one week to a Roman Catholic School's summer camp and have absolutely loved it! The camp is 6 weeks long and is themed based. The theme this year are Luaus and Hawaii. They have studied volcanoes and will create them this week. Last week they learned how to hula and made leis. They also go on field trips and visit a water park each week.
Learning can be fun!
I have created some new products:
One is a coloring workbook based on the color wheel which I use to teach children how to make colors not mud!
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-to-make-colors-workbook-3186978

Another product is making a color wheel triangle for preschoolers through first grade.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Triangle-Color-Wheel-3187038
Both of these will be 50% off starting on Monday and ending Tuesday night.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Before I retired I loved it when the parents at my school brought in goodies to the workroom. Some of us specials would roam the three workrooms looking for the best treats! Then the parent group took over and got organized. They started bringing in the same dishes for each workroom. It quit being fun!
To celebrate the week Teachers Pay Teachers is having a site wide sale May 9-10! Everything in my store is 20% off and with TPT's added 10% that makes my products 28% off. I am no mathematician but that is what they say!  Just click on the link below to get to my store! and be sure to add the code thats at the top of my store when you check out. Mizz Mac
www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/Gena-Mcwilliams

Earth Day Art Projects

Hey there! Earth Day 2017 will arrive on Sunday April 22. I do believe that is the week after Easter. If you are looking for some cool Earth Day Art projects to create with your children/students, I have a couple in my TPT store. Just click on the link:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Easy-Artsy-Landscapes-Galore-1212604

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Amazing-Landscapes-a-drawing-and-painting-project-for-beginners-615788

And Shhhh- I'm having a sale RIGHT NOW- 20% off my entire store thru tomorrow- April 3.

www.teacherspaylteachers.com/Store/Gena-Mcwilliams

Saint Patricks Day

If you are here in the South, particularly Middle Georgia, you are already experiencing Spring. The azaleas are blooming. Our cars are covered with yellow pollen. Tuesday is Shrove Tuesday already. That means Saint Patricks Day is not far away. Wear your green or you will be pinched! Children love it!
 There is an easy drawing lesson for Saint Patricks Day with a little interesting history about leprechauns, pots of gold, and rainbows in my store. click on the link:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Leprechauns-Rainbows-and-Pots-of-Gold-1739580

Valentines and TPT Sale

SHHH! Guess What is about to happen!! A TPT sale! YAY! This is one of those great sales that I cant figure the math but EVERYTHING in my store is on sale at 20% off and TPT takes off another 10% off your total purchase. Somehow that equates to 28%. The sale is February 7 and 8 and the code is LOVETpT

Here's the link to my store:

www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Gena-Mcwilliams just click on this link to view my whole store.

Or if you are looking for Valentines projects, I have a few in my store. This one is a good one:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Valentines-and-Symmetry-534034

And there is this one that is just valentine coloring sheets:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Valentine-Coloring-Sheets-2979429

Happy Bargain Shopping !!! Mizz Mac

Valentines

When I was a child I LOVED making my Valentine box for school. Back then we could buy crepe paper by the sheet. First I would cut a nice size opening in the top of a shoe box. Then I would wrap the top and bottom of the shoe box separately with the crepe paper. I liked turquoise colored paper. My next step would be to cut apart paper lace doilies and tape or glue paper lace around the bottom edge of the top. My third and last step would be to cut out a variety of sizes of red and white hearts from construction paper. I would glue them all over the top and sides of the box.  Some would even be glued on top of each other. Sometimes I would glue some leftover doily lace around the edge of a heart. Making my Valentine box was a lot of fun!

On the Farm an art theme

Many teachers use the farm theme for fall. It is a good one to teach children about animals and where our food comes from. October is a good month for corn and corn mazes and scare crows. Art teachers can teach color mixing with paint. Little ones can learn red and yellow make orange pumpkins.  Creating art with warm colors can be taught with an “On the Farm” theme.

Plastic farm animals can be bought at the dollar stores or the dollar bins at the big box stores. These are great for children to use to draw and create their own symbols or art style. Of course the internet is full of farm animal images to choose but sometimes these are difficult to draw and there may be copyright issues.

Fall landscapes of farms can also be taught. Artwork by artists such as Grandma Moses or Grant Wood can be found and projected and analyzed for colors used, how texture is created, and how was depth (close-up and far away) achieved.

I have created an On the Farm product with art lessons and examples of the steps. Here is the link:https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/On-the-Farm-art-projects-2068051

Have you heard the news?? It's Time for Teachers Pay Teachers Back to School Sale!!!

My store is 20% off and Tpt kicks in another 8%! 

www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Gena-Mcwilliams

What makes Art ART?

Why is Art Art?

What is the difference between GREAT ART and mediocre art?

I don’t really know. The phrase “I know it when I see it” makes art a perception but art is still art whether it is perceived as such by one or not. So then the idea of art becomes quite subjective depending on the viewer’s opinion or mood of the day.

For me really good art is that which has been drawn well and somewhat realistically but is then turned into an abstract or an impression or an abstract impression. I am a bit of a conservative in that I believe for artists to create really good art they have to be able to draw. I have told my students that drawing is the basis of all other art techniques.

My favorite artists who have demonstrated the ability to draw realistically and turn a painting or sculpture into an abstract, impression or abstract impression are Pablo Picasso and David Hockney. There is a video/DVD called “Behind the Scenes, Volume:1 Painting and Drawing” (available on Dick Blick’s website) during which David Hockney draws a chair from many different views while explaining perspective, depth, and vanishing point. I showed it many times to my middle school students. The result is a cubistic chair (Picasso’s influence).

Today I discovered a painting of David Hockney’s called “Gaugin’s Chair” that looks like the very chair that’s in the DVD. It’s a painting with bright tropical colors similar to those Gaugin used but drawn in a cubistic manner like Picasso. That thought process is what makes a great artist and great art to me!

                                                         That’s MY opinion! Mizz Mac

Summer Art Lessons

Once again it's Camp GaGa for me with my grand kids. Last year my grandson was the creative one. We spent a good week making and painting a rocketship from a large cardboard box. This year he needs to catch up on his reading so I have begun reading Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass to him and his sister. We watched Tim Burton'sAlice in Wonderland  a few weeks ago and he just loved it! Our plan is to read a chapter a day but he is also to work on his sight words and read a book out loud to me.
 My grand daughter is the creative one this year. All I had to do to day was cover the kitchen table with newpaper and set out glitter glue pens, metallic markers, paint brush markers, coffee filters, and chenille stems. She wanted to make her Mama a bouquet of flowers. She went into my pantry and found an old glass canister to use for the vase ( She had previously used all of my mason jars to make water candles- her own invention). She remembered my directions from a year ago and proceeded without my help.
For easy directions to make paper flowers click on this link:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-Occasion-Paper-Coffee-Filter-Flowers-1868162

Teacher Appreciation Sale on TPT!!

Teachers Pay Teachers is having a teacher appreciation sale! Tuesday May 3rd-4th! My while store is 20% off! Here is the link back to my store:
www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/Gena-Mcwilliams

Papier Mache Art Projects

Some thoughts and ideas about organizing supplies for papier mache projects

I just love papier mache! As an art teacher though it took me a few years to find ways to organize and make good products with the children doing all of the work. Keep in mind I had 6 art tables with 4 chairs at each table and a double sided easel on each end of the tables. I kept large clips on each easel. Each table was a color and each table had a designated table captain. I did have assigned seats which were moved each month.

First of all there is the glue- A veteran art teacher advised me to use a product called Art Paste. It comes in a dry pouch and mixes in a gallon of water. The glue is a vegetable based product so there shouldn’t be anyone allergic to it and it’s not made from animal’s hooves so it shouldn’t offend any religions. I had large gallon size plastic ice cream containers with lids. I would mix up the glue in each container, one per table, and an extra one for spare.  That was enough glue for one whole grade of 3 classes.  Each gallon container can be placed on the table. Or small bowls like frozen whip containers can be used at each table. Each table captain can refill the bowl as needed.

The tables were covered with either newspaper or vinyl tablecloths.

I would also have either a Styrofoam tray or a paint cup with masking tape for each person’s project to dry on. A helper can put the tape on ahead of time.  Students would write their own names on the masking tape with pencils or crayons.

Now the paper to use- I found it easier on the students to figure out how many layers they used if we used different kinds for each layer. I would begin with newspaper strips for the first layer. Second layer would be colored newsprint strips. The third and last layer would be white newsprint.  I found plastic boxes to use to put the paper strips in. Either I or an intern or any helper can tear  paper strips ahead of time and place in the boxes. It’s a lot of work to do ahead of time but well worth the effort!

On applying the glue to the strips- personally I like to dip the strip into the glue and squeeze the extra glue off with my fingers but some children are too squeamish to do it. Plus it takes a lot of time to wash the glue off the hands. Inexpensive sponge brushes work nicely for applying the glue and can even be thrown away.

Ok well those are my thoughts on setting up supplies for a paper mache project. I hope they were some helpful ideas.  Mizz Mac

Check out my paper mach animal art project lesson for Cinco de Mayo
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Paper-Mache-Animals-for-Cinco-de-Mayo-661250