Kinder Quote of (Last) Week.

Our school is so large that we have two specialists for art, music, and PE. My colleague, Ms. F, teaches art 3.5 days a week, and we share a storage closet, art tips, art stories, and just about everything else. Her kinders were making (paper) scarves and she needed real scarf examples to show the kiddos. As she passed around my borrowed scarf, one of her kids said this:

"Ms. F," sniff sniff, face buried in the scarf, "this smells like," sniff sniff, "A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN!"

Ms. F: "I'll be sure to tell Ms. Dudley..."

Omg, I die. Die laughing, heart filled with love.

Cool Guitars with Second Grade.

I think I get so involved with the show Hoarders because I see myself in those people who are struggling. I keep... a lot. It seems like this is a common art teacher trait. You never know when you might need [insert any recycable, thrift store/curbside find, etc.]! And then when the moment comes that keeping that thing (or hoarding it) is beneficial, it's blissful justification: Yes, I should keep everything. I am so good at it! And look at how my students benefitted!


Cool Guitars was borne out of the keep-all mentality. Not only are the complete elementary artworks of Ms. Kristen-Crayon still in my parents' house, but so are my brother's. When I was home, I came across this awesome Flying-V-inspired piece that my brother (now 23) made when he was in 2nd grade.

Front.

Back.

 I love(d) it, so yoink! (Yoink is a stealing, er, borrowing sound made when taking an idea from someone or somewhere else.) It was a great way to reinforce warm and cool colors, along with design concepts. 

These next three missed the mark in terms of warm / cool color differentiation, but their designs are still noteworthy. 

Look closely and you'll see an "amp"... or two.

The two below are by Learning Center students who got so involved with watercolors and mark-making that their guitars got lost, but I think the results are so layered and interesting. Happy accidents and surprises.

Thanks, Bro!