Needs more VICTORY!!

Yesterday I reported that my students had taken 17 ribbons in the Ector County Student Art Show. Well, let's make that EIGHTEEN!! Looking for nineteen, can I get nineteen!? Seriously makes me wish I had an AP art class. My art students? Yeah, they rock! Here is another set of winning pieces. Have I mentioned how much I can't stand the required shrink wrap.

VICTORY!!

Pretty dang awesome news today. I had a whopping 6 minutes to see how my students did at the Ector Count ISD Student Art Show today after school. My students took home SEVENTEEN RIBBONS!! Not too shabby! The kids even scored blue ribbons in 4 categories, including Printmaking and Watercolor. Okay, to be fair, my total sweep of the art books category happened because I basically created my own category. But let's not make this too technical. I was really worried while I was hanging the show as most of my work was small compared to the work from the other junior highs. But it all worked out great! So proud of my students (which is a refreshing change). Here is a small sample of the winning work. Better pictures to come after the show, and after the removal of that god-awful shrink wrap we had to wrap the work in...

And Tuesday Is Happening

Junior High Art Teaching continues. The collage is a total bust with 1st period. TOTAL bust. That class is getting textbooks to work with-- as soon as the email server is up again and I can get the textbook request form. 2nd Period is mostly up and running, working at about 75%. 3rd period should be run great, while I expect nothing but a headache from 4th period. I foresee 7th period working at a solid 50%. 8th period, where "too cool for school" is a way of life, will give their all-- which is about 25% these days. Oh, well. At least I have this seriously warped gem from yesterday's 8th period class...

I'm a...Junior High...Art...Teacher. Help me.

Yep, I'm a junior high art teacher. I recall very specifically telling people in the not too distant past that there was NO WAY I would ever teach Junior High. But here I am. As I look out across my classroom during 1st period, I have to ask myself why. Seriously. About 6 of these kids work. Thankfully, they're hard workers and really do give me some great art. The other 23...I don't know. I'm kind of lost on what to do. Maybe there's nothing to do. Second period is fine. As always,the students are working hard in 3rd period. I know I'll see a definite dip in working during 4th period. Somehow they're actually worse than 1st period. It's really a little demoralizing. I have these great memories of junior high and high school art. I don't remember this lack of working being so prevalent, or the behavior being quite this bad. But then I was probably also one of these 6 students who loved art class. Maybe it was just as bad but I was insulated since I was enjoying things. I don't know. I'm about start rambling. Maybe things will pick up as we get into glazing the ceramics projects. I hope. Sigh...

While I'm up at this obscene hour...

...I'll post these smaller pieces. My first attempt at "breaking away from the rectangle." That's art school talk, dig..?

WTF am I doing blogging at 5:45 AM?

This my work for the Riddle of Steel Print Exchange, a portfolio exchange between the graduate printmaking students here at Texas Tech and printmaking students at the University of Colorado. The piece shown here is my print entitled "Tulane Steel". It's inspired by the true life discovery of a stray razor blade beneath an object of a drawing class' still life I was asked to take down. I wasn't too big on taking down another classroom's still life, especially since we were guests of the university. Heck, I wasn't even officially part of the presentation, I was just tagging along with a couple of my fellow print grads and a couple of my professors who were part of the presentation. I was on vacation! Or so I thought. Anyway, for your enjoyment, here is "Tulane Steel"...

Spring 2012 was a good semester...

"Evening Stroll" Diazo Watercolor Monotype 22" x 30" 2012

"Geese" Diazo Watercolor Monotype 30" x 22" 2012

"Meanwhile, at the Park" Diazo Watercolor Monotype 30" x 22" 2012

"Ghost Story" Diazo Watercolor Monotype 55" x 36" 2012

"James Will Cut Ya'" Diazo Watercolor Monotype 34" x 50" 2012