sea stars and art shows and things that glow

Laura Fact: I teach art classes in my studio after school to kids in Pre-K through High School. I have 65 students this year and each spring we put on an art show.

And........
It's hard to believe we are almost finished with another school year. Once we get into April it flies past so quickly. In my classes at the studio we have done quite a few projects centered around a coral reef theme. I have always loved the ocean and fish and aquariums and mermaids.....

This year my Student Art Show is going to have a black light coral reef exhibit. It's been fun to plan it with my students and the closer we get to May the more excited they are. My K-2 class on Tuesdays just finished their part of the exhibit.  Using Celluclay each student created a sea star ( star fish to you commoners who have not studied the coral reef). They were also given three sticks. Each student painted their sea stars and sticks with bright patterns in neon colored paint. The next step was to anchor the painted sticks in some plaster of Paris. The painted sticks are branch coral and are a means of displaying the sea stars.

Once the plaster dried the sea stars were hot glued into place ( This was a Laura only job since glue guns are not kid friendly!)  When my students came to class yesterday I had their projects lined up by the white board so they could see the finished project. I had drawn them a picture of what they would look like but reality didn't sink in until they actually SAW them! 

After much oohing and ahhing I asked them if they wanted to "SEE" them like they would be in the Coral Reef Exhibit. So I turned off the lights. Alek and Lincoln were the first ones to shout out.

"HEY! Nothing's happening!" 
"Hmmm....it was working before... oh yes- I forgot my special light."

The looks on their faces were priceless. Big toothless grins...sounds of amazement and lots of questions about how that worked and when is the art show and can we make more stuff and will it glow in the dark if I put it in the bathroom where there aren't any windows and why is your t-shirt glowing and will people be able to see where they are going and how big will the room be and......





...and it was so much fun and made me realize why I love teaching.

Vintage Jewelry repair

A couple of years ago I received an email from a woman who found my website asking if I did repair work on vintage jewelry.

This is the first piece she sent me.  It was an absolutely beautiful Miriam Haskell piece with large baroque pearls and cobalt blue glass beads and those impossibly tiny seed pearls and a book value of $900.  Since this piece arrived on my workbench she has sent me several other Haskell pieces for me to repair.

What I love about this woman is she actually wears her vintage jewelry.

That is much better than letting it sit in a box somewhere.

What HAS she been up to?

I realize I have been MIA- missing in art I like to call it- lately. Between teaching classes and kids home on spring break and fighting with my depression I have not posted much of my work lately.

So- good news- I have been working! Just finished these today.

This is a journal/album that I recycled. I used these wonderful papers made by my friend Shari. I keep trying to get her to sell these papers on Etsy. They are so unique! Her process involves gelatin printing, textures, rubber stamps, stencils and anything else she can find to make it all come together.  At our Art Retreat last month I got to try my hand at Shari's printing process- what fun! I just don't have the same feel for it that Shari does though. I love her papers and am lucky enough to receive some as gifts every now and then. The original book was just a photo album. I kept the original clear pocket pages and added in some lavender and purple card stock paper. I like journals where you can tuck items into it and write on the pages at the same time.

This little piece was the 3-D challenge from last month's Art Retreat.  Again it's an up cycled item that I picked up at my local thrift store. Using the papers I designed in the gelatin printing session of the retreat, some sea shells and a few clay fish beads I created this treasure chest fir for any mermaid! This box measures about 3" x 5" and the drawer pulls out. Sorry this picture washed out a little on me.

And finally- I saw an altered spoon for the first time as I was blog hoping the other day. I love altered art and as soon as I saw it I had to try for myself. I used a vintage serving spoon- measures 9" long and the bowl holds 1/4 of liquid.  I have been fascinated with all things Alice and a spoon needs a tea party right? I had this vintage image of a young lady and her dolls having a tea party from my favorite place to get images- Altered Artifacts-

a couple of brass crowns, a clock face and the words "tea time" in glass alphabet beads and I was on my way to altering my first spoon.

All of these items are available in my Etsy shop. Now, I need to figure out what I want to do with this pile of rhinestone jewelry and a travel case that needs some TLC....

Artsonia "Artist of the Week"

I participate in Artsonia- the world's largest online art museum of children's artwork. I teach over 60 kids in the studio from Pre-K through high school. This week two of my students have been nominated for "Artist of the Week" Please take a moment and go vote for them.  Thanks!



Tori611



Carly602



Pay It Forward

I am participating in a great blog event called "Pay it Forward 2011". I heard about it from Cricket at Gypsea Nurse and I just knew I needed to be a part of it. Here is the deal:

The first 5 people who comment on this post will receive a gift handmade by me, Laura of artworks-and-beads. In return, you must write a blog post explaining Pay It Forward 2011 and send your first 5 commenters a gift handmade by you. It's a great way to make new friends and spread some handmade love around Blogland. With all of the talent that abounds around here, it should be a very fun time. No rush to send them out today or even tomorrow, but do make sure you send them out.
"It's not the size of the item that matters, but the spirit of paying it forward."

"I believe in Karma. If the good is sown, the good is collected. When positive things are made, that returns well."



Yannick Noah