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I recently took a workshop at a local gallery with artist Kinga Johnson. I learned a lot of great tips and techniques for working with alcohol inks. I bought some of my own alcohol inks and experimented at home and I wanted to share with you some easy ways to get started using alcohol inks. It is a really fun process and you can use the resulting papers for fun backgrounds or to cut out and make collages. You can … Read more… →

My Favorite Art Journaling Supplies

I was very excited to give a presentation on art journaling at the National Art Ed Conference, which had gotten cancelled due to reasons you can guess. I am presenting a similar presentation at the Call to Art Un-Conference, which is a virtual professional development un-conference going on now. You can watch the presentations for a week for free. Each day 9-10 new presentations are released. I wanted to give a big SHOUT OUT to the Blick Art, Nasco and … Read more… →

I have been a fan of Jodi Ohl's artwork for many years.  She has a fun, whimsical style.  Last summer, I went to a workshop taught by her and had so much fun that I signed up for another weekend painting class with her.  The theme last summer was Zen Painting (in an abstract style).  This summer, the class I signed up for was Zen Houses, which uses similar techniques taught in the Zen Painting class.  I loved both of … Read more… →

Today I'm going to share with a fun technique for older kids or your own personal art journaling/painting.  I picked up the Christine Adolph watercolor resist pen from Paper Source, but you can find it on Amazon here (affiliate link.)  I thought it would be fun to try out.  Watercolor resist works by covering the paper and protecting the area underneath.  You can paint right on top of the gummy resist lines.  When it is all dry, you can peel … Read more… →

This month I participated in an Iron Pour event.  This was put on by a group of iron artists in our community.  My friend invited me to do this because she had done this last year and thought it was awesome. This is not something I would ever be able to do on my own because it involved an insane amount of set up, involving dangerous materials, smashing bathtubs, etc. First, we bought sand molds from the shop.  Then, I … Read more… →

Are you looking for a fun art project to try over winter break with your kids?  Here is one that is sure to be festive, fun and creative! What you will need: watercolor paints pencil watercolor paper paint brush cup of water markers.  For my own art, I prefer Micron markers, Sakura Koi markers, and Molotow White markers. stickers of your choice glue magazines assorted paper scraps of your choice 1.  Begin by drawing a Christmas tree shape on a piece of … Read more… →

I feel like I have stumbled upon my newest art series for my own art.  Earlier I wrote a blog post about how to make watercolor doodled flowers.  Using a similar technique, I made watercolor mandalas.  I have a new painting to show you with watercolor and doodled stars.   These were all made by starting with watercolor paints and then doodling on top with thin markers. Products I Use (Amazon Affiliate links are used) Prima Marketing Watercolor Confections: Tropicals Prima Marketing … Read more… →

Earlier this summer I wrote a blog post about how to make watercolor doodled flowers.  These mandalas I created were made with a very similar technique.  Both these mandalas and the flowers were made by starting with watercolor paints and then doodling on top with thin markers. Products I Use (Amazon Affiliate links are used) Prima Marketing Watercolor Confections: Tropicals Prima Marketing Watercolor Confections: The Classics Sakura Koi Brush Pen Set Sharpie Permanent Marker, Fine Point Sakura Micron Ink Pen … Read more… →

Create a Memory Book of Your Child's Artwork-- Preserve your art!

My daughter who is in 4k comes home with at least 3 drawings every day.  She can draw during free choice or nap time (she won't nap).  Plus with the drawing she does at home, we have collected hundreds of drawings.  I've saved almost all of them.  Her favorite things to draw are My Little Ponies, Paw Patrol characters and people.  By far, she has more pony drawings than anything else.  I don't bother sorting them, I just take them … Read more… →

Fruit and Flowers: I colored in the sketch that I showed you here.  I mostly used colored pencils, watercolor pencils and watercolor paints. A Mouse: My 5th/6th graders are painting animals and my go-to demo is always a mouse or hamster.  I love cute rodents.  The kids are always astounded when I show them how to make furry texture with a fan brush!  So fun.  Do you have go-to images you use when demonstrating techniques? Me: Here I am at … Read more… →

Stack of Art Journals

I gathered up all of the art journals and sketchbooks I could find in my house (I'm sure there's more, as they are scattered here and there.)  Some are finished and many are in various stages of completion.  Don't they look yummy all together?

21 Secrets Online Workshop and a Link Round-Up

As art teachers our hands are covered in glue and paint all day.  We are on the go and juggling so many different tasks. We definitely need our own creative outlet.  We need time for ourselves… to play, to relax, to express ourselves.  Keeping an art journal is a great way to de-stress. I am taking the 21 Secrets online workshop.  Obviously, with a limited amount of free time along with a limited amount of disposable income, I have always … Read more… →

Art Journaling Exposed 2

I am very honored to share with you that I have an article in the Art Journaling Exposed 2 downloadable E-magazine from Cloth Paper Scissors.  I browsed through the issue and it has a lot of interesting articles and videos.  My article is titled "13 Great Layers for Art Journal Pages" These are some of the pages in the article. If you like art journaling, mixed media, collage and you would like to follow my personal art blog, you can … Read more… →

Happy Easter!

How do you make time for your own art?   Do you spend time making your own art? Quick Tip:  Keep an art journal where you can try out techniques for your teaching.  I had been trying out all sorts of techniques for Gelli plate printing and I made lots of samples for my 5th/6th grade class.  When I had all of the papers painted, I took some pieces home and arranged them into a collage for my art journal.