Ah, to go to NYC and see 3 fabulous art exhibits was a delight, but to learn no photos were allowed in any of them was a huge frustration!  The three exhibits were: Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving at the Brooklyn Museum, Andy Warhol's Endangered Species at the Ukrainian Museum, and Tolkien: Maker of Middle Earth at the Morgan Library and Museum. But I'm gonna tell you about them anyhow, and show you some pics I took in parts of the museums where photography IS allowed.... I know lots of people have been VERY excited about the Frida exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum.  And so ..read more

It's THAT time of year for art teachers.  Here in NY state, proposals are due soon for workshop presentations at the annual NYSATA convention, held in November.  And I expect that soon, it will again be time to submit proposals for the NAEA annual convention, to be held in Minneapolis in March 2020. Today, there was a conversation on Facebook about whether or not there were enough elementary workshops at the NAEA in Boston.  My immediate reaction was this: were the people who wanted more elementary workshops willing to present a workshop?  Because, after all, we who atten ..read more

I'm an avid reader.  But, while lots of art educators like to read books about pedagogy, and all sorts of stuff related to teaching and education and such, I admit that I do not.  I read for pleasure and escapism; I like a good story.  It can be a novel - pure fiction, maybe a post-apocalyptic or dystopian story, or a well-written piece of magic realism, or perhaps a historical novel based on a real person or situation, or just about anything else, as long as I enjoy the writing.  I also appreciate a well-written memoir.   But today's post is about two books that ..read more

I taught 2 workshops at this year's NAEA convention - Get Deep Relief with Totally Terrific Tooling Foil and Using the Unexpected.  The first, Get Deep Relief with Totally Terrific Tooling Foil, was a 1 hour and 50 minute ticketed studio workshop.  I'm amazed that the attendees were able to complete such fabulous pieces in the time allotted.  The time seemed to fly by very quickly!   I believe the attendee who made the adorable sheep (or is it a lamb?) below plans to add color to help identify his eyes.  I think it will be really cool! Here is the class, learn ..read more

My DragonWing Arts winter session has begun, with a couple of new students joining the class!  Our theme for the winter is 'Color my World', and we will do projects that beat the winter blues by using lots of colors, with the natural world as our inspiration. We started with a quick project, inspired by the work of artist Wolf Kahn, to get everyone messy.  The kids liked his cheerful colors, and the simplicity of the lines of his trees.  We didn't seek to copy his work; we instead used it as a motivation and inspiration.  His work often has layers of color, to represent b ..read more

Hey readers, it's been close to two years since I've posted on the blog, mostly due to the fact that my business, DragonWing Arts, where I taught an after-school art class for elementary kids, has been on an indefinite hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.  I teach the class in a small classroom in a Jewish Temple where I am a member, and the Temple's current regulations for gatherings in the building, due to the infection rate in the local community, require social distancing, negative Covid tests, temperature/health checks, and of course masks. With the small classroom space, social ..read more

My DragonWing Arts students recently completed these paintings of trees.  We began with this simple method:  First, draw a land line, dividing ground and sky.   Second, draw a trunk that extends from land line to top of paper.   Third, add branches coming from the trunk, extending to the edges of the paper.  More smaller branches could be added coming from these branches.    Details could be added as desired.  Some of the girls decided they should have branches that were shaped like hearts.  And of course they wanted to add swings, too!  ..read more

Our theme for the fall DragonWing Arts session was Discover!  My five students (two 3rd graders, one 4th grader, one 5th grader, and one 6th grader) did three projects - the first was the creation of a treasure map. And the second was a papier-mache project.  (I'll tell you about the third project later.)  I asked the kids what they'd like to build with papier-mache - perhaps a newly 'discovered' creature, a box of buried treasure, something from outer space, a discovery under the microscope or deep in the sea, etc.  My five students unanimously said "We want to make TREA ..read more

This is a quickie post, to share my exciting news.  Back in the early fall, I was interviewed by Cindy Ingram of the Art Class Curator, for her podcast series.  In the whirlwind of my son's September wedding, Thanksgiving, and various other events, time whizzed by and I totally forgot about it.  Well, it turns out the podcast went live about a month ago!  Whoops!  How did I miss that????  Anyhow, if you want to hear my squeaky little voice talk about all things art education, here's a link to the podcast.  It's episode # 27, and I hope you'll give it a list ..read more

I recently taught a workshops at my state art teacher's convention called Funky Fun with Chalk Pastels, and I want to share all about it here!  The hands-on workshop was intended to share unusual and innovative ways of using chalk pastels, especially for people who don't like the dust and are fearful of chalk.  The room was set for about 30 people; about 60 attended.  We squashed people everywhere!  Some were even sitting/drawing/painting on the floor!! Nevertheless, it was a great workshop, with everyone creating enthusiastically.   All photos in this post are piec ..read more