you are all stars.

Julie at Balzer Designs: 

Her blog has a section called "Art Journal Every Day" and there you can see all sorts of inspiration and ideas. I particularly like the portable journaling kit... because whipping out all of the supplies, while definitely the best way to work, is just NOT possible sometimes. 

Here you can see some of Julie's journal pages.

Jane at Circuitous Journey:

Jane was my mentor. Probably the reason I'm teaching here, and able to have this class, too. She's an incredible artist and animal lover, and her blog chronicling both her life [post-teaching] and her art making. I love her witty commentary and her explorations and experiments. She's currently working with Bee Shay's Collage Lab and it is so great to see all of her results. 

Jenny at Love and Peas:

Jenny's blog is a visual treat! Her art and her art journals are so creative-- Cute, colorful, collage-y... Jenny takes embroidery to a new level, and line work is so relaxed, cool. She also shares this Joy Journal Tutorial that shows you how to build a journal out of scrap materials. 

Not only do all of these people have names that start with "J" but they are also wonderful sharers-- teachers in a visual/internet realm, sharing their passions and their inspirations, along with their techniques. 

Take a look. It's good stuff!

SPEAKING of blogging!

image via www.thetef.org

Today I went to a presentation about blogging, and so think it appropriate to post about it here! 

So it was about blogging and why it's important [imperative?] to integrate it into the classroom... but even more than that, the internet is THE place to share information, and as a teacher, I'm big into that kind of thing. I think teachers + classrooms + blogs + students just makes sense. 

Teachers would be silly to pretend that their students (heck, they themselves!) are not spending the time they SHOULD be researching or doing homework sitting on the computer checking back and forth to what Facebook statuses say. Ignoring the power of technology and the internet is counter-productive to good education practices. 

The presenter was a history teacher in my school. Check out what Ms. Kav is doing in her history classes... and why I'd be much better at history if I had been in her class. She's way better than I am with posting videos, and pictures that don't disappear mysteriously after a day, and she's got a great discussion happening there. Maybe we should collaborate and teach a technologic-art-history class... Hm. That'd be cool.

And then I get to thinking about why I'm so grateful to have this technology, and it's more than just a place to spew information. Hopefully, anyone who's reading this will have the opportunity to go a little further and explore visual journaling a little more, and and hopefully to know there's at least one other person out there [me] who thinks visual journaling is important enough to share information about. 

SO....................................

THIS PAGE:

image via ucla

Reflect on technology's role in your life. Personally, I think my iPhone and MacBook are some good-lookin' pieces of technology, so whether it's a drawing of your technology, your thoughts about technology, a conspiracy theory linking the internet and Big Brother, or just a list of the the devices that have inflitrated your life, use this page to express it. 

Artist Trading Cards

Artist Trading Cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards, or 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (63 mm X 89 mm), small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets. The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland. Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged rather than sold.         [wikipedia]

That's the definition of an ATC, and I think they are just the coolest. Mainly because I love all things tiny. I also love the artist community, and zine swaps, print trades, drawing clubs, and collaborative works have been part of my work as an artist since college. [Printmakers, with their ability to make a zillion of the same thing, are notorious traders, collaborators, and scavengers. We were a pretty close-knit group in college].

JoAnn's Fabrics also sells little tiny frames that are perfect for ATC's. So adorable.

So we had a visit from a very special guest (that'll be a post later) who introduced the class to ATC's and promised that for every one she received, she would return a piece of artwork to them. I think that everyone completed an ATC, and they're being mailed out today!

I have spent 9 weeks constantly amazed at everyone's different styles and thought processes, and how we all start with the same prompt or the same material (or in this case, the same tiny card) and get such hugely different results. And how cool they are to look at all together!

Here is a sampling of the class' ATC's... and a sneak preview for our special guest!