Art on the Move is Getting a NEW LOOK!

Art on the Move is Under Construction!  Please be patience while I figure out how to get this all working! 

CREATE Mixed Media Retreat

Last week I had a chance to relax & renew my own art skills at the CREATE Mixed Media Retreat in Somerset, NJ.  This event is sponsored by Cloth, Paper, Scissors Magazine.  This is the second year I have attended and I have enjoyed both experiences!  It's truly a gathering of like-minded women, it's always fun to feel like you are among your tribe!  This retreat allows me to create art and learn new techniques that I can share with my students.  I will share with you the classes I took, the awesome teachers that I had the opportunity to work with and a few picture of what I created!  I would encourage you to follow the links that I have included to the teacher's blogs!  

Two of the classes I participated in were taught by a New York artist, Julie Fei- Fan Balzer.   Check out a post she wrote about her experience at CREATE NJ, CLICK HERE (you can see ME in the very first photo with the purple shirt).  The 2 classes I took with Julie were Painted & Printed Paper and Stamp Carving 101.  I am excited that I created 2 stamps that I will use at school!  

Here are some photos:

The above paper was created in Painted & Printed Paper

Here are some stamps I created out of craft foam (w/adhesive back), so easy - a great way
for students to create their own stamps!

The stamps, you see below, were carved from SPEEDBALL Speedy Carve Blocks and traditional SPEEDBALL Linoleum carving tools.  I made them in Stamp Caving 101!

The two stamps that I created!

 Here is a screen shot from Julie's blog, Balzer Designs:

Don't I look like I am having FUN?

I also took a class with Joanne Sharpe she is the Marker & Lettering QUEEN!  You can find her blog, WHIMSPIRATIONS here.  This class was called Perfect Pens & Perfect Pages.  We learned about ALL different kinds of markers and how they react with different papers! Here is a page from Joanne's sample journal! 

Example from Joanne Sharp's journal

Finally, I took a class with Jane LaFazio a fiber artist from California.  You can find Jane's blog HERE! This class was called Felt Like Stitching.   
Here are some photos:

Examples of Jane's work,  beautiful pumpkins created out of felt!

Here is my little fishy!  It will make a perfect pin!

We worked with wool felt that was purchased from Purl SoHo, I have never see so many beautiful colors of felt.  

Check it out!  I hope you have enjoyed this tour of my experience at the CREATE Mixed Media Retreat!  Now go out an CREATE something for yourself!

Celebrating Art TOP TEN Winner, Congratulations Hannah!

This Spring we participated in the Celebrating Art contest.  Artwork was submitted digitally, work selected as finalists will be published in a full color, hardcover book.  We submitted 197 pieces of artwork and had 137 pieces selected as finalist - YAHOO!!!  This is the 4th time we participated in this contest.  Any school that has 15 entries accepted to be published, receives a free Celebrating Art Book for the classroom.  This book is one of the most popular in my ART bookshelf ~ students from all grades love to look through it because they find artwork that students at Mount Prospect School have created, they find artwork that their sisters & brothers have created and artwork that their friends have created~very cool!

Hannah , 2nd Grade student at Mount Prospect School just received news that she is a Top Ten Winner in the Celebrating Art Contest, in the K - 3 grade category.  Hannah will have her work specially featured in the book and receive an additional prize!!!

Congratulations to all 140 Mount Prospect students that will have their artwork included in the Celebrating Art Spring 2013 book and 3 cheers for Hannah for making the TOP TEN!  Keep up the GREAT work!  There will be another contest this Fall so decide which piece you will enter!  Permission forms will be going out in October.

4 POINTS about the Pencil + It's National Pencil Day!

Today is National Pencil Day, so I thought I would share some PENCIL INFO! I am sure many of you go through pencils practically like water, just like me. At some point last year I read a blog describing these GRIP Pencils from Faber-Castell, they are jumbo size, painted grey with black dots (they are also very expensive, about $10.00+ for 12) - which was noted in this blog post! Anyway, I decided to give them a try and I have to say...THEY ARE WORTH EVERY PENNY! Did I mention they are also triangular shaped? No more rolling off the table, HOORAY! So, I did an experiment. I put them out on February 1, 2013...Guess what? I still have every single one I put out, all 24 pencils!  I think they may even last through April (3 months), that is a record!   So, if you decide to use these pencils you will also need to purchase some high quality, hand-held pencil sharpeners, I happen to like the Lyra Pencil Sharpeners with 2 holes. For right now the sharpeners stay on my desk and I have been sharpening the pencils for my students. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but in reality the pencils stay sharp pretty long.  So, I am only sharpening them 3-4 times in a week. Ok, on to my 3rd POINT about pencils...the Faber Castell pencils have no eraser anyway, so you will need some erasers too. Even before this I have always purchased erasers and put them out on each table. My favorite are MAGIC RUB, by Prismacolor (I cut them in 3 pieces, that way they last longer)! Finally, for my 4th POINT, I would like to share one of my student's favorite books, The Pencil - by Allan Ahlberg! It's full of adventure!  Thanks for reading and Happy Pencil Day!  

Do you have a favorite pencil in your art room?

This post is my personal opinion, I was not asked by any of the companies above to write it nor was I given any products to write it!

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Mount Spring Art Exhibit 2013

Each Spring we hang the Mount Prospect Spring Art Exhibit in the hallways of the school, this exhibit goes along with our Spring Conferences.  A perfect time to showcase everything the students have accomplished, in Art this year.  One piece of artwork is included for each child in our school, the artwork is displayed by class, with tags identifying each piece and a description of the experience.  The slide show below includes all the work included in the exhibit, they are in order from Kindergarten through 5th grade...ENJOY.  Thanks for stopping by!


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Help Mount Prospect Reach 500,000 view to our Artsonia Gallery!

 

We are just 465 views away! 
Click Here and view all the amazing artwork our students have created this year!!!

Did you know that every piece of artwork created at Mount Prospect School is published to our Artsonia Gallery?  That’s 3,469 pieces of artwork as of today!

Did you know that many 3^rd, 4^th & 5^th graders have been adding ARTISTS STATEMENTS to go along with their artwork?  They have written 581 statements as of today!

Did you know that YOU can invite friends & family members to be a part of your child(ren)s FAN CLUB?  We have 1,621 FAN CLUB Members but we would love some MORE!  Forward this e-mail to friends and family members!

Did you know that YOU can leave a COMMENT for your child(ren) about their artwork?  They love to read what other people think about what they have created!

When visitors leave COMMENTS, for your child, they need to be approved by YOU before your child can read them!   Please take a moment to log-in to you child(ren)'s Artsonia Account and check their digital ARTSONIA GALLERY. 

If you have questions about logging into your account, you can contact me:
sbivona@bernardsboe.com
OR contact Artsonia directly!

Thanks for visiting our Artsonia Gallery!
Please share this e-mail with family & friends!

Bye-Bye Google Reader

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Well, like the rest of you I am working hard to figure out what to do when Google Reader goes away!    I had a bit of a rough start to this school year and this blog has suffered (life is back to normal now).....but all this discussion on Google Reader etc...has inspired me to get back at it!  Which is a great thing!  I spent a little time using Feedly this week, and although it is super slick, I think I like the Bloglovin interface better!  So, I transported everything over there - I really like it!  Even though I haven't been posting, I have been reading and I love reading about & seeing all that goes on in you art rooms!

Tomorrow is my Youth Art Month Exhibit so I will back tomorrow with my "Grand Re-Opening" post at Art on the Move!