the idea: make art while you teach art This may seem like a fairly obvious idea, but not that many people do it so I’m going to put it in anyway. As an art teacher, I find that it’s really important to make art while you teach art. Children relax when they see you making art …
the idea: photograph the watercolors running down the sink I love liquid watercolors. I had never used, seen, or heard of them before I worked at the MFA but now I use them all the time. They are incredibly bright and make everything look amazing, especially when used in combination with oil pastels. Today I …
the idea: create an scene out of pen sketching I continued my favorite form of procrastination today: working on another part of the project. This worked really well in college, procrastinate from English homework by doing history homework and on and on, but it also works surprisingly well on other projects. For example, my book. …
the idea: paint a cup like a rainbow paint can This is an older idea that came from one of many days spent bored while working at a paint your own pottery shop. On the outside there’s a sponge technique of the color wheels and on the inside, as you can see, are drips and splatters. …
the idea: draw something Snow has struck Boston yet again, leaving me housebound for the day. For the most part, this was lovely. I read the entirety of the War of Art by Steven Pressfield, an interesting book, and managed to also work on my own book. But towards te end of the day I needed …
the idea: sketch to find an illustration style for my book I’ve been writing a lot recently, or at least trying to. I’ve set my deadline as March 21st for a complete rough draft of my book so I have a lot to get done between now and then. Tonight, however, was not a night for …
the idea: connect the Calder-inspired wire sculpture activity with the Samurai exhibit. This idea takes a bit of explaining. When I teach off-site for the MFA I have to take a bag of art supplies with me. When I teach at two different places in one day I try to use the same activity so …
the idea: create a t-shirt saying “ask me about my book” The picture i made for this post was just a really quick mock-up, but I would love to do this idea! That way, once it warms up outside, I can walk around the world inviting conversations and spreading the word for my book. I’ll also …
the (dated) idea: take a regular jean jacket, fit it, and paint it. today’s idea: photograph the painted jacket I made in college I was actually about to type up a different idea and I was looking for what I needed to photograph that idea when I stumbled across my painted jacket. I used to wear this all …
the idea: get an army of helpful friends to help distribute a self-published book I have self-published four books at various stages of editing and completion throughout my life. One is awful, two are passable, and one is okay. Self-publishing was really the last step I took with these books because I didn’t like them enough …