2024-2025…

I taught art for a year at a local private Catholic school, it was part time but so busy! I had a full art room, 400 students in three days, K-8 with back to back classes. It was a whirlwind but we had so much fun. We made so many projects in one year!

Pictures 1 -2 :: The first few weeks of school I rolled out white paper on the tables and they all drew a circle (with a small cup as their guide), added their names and then connected the circles. Each table had around 88 students sitting there each week… so between K-8 we had many, many circles. We had each table labeled as a color and then they colored their table runners. We hung them in the hall to show we were all connected.

Pictures 3-5 :: K-2 used toilet paper rolls to draw dots during International Dot Day. They used oil pastels to color in their dots, then covered them with baby oil on cotton swabs to blend the colors. I sprayed them all with hairspray to set the images. Also on International Dot Day week, 3-5 used a Ben Day Dot guide to create an everyday object with dots and then color the backgrounds.

Pictures 6-9 :: K-8 participated in the Louisville Archdiocese poster competition. It is a yearly event and the school with the most participation receives a $500 check. There are also prizes in levels K-2, 3-5 and 6-8. One of my students won first place in 1st grade and got a $25 gift card. Seeing his excitement at the ceremony and getting to tell our class was priceless. We also WON the grand prize for most participation… we used it to purchase clay, sun prints and gelli plates.

Picture 10 :: The students came up with their own version of a saint for All Saint’s Day. We created these with watercolor backgrounds on 6” squares and then the next layer was a saint they drew and cut out. We finally layered them with a halo of gold circle paper. It took some time, but in the end we hung them all on strings and they even made their debut in the cafeteria and hallways.

Pictures 11-12 :: K-2 and 6-8 For Valentine’s Day the students drew a “Love Monster” adapted from the book and they got to paint them with watercolor resist after creating the monster with a black oil pastel. 3-5 Created tissue paper hearts, by cutting a heart from watercolor paper, then gluing tissue paper on… they got creative and some even made flowers!

Pictures 13-14 :: Clay for days! We made clay bowls, clay fish, clay dragon flies and clay tiles… these were all made by different grades. We had a kiln that was kind of iffy, but we used it and fired up the 6-8 graders clay work. They had a great time painting them later with acrylic, as we didn’t have any glaze. Whatever works!

Pictures 15-18 :: Earth Day is always a fun day for me… I love helping teach kids the importance of celebrating the Earth and taking care of it. We made a different project for EACH grade (never again I vowed afterwards)… K and 8 we made “mail boxes” for each other using leftover cardboard that had kept our new tables clean… they loved cutting them up to create one of a kind gifts for each other. At the end we had an exchange where 8th came to visit K and it was so sweet to see them tell each other “congrats” on being promoted. 1st graders made drawings of recycle trucks, 2nd made Ocean Cleanups where they drew a sea creature, then on top of a clear cover glued on “trash” they had brought in. When you lift the clear paper, the ocean is clean again. 3rd made compost bins, complete with a lid and we glued on things that are compostable (even tea bags). 4th graders made masks from cardboard from our tables, glued on all the plastics and recycle materials that we could collect and hung them up with old ribbon I had found in the classroom. We weaved plarn mats in 6th grade. In 7th grade, I had them bring in aluminum cans and we made a scene that had a wall background then they made a fun wrap for their rain barrel (can) and glued them on the backgrounds. We had a great time but honestly, if you have all grades, I would chunk a few grades together for earth day because the room looked like a huge mess. (but we all had fun)

Pictures 19-20 :: The last few weeks of school are full of meetings, celebrations and LOTS of parties and craziness. So I took some of the grades outside on bright sunny days so we could make sun prints! This was a huge hit and the kids loved seeing how the colors changed when we brought them in and rinsed them off. In kindergarten we cut them into little circles to put in the middle of yellow flower petals with each student’s name. It was great way to hang up one last fun project in the hallway to welcome summer!

 Currently (2025-2026) …

I am working on a Master of Art in Teaching so that I can be certified to teach and I like having a goal to finish by Dec 2026. I thrive for excellence, work well under deadline pressures and can whip up a lesson plan the night before just on my thoughts alone. Taking time to help students is one of my passions, to see their faces light up when they “get it” is always a win. On the middle school level this year I am teaching 6-8 graphic design. It is fun as I was a graphic designer for years and taught it on the college level. I have taught advertising, business for visual artists, fine art photography, commercial and studio photography, typography and portfolio classes. So this is not only in my wheelhouse, but I have loved seeing the kids now spark an early interest in design and creative fields.

Want more tips of how to integrate art into your home? Try these!

When I was in LA visiting friends, I stopped in a quaint coffee shop that also had books for sale. This was in 2013. I still have the book “The Artful Parent” on my bookshelf and recommend it to all parents and educators. The author has a great website and newsletter: https://artfulparent.com

Learning how to draw can be overwhelming at first, but this book will help any concerns you may have. If you have a curious kiddo, this book will keep them busy: http://www.thedrawingwebsite.com/2013/01/02/book-review-drawing-with-children-a-creative-method-for-adult-beginners-too/

I bought the book “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci” and have used the tips in this book for years. I often do a mind map for myself and teach my students how to mind map, based off the instructions in this book. Michael Gelb speaks on his research in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCLwKXWu-c0

For anyone that may be in a creative slump, “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron will get you into a three month encounter that will get you back on track! I have completed this book and written Morning Pages at least three times in the last few years. I love going back through my Morning Pages to see where I have let myself dream, gain insight and enjoy the season I am in my own art practice. https://juliacameronlive.com/book/the-artists-way-a-spiritual-path-to-higher-creativity/