When it rains...

I've been MIA from the networking, digital world for a little over a month.  It has been a crazy time with family stuff, work, and Art.  In August, I participated in the Raw Artists show RADIATE.  Here is my video interview from the show: RADIATE video  It was a lot of fun and not what I had expected.  Then the school year began and for some odd reason the beginning was overwhelming and intense.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe it is because I'm in a new room?  Or perhaps it is because as a department we decided to make sketchbooks?  I don't know. Regardless, I was asked to do another show with Raw Artists!  It was very different from the August show.  I sold prints, dolls, and one original painting at this event.  It felt amazing to have people crowd around my work and to see their eyes light up when they realized I was giving out stickers.  Here is the video interview from the show: ENSEMBLE video  Now, Raw Artists has opened their nomination voting for the RAWards.  If you love Mizzle Adventures, please vote for me.  You need to register your email address and create a log-in in order to vote.  Go to www.rawartists.org.  Then you can either search for Mizzle Adventures, or go to my profile at www.rawartists.org/roldan and click on VOTE! You can vote once a day for each category until October 15th!  I hope you find the time to vote.  Through all of this I became the webmaster for the La Habra Art Association.  I'm still figuring it all out, but I'm excited to try to help prevent the gallery from going under.  I'm still working on my manuscript, but I'm feeling more confident about it.  Being busy is usually a very good thing, but I'm looking forward to a little down time to catch my breath.

A few days of lazy

I'm in my last few days of summer freedom.  I've been trying to embrace laziness.  I haven't been very successful and just recently come to realize that I didn't delve into any books this summer.  This summer has seemed lazy to me, but it is probably because I didn't go exploring as much as I would have liked to.  I've been creating a lot of work this summer.  Between finishing my online art class with Mira Reisberg, getting ready for the SCBWI summer conference, then the RawArtist artist showcase, I have been in a constant state of creation.  Even now, when I desperately want to embrace the feeling of doing absolutely nothing, I can only continue creating.  So, I've decided to do a recap of this summer's work.

Hero's Art Journey with Mira Reisberg
This online course really helped me break out of a creative fog I was experiencing.  I was still being creative, but just didn't have any particular direction and needed something to push my boundaries in a different capacity.

 In the next piece I had originally had a little girl in the painting, but after attending an illustrator's portfolio workshop; it had been recommended that I change her to one of my Mizzle characters to keep the piece consistent with all of my other work.  The original is on the left and the altered piece is on the right.

For my portfolio, I also, finished a piece I had started working on earlier.

For the RawArtists artists' showcase, I made about 30 Mizzles.  You can find many of them on my Esty shop, Mizzle Adventures.  Here are a few of my favorites:

And as for the remainder of what should have been two weeks of a lazy summer, I continued to explore creating mixed media pieces.  Here is what I've created:

This first illustration I wanted to play with the idea of Tree Pose in yoga, and hiding amongst trees.  Here the Mizzles are playing hide and seek.  Stargazer is attempting to camoflage herself as a tree.

To continue with the tree theme, I thought it would be fun if the Mizzles went camping.

This last one is a work in progress.  I am introducing my newest Mizzle, Fawn.  She and Belinda are going to picnic amongst the peacocks.

Now, I'm starting a Picture Book Writing Course and have to push myself to work on my story. It's time to begin editing!

Almost to the finish line

We are in our last few days of the school year.  It is a crazy rush to get assignments in and get grades finalized.  I decided to make my end of year a bit easy.  To end the year, my beginning Art and beginning Drawing classes are all working on Tessellations.  It is a nice assignment because it allows for every student, regardless of their abilities to turn in an "A" project.  The only way they can mess up the assignment is if they turn it in incomplete.


The fun part is to look at the shape you have made and use your imagination to see images in it.  This tends to be difficult for students, who are not used to thinking in this way.  I tell them it is like looking at the clouds and finding images.  I encourage them to help each other out with seeing images.  This is where I have fun because many times they ask for my help and I can list off many things.  It gives them a true glimpse of how creative my mind is.

Here are some samples my students have turned in:

My Intermediate/Advanced students have been playing with Shrinky Dink paper.  They had to create original versions of mythical creatures.  They have had lots of fun watching the paper shrink in the toaster oven.  It is an adrenaline rush for all of us as we watch the paper shrink and curl. 

Here is what they have created:

It has been a great year of art.  I am looking forward to next year's batch of student work. 

Random Thoughts Thursday- Changes

I didn't keep up with my blogging routine last week for a few reasons.
1)  I was packing up my classroom
2)  My classes were transitioning from ending one assignment and immediately jumping into another.
3)  I was trying to get the 2 murals and native plant garden that we have been working on since January closer   to completion
and
4)  I was being lazy and felt burned out from all of the changes that are happening.

I love my routine.  I love how reliable and predictable it is.  But I love change, too.  I love the newness it brings.  The past few years I've been feeling stuck in life (on and off).  As I've described in an early post, I felt like I was running really fast, but not moving anywhere.  I have been feeling burned out at work and have come to realize that next year will be my 10th year of teaching.  TEN YEARS!  That just blows my mind that it has been that long.  I still feel like I'm only in my 4th or 5th year.  But change comes at a great time. 

My classroom is room U-2, which I love because I love the band U2.  I have a Bono poster on my door welcoming my students to my classroom.  It is in a great location and is very large, but the storage is lacking.  Next year I'll be in a new room, which is bitter sweet, but I'm excited about the amount of storage I'm going to have.  Plus, my schedule is changing.  I'm a bit sad I'm giving up my intermediate/ advanced drawing class.  It is my baby that I've developed over the past 6 years, but it is time for a new challenge.  I'm trading in my class for intermediate/advanced/ AP studio art.  I feel a little nervous about this step, but I feel ready for it.  I'm going to have to make adjustments to the way I teach, especially since I was diving into illustration type lessons that coincided with my personal goals of illustrating.  I know I can make this work.  The future is beginning to look very exciting. 

The SCBWI summer conference has a great illustrator intensive this year about writing for illustrators, which is exactly what I need right now.  The yoga retreat inspired a new book idea and allowed me to finally let go of things that have been hindering me.  And I just received an email from Mira Reisberg saying I won a Skype critique with her!!!!   This is really exciting!  I have been using one of her children's book with my beginning students for years.  I love that my journey has connected me to her.  It makes the world so much smaller. :) I am also signed up for her online art course.  I just realized that it will begin on Monday.  She is having a sale on the course if you are interested.  Here is the link: 
www.herosartjourney.com

I am a big believer that everything happens for a reason.  Right now, it feels like all of the planets in my individual universe are aligning perfectly.  Could it be that after all of the tears, tough obstacles, nonstop hard work, and determination to keep moving forward that it is beginning to all pay off?  I go into all of this with an open mind with only one expectation: to come out of this a little bit wiser.

Influences-Maurice Sendak

Now that I'm deeper in my journey of illustrating and writing, I wish my grandma was still around so I could thank her.  I have always known the impact she has had on who I am, but I don't think I truly acknowledged that she is the essence of my creative existence.  Without her, I would have never been influenced, inspired, or encouraged to be the creative being I am.  She exposed me to a variety of art and activities to build my creative skills.  She introduced me to Claude Monet, but she introduced me to Maurice Sendak first.

 When everyone hears his name they immediately associate it with his book Where the Wild Things Are. Oddly, this is not my first thought.  I don't remember reading that book until my sister was born, although I'm pretty sure someone in my family read it to me.  I do remember looking through her book The Art of Maurice Sendak. It was, and still is, my favorite book to look through.  These were my favorite pages to look at:

When I was in middle school, my grandma bought me his book, Dear Mili. I loved his illustrations, but I admit I didn't appreciate the story.  It wasn't until a few years ago, when my grandma passed away that I went back and read it.  I cried, partly, because I love my grandma so much, but partly because the story was so beautiful.

 This is my favorite illustration from the book.

A little something to watch.

Random Thoughts Thursdays

Sketches of students faces while testing.
They all looked so miserable.

 I figured in my quest to reorganize my blog I would need a day to rant about something not related to my art directly.  So, Thursdays have been designated "Random Thoughts Thursdays."

This week has been exhausting, and people who know me are probably thinking "When are your weeks not exhausting?"  True, I take on a lot of different activities, or extremely huge projects that consume me.  But this week was the week I have dreaded all year...state testing week!  It is so exhausting.  This year, we tested students in our own classrooms instead of corralling them into the gym.  I actually liked having my students in my class and administering the test wasn't so horrible. What surprised me was how draining and exhausting it was to watch students take tests for 3 hours!  I can only imagine how my students felt after taking their tests.  A friend of mine compared administering the test to watching grass grow or paint dry.  It is so true! I do have to say my kids were rock stars!  They didn't complain or rush through the exams.  They seemed to take it seriously and do the best they could. 

I am not a fan of state testing.  I think it is ridiculous to judge student learning from a multiple choice test.  Everyone has a different style of learning: visual, auditory, or kinetic.  If we learn in these styles, why are we testing knowledge that doesn't address them?  With all of the studies that have been done, you would think there would be a better method.   But we are creatures of habit, and to make such a change would be a difficult one to maneuver.  It is just disheartening to see the arts get pushed aside because test scores are low, or due to budget cuts. *SIGH* But I'm beginning to get into a topic that becomes depressing for me, so I'll stop here.

In addition to testing week, we had our awards ceremony, The Golden Bear, on Wednesday night.  The Golden Bear Awards show is where departments select students who demonstrate great skill, knowledge and passion.  Any grade level can be nominated.  My colleague/guy best friend and I present the Golden Bear Award for the Visual Arts Department. We are second to LAST to present and by the time we get to the stage everyone has checked out.  It is a little sad, so for the past 3 years we have done something to liven things up.  The first year we wore masks of the other 2 art teachers' faces.  We got a few laughs for that one.  I can't remember what we did last year.  But this year, we made our winner a very colorful crown!  We do these things in hopes that they will get tired of our antics and put us at the beginning of the show to get us out of the way.  But I think they look forward to what we might do.  Even though it is always during an exhausting week, or around the testing schedule, it is always nice to see the kids get dressed up and walk on stage.  We have so many talented students!


I would say I'm looking forward to the week almost being over, but this weekend proves to be just as busy.  At least I will be able to sleep in a little bit...hopefully!

The Self Portrait

The Self Portrait can be a nerve wrecking assignment because you are forced to look at yourself for long periods of time.  I was nice to my students and allowed them to work from photos.  But I remember having to create dozens of self portraits using a mirror; staring at myself, watching myself breathe, and forced to see all of my flaws.  I remember not liking the drawings at all.  Perhaps it was because I didn't have the amount of focus that I have now.  It could also be that I just wasn't comfortable being the person I was. Or maybe I just didn't know who I was. 

The four blue self portraits are from my sophomore year in college.  I believe I used charcoal on blue toned paper.  The proportions are so off, but I these were my first portraits drawing form a mirror.  If I remember correctly, we had to draw ourselves from different angles: straight forward, 3/4 view, looking up, looking down, and a large portrait including the body. I never liked these drawings, but do artists ever like their own work? 

My second year teaching at Warren, I was given my Intermediate Drawing class.  It was my first time teaching an advanced level. In my ambitious excitement, I decided it would be great for students to create portraits that really explore emotions.  Each student had to choose one emotion and draw 5 people expressing that emotion.  The portraits were about 3x5 or 4x6 in size.  They used Prismacolor colored pencils on a thick vellum paper.  This is one of the last self portraits I have done in quite a long time. Here is the sample I created of the emotion confused.

It has taken some pretty big obstacles and life lessons for me to accept a lot about myself.  But I feel the journey of getting to that acceptance of oneself is vital.  Without that journey, we might never care to ask ourselves those important questions which lead to revealing answers.

I sometimes wish my students would have this same curiosity about themselves when they create their self portraits.  But I expect too much from teenagers, who spend most of their time making themselves be like those around them.  They search for a group to belong to and do what it takes to erase any individuality.  A funny occurrence that I see happening is that there is a group of students who try to maintain their individuality, but they try so hard that they just end up looking like all of the others.  And never point this out to them! They get really upset when you point it out.

I'm not exactly sure what I did this year, but my students rocked their self portraits.  Normally, I get a lot of portraits that look nothing like a human being.  But this year, my students did a great job.  Plus, there were many who pushed themselves to go beyond the typical "likes" and hobbies.  They really tried to capture something more about themselves. 

LACMA

Yesterday was Friday the 13th.  Ever since my little sister was born on Friday the 13th, it has always been my favorite day and yesterday was just as great as any other.  In addition to another rain storm, I spent the day at the LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) with my very good friend.  There are not many people who I enjoy attending museums with because people seem to think that because I have a degree in art and teach art that I am going to the museum to be their personal tour guide.  I'm sorry, but I like to go to museums to look at the work; to learn about new and old artists; to gain curiosity about techniques; and most importantly, to be inspired!  But my friend is not one of those people who expect a personal tour.  She is the perfect museum partner who adds to my creative banter on how I think an artwork could have been improved, or what the next version should look like.  She dreams with me in a fun verbal banter in such a way that I'm sure people around us think we believe it could all come true.  I think every creative person in the world needs a friend like this.  They love the freedoms of the imagination and never try to stifle it with judgment and harsh criticism.  Everything is about problem solving, creativity, and how to make what seems impossible completely possible. 

Currently LACMA has a special exhibit on display: In Wonderland: The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States.
http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/in-wonderland

I love surrealism.  I love the detail and realism some of the paintings maintain with their odd scenes.  My favorite surrealists are Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte, and the pop surrealist Mark Ryden.  But as with any art movement, it is told from the views of the male artists.  This exhibit demonstrated how women artists tackled the same movement, but a very different intention of the meaning in their work.  It was exciting to walk through the exhibit and see some of my favorite paintings in person.  I have had the privilege to see works of Frida Kahlo, but to see the works of Dorothea Tanning and Remedios Varo was pure delight!  To my surprise, this exhibit was allowed to be photographed as long as the flash was not used.  Usually special exhibits do not allow photography.  I wish I had known this ahead of time because I purposefully left my camera at home thinking this special exhibit was like the others. But thankfully, cell phone cameras are more advanced now.  On this blog are the paintings that captured me the most.  The exhibit ends May 6th, 2012.  If you get a chance, you should go! I highly recommend seeing this!

If I were cupid

If you shoot enough arrows into the air, they are bound to hit something, right?  I wonder if cupid ever closes his eyes and allows his arrows to randomly fly into the air.  Could the boundaries or rules of love be erased with this method?  I mean, could it be possible for a hawk and a squirrel to be friends?  If I were cupid, I would try to create the most random matches.  In a way this would be completely cruel because I would only be doing it to see what the results would be.  But at the same time, it would be very nice to see unexpected things happen and be successful.  Sometimes I feel like my art is that grouping of arrows I am releasing into the air and waiting patiently as I watch them land.  Sometimes you shoot too high into the air and you lose sight of it.  Sometimes you don't aim high enough.  And sometimes you shoot so many that you don't know where to look.  This was the random thought that popped into my head as I was trying to figure out what to draw.  I wanted to keep with the whole "Valentine's/ Love" theme, but am having a slow brain day. I have been mixing up student names and having students complete my sentences for me.  I am really tired for some reason, but its Thursday.  I have one more day to get through and then a lovely three day weekend.  Sleeping in will be high on my list of things to do.  Actually, knowing me, that is very unlikely, but I will try.

Recon mission

This seems to be a year of making decisions and research.  Last night was a fun evening of recon work with some illustrator gals.  We were scoping out some possibilities of showing our work.  The experience brought up a lot of questions about what we want and how we want to represent ourselves.  But it also got me thinking about my own personal goals. Today I went to a grant writing workshop, which ended up being a waste of my time.  It only resulted in more questions.  I have ideas... many ideas of what I would love to do.  But they are so scattered and I need to make decisions.  I would love to make a living being creative all day.  I know being an art teacher one would think I already have that, but I would love to make a living creating my own art.  I plan on continuing making art, illustrating, reading, and writing, but I need to do more research about the various avenues I'd like to go in.  There seem to be a lot of options and possibilities becoming available to me.  I just need to figure out which ones will be best for me.