Grand Rapids Art Museum

This morning I'll be taking part on a panel discussing Technology and 21st Century Skills in the Art Classroom at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

According to the flyer we will be:

Exploring best and emerging practices for applications of technology in the art room.

Engaged with a wide ranging panel of experts (that's me :) on the topics of social media, essential skills, classroom management, curriculum development, assessment, and contemporary art.

Connecting with educators (me again), artists, and administrators through online dialogue.

Discovering new and exciting ways to use technology in your classroom, while working with teachers from across the state to discuss and brainstorm solutions to potential stumbling blocks.

If you're not in grand Rapids, you can still follow along on Twitter. For starters, follow me @iansands

OK, here we go!

Critter Visits the Mona Lisa

Over the years, Critters have done there fair share of traveling. They've been as far north as Canada, as far south as the Caribbean,  as far west as California and as far east as Korea. These have all been very exciting places but I'm not sure I found any of theses places as exciting as the place I received today.

Critter visits the Mona Lisa! 

I guess in the art world this might be as big as it gets. After all, the Mona Lisa is to art what Ke$ha is to music! 

Lately, I've been really into the CrittaColor concept. I lik the interactivity and letting people help make he art, but i can't help feeling nostalgic about the old Critters after seeing this photo.

So here below are a few of the places "Old Critter" has been. if you'd like to follow any of the Critters, including the latest CrittaColor, check out Critters on Zonkey Street!

This little Critter traveld further than any other Critter. Here he is at he Biltmore Estates in NC.

Here he is again on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, CA.

In Seoul, South Korea.

Enjoying the weather on the sandy beaches of St. Johns.

Ice Eggs

This is a project we did back in 2009. however, the post has since lost it's images so I'm reposting what I've got. I was looking to do some sort of biodegradable art project and came up with the idea of filling water balloons with colored water. we used food coloring. Next we hit the beach.

We were spending the week on Emerald Island in NC. The ocean was nice and left us seaweed to play with. The seaweed made really nice nests. We set up nests up and down the beach and laid :) the eggs in the nests.

A lot of people didn't even pay attention to the nests. They just walked on by. 

But the seagulls thought they were interesting.

NAEA13 - Fort Worth TX

I'm back from my trip to the National Art Educator Association's 2013 Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Look, they hung up "Art Matters" banners all around town because they knew we were coming. Mayor Betsy Price even gave a formal proclamation.

Anyhow, since so many people have asked me, "How was Texas?" I thought I should write a short post highlighting just a few of the events.

The photo above is from one of the general sessions. Most everyone attends these sessions that are held in the ballroom. Not sure if you can count them all but there are probably some 4,000 art teacher present. So I guess there were a lot of subs back home. I was sitting on the floor when I took this photo cause there weren't any seats left.

Besides the general sessions that everyone attends, there are break out sessions going on all day long. I attended many of these sessions. The photo above is of Olivia Gude who is one of my art teacher heros. Doesn't it look like she is pointing at me? I think she was pointing at me :)

This is a session with Jessica Balsley. If you don't recognize the name you might recognize the blog. She is the founder of the Art of Education blog. it's the one we received our blog award from. She even mentioned our blog during her presentation.

So this is where it gets kind of corny. I am friends with a lot of art teachers on Twitter. Some, like  Jessica Balsley, I had not even met in person till this week. Still, we help each other out, share lesson ideas and information online all the time. We call it our PLN (personal learning network). 

Just for fun, we all decided to buy super hero shirts to wear from Ink Pixi to the conference. One of the teachers, Stacy Lord, made the image of us as lego people. On Saturday morning we all met in person for coffee. It was a chance for a first time photo opp. I'm the 3rd lego from the right.

Part of the convention includes a huge room full of venders who sell art supplies and the like. One of those venders is Davis Publications. Not only does Davis publish a lot of art ed text books, they also publish the art ed magazine, SchoolArts.

Davis is so nice that they gave away this month's issue of SchoolArts. In this month's issue of SchoolArts is an article about a project we did right here at Apex High School. Hannah (seen above) was nice enough to let me take a photo of her holding up the magazine turned to the article.

Not only did I attend the conference but I was a presenter. Seen above, I'm presenting about one fo the Computer Art projects titled the Barbie Project. To the left of the photo is my con-presenter Robb Sandagata.

Craig Roland and I (who I claim responsible for really helping start our PLN) looking super!


There was way more.. too much to post. I will tell you that I got a lot of great ideas!! For example, after compiling all the information, I have a new approach to teaching that will really empower the student to make choices with his or her art. I plan to roll out in Art Two next year.

Stay tuned!!

Ian Sands

Southwest Wake News Like Critters

The Southwest Wake News like Critters, especially Crittacolors. Aliana Ramos stopped by the Apex high School art room and asked a few questions. the she typed up the following article.

You can read the the article here -->

http://www.southwestwakenews.com/2013/01/22/31167/critters-run-amok.html

CrittaColors Traveling Further

CrittaColors are starting to get out there. Sure these things always start local. Like the CrittaColor above, caught and colored right here in Apex, NC. However, it doesn't take long for these things to start traveling.... 

This guy showed up in Cary, NC. OK, not that far of a stretch. Cary is right next door to Apex but still it shows they are on the move.

What about this one? Which Wich is in Raleigh, NC. OK, we are still in the ballpark but at least this one os a double, right? :)

How about this little guy all the way in Boone, NC! Sure it's the same state but if this CrittaColor had traveled north or south instead of west, that distance would have put him in VA or SC respectfully.  

You can follow all the adventures of the CrittaColors on their Facebook page Facebook.com/Zonkeystreet!  Like it today!

Crushing Turtles : Done

Two years ago, while taking a vacation on Bald Head Island, I started a chapter book titled Crushing Turtles. This book was something much different then anything I had written before. A strange title, a strange subject matter and a little dark. I liked the characters right away, especially their voice. Of all the  parts of writing, voice has always been my favorite part. In fact, it was probably the character's voice that originally masked the dark storyline I was writing. 

Not long after starting the story, I stopped. I thought to myself, "Self, this isn't the type of thing you write." I was right of course. All of my previous chapter books had been whimsical. The topics were playful and the characters, though witty and perhaps charming, didn't discuss anything too deep.

Since that time, I tried my hand at writing several other books. Two failed attempts at writing art history books. Another incomplete chapter book and even an incomplete romance novel (though I still have it in my heart to finish that some day.)

It wasn't until I saw a tweet about NanoWritMo that I decided to pick up where I had left off. Even though it was deep or dark or whatever, I just wanted to see where the characters would take the story. I revised the old plot outline and began writing. 

I wrote a lot in November but it soon became clear that I would not finish this book by the end of the month. December rolled around. I had a decision to make. Shelf this book for another year or push through. I continued writing.

Chapters took forever. Where I had previously raced through a chapter in one seating, now took four or five nights just to write a few sentences. 

Then, the night before last I made a break though. I realized I had just written the second to last chapter. The most important chapter. The chapter that brings the story to it's ultimate climax. The rest was easy. 

So tonight I put the finishing words on a 5,000+ word chapter book that has taken me two years to write.  That might seem a less than heroic accomplishment to brag about.... 

but I'm still bragging. 

:)

Now for the revision process...

CrittaColors Out and About!

The CrittaColors are starting to pop up. The most recent sightings are local, staying close to the Raleigh, NC area but you know how these things tend to spread ;)

First up, Thursday... CrittaColor at the Music and Rock School learning to play guitar.

http://musicandrockschool.com/

Next stop, Friday: Look for this CrittaColor right around the corner from San Remo Italian Restaurant in Cary, NC

http://www.sanremoitaliangrill.com/main/

Third stop, Saturday: On The Border, Cary NC

http://www.ontheborder.com/location.aspx?RestaurantId=417.002.0038&Tab=0&OnlineEnabled=True

Keep up with all the places CrittaColors are popping up by Liking us on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/ZonkeyStreet

First Batch of CrittaColors Released!

Released the first batch of CrittaColors tonight starting in Raleigh, NC. 

CrittaColors are blocks of wood  with coloring book style art on the front and instructions for photographing and posting to our Facebook fan page on the back. Hot glued to each side are 3 crayons so you can color your CrittaColor.

Our first stop, the Tir Na Nog Pub in Downtown Raleigh  NC.  Released two CrittaColors there. Look for them next to the free magazines when you first enter the restaurant. 

Second stop, Cafe Luna. Cafe Luna is an Italian restaurant right around the corner from the fore mentioned pub. It is also right next to the bus depot where two other artworks have previously been displayed as part of the Art-On-The-Move program. Look for this CrittaColor right on the seat when you first enter the Cafe. 

Last stop for the evening was the Homewood Suites by Hilton in Apex, NC. Left on the table right by the fireplace. This is also part of the breakfast area so someone will have something to do while enjoying their morning coffee. 

If you find a CrittaColor or just want to follow along with all the Critter excitement, check out our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ZonkeyStreet