So, I'm having a baby...

In case you haven't heard, I'm about 7 months pregnant right now.  It doesn't have a lot to do with school at first glance... but in reality, it's a pretty major impact to our everyday lives here in the art room.

First of all, I guess I never really TRULY realized what a physically demanding job it is to be an art teacher!  I'm on my feet a LOT.  I crawl on the floor.  I lean over and use muscles while working on the pottery wheel, or just helping others to use it.  I climb on tables.  I climb under tables.  I climb ladders and step stools to put up displays and bulletin boards and fill the display cases.  I haul 50 pound boxes of clay.  I lug around gallons of paint from table to counter, sink to overhead shelves... I pour and clean out large buckets of water and clay sludge.  I lean over the kiln, loading and unloading - as my feet dangle over the edge! 

...But not now.  Even bending down to pick up a single piece of stray newspaper garbage or dropped pencil is a huge painful chore!  I am feeling utterly useless in this room on a daily basis.  The worst part is my sudden severe onset of carpal tunnel in my right hand (uh, yeah, I'm right handed).  I can hold a pencil for about 10-15 minutes before the grip becomes so painful and tingly that I have to stop.

I'm an art teacher!!!  I want to draw with my students!!!  I have to grade papers!!!

This kind of stinks.

Ok, done whining.  I know I'll forget it all when I look into my gorgeous little baby boy's face in late January (when I'm due).  I hope that whoever takes over for me in the meantime does the art program justice and keeps my room in relatively organized shape so that when I come back it's not "too" bad...

In the meantime, students ask me all kinds of questions about the baby: 

• Will I come and visit?  - Yes, sure I will.  
• Do I know if it's a boy or girl?  - Yes, it's a boy.
• What am I going to name him?  - It's a secret.
• If I guess the name, will you tell me?  - No.
• Is it going to be a weird name?  - I hope not.
• You should name him ______ (fill in the blank with your name here). - Um, thanks.  I'll keep that in mind.
• Is he going to be an artist like you and Mr. Leban?  - Well, I sure hope so, but he's entitled to his own interests and free will...

Earlier this week, Lauren, an 8th grader, decided to submit to me her list of baby name ideas:

I like that she thought I might name the baby Jean Baptiste or Guillome, especially seeing as neither Mr. Leban or I are French - but perhaps we might like those anyways?  How culturally open-minded of her!  I also enjoyed her suggestions for alternate spellings.

Things like this make coming to school and waddling down the hallways not so bad.  My students are awesome.

Milwaukee Art Museum

Disclaimer: I'm totally ripping off Mr. Leban's post about our family field trip to the Milwaukee art museum.  Want proof?  Visit his page at www.mrleban.com or the original post here.

Here's a collection of 12 photos Mr. Leban put together from the trip that he and I made to the Milwuakee Art Museum several weeks back. The architecture of the building is amazing. We even had the opportunity to see the building "open" while we were there. If you're ever up north, I suggest you stop in.


1. The lobby of the museum.

2. A pencil bag I bought at the gift shop.

3. Me on the bridge. The "sails" of the
building are open in the background.

4. A view of the courtyard from the bridge.









5. Chinese Contemporary Warriors
by artist Yue Minjun.
6. I'm scolding a Cy Twombly.

7. Andy Warhol

8. Roy Lichtenstein









9. "St. Dionysus" by Kehinde Wiley

10. Shadow box by Martha Glowacki

11. A cool sculpture but I forget the artist.

12. "Refrigerator Pies" by Wayne Thiebaud









We had a lot of fun on this trip.  We even took our dog with us!  He wasn't allowed into the museum, of course.  He had to hang out at the hotel.  I don't think he minded, though - he had an entire full sized bed to himself!

Have you been to any art museums lately?

Functional Glazed Mugs by Eighth Grade

In Eighth grade this year, we made mugs - functional mugs that can be used to actually drink out of here at school!  The idea is that students can use them in their Language Arts classes during SSR (sustained silent reading) in the library while they drink hot chocolate.  This is a tradition that's gone on in our school for several years now, but typically with styrofoam cups or store-bought mugs brought in from home.

I thought to myself, "How fun would it be to promote reading, visual arts, and being environmentally-friendly all in one project?!"  And the mug project was born.  This is our first glaze firing of the year, and my first glaze firing with students, EVER.  I used Teacher's Palette glazes from Amaco.  I think the final projects turned out really cute!

The theme of the mug design is your favorite book or book genre.  We built these mugs by hand, from slab construction.  We rolled a cylinder, gave it a bottom, and added a handle.  The decorating was entirely up to the students!

I used my Hipstamatic iPhone app to take these photos, which give them a bit of a vintage feel.  I started using my iPhone more frequently for photography since last weekend, when Mr. Leban and I went on a family vacation to the Milwaukee Art Museum.  But more about that soon...

FREE Mask-Making Workshop for students!

Mrs. Leban is looking for talented artists interested in creating decorative masks out of plaster after school. These masks will be donated to the District 205 Foundation and used as decorations for their Midnight Masquerade fundraiser on October 22nd.

The Sandburg art room has benefitted from several District Foundation grants – the most recent being this year’s new SMARTboard and set of 3 iPads! We’d like to thank the Foundation for their generosity by making as many masks as possible to help decorate at their event.

This opportunity is open to ALL Sandburg Middle School students, grades six through eight, regardless of whether you’ve had art this year or not.

You must be able to attend all of the dates listed below, in order to finish your mask on time for our deadline, which is October 19th. IT WILL GET MESSY, SO BE PREPARED!

Here’s when we’ll be meeting:

• · Wednesday, October 5th from 3:20 to 4:20 in the art room
• · Wednesday, October 12th from 3:20 to 4:20 in the art room
• · Friday, October 14th from 3:20 to 4:20 in the art room
• · Monday, October 17th from 3:20 to 4:20 in the art room (optional, if time is needed)

All you need to bring is yourself! A 4:20 bus is available to take home for $1 each day, if needed. Otherwise, you must plan for your own transportation home.

Any questions? Please email or talk to Mrs. Leban in the art room (room 027 in the basement).

Masterpiece Me!

Last week, I gave the art room iPads to a few eighth grade students who finished their work early.  One of the apps we had a ton of fun playing with is called "Masterpiece Me!" and you get to put your photo into a famous work of art!  Here's a little gallery of some of the photos that were made:

Can you spot Mr. Leban as the Mona Lisa in the photos above?