"Owl" Always Love you Starry Night!

Hello there Art Teachers! How many of you have your own Etsy shop? With all of the creativity we have it is a great place to share our talents, love, and artistic voice! I have some new items added to my shop, and here is one you might enjoy! The Starry Night "Owl always love you" Necklace. Enjoy! Happy Creating.

Seraphic Arts Etsy Shop

Making Time for your ARTISTIC VOICE!

So I know that it is key to stay active and a practicing artist as an art educator. How can we teach art yet not practice our own craft, love and passion? Being an elementary art teacher is such fun, rewarding and at times overwheleming because of the large amount of tasks we have as we care and educate the young minds. So by the time we reach our homes, we run for the couch, snuggle up with our pets, and relax our brains, feet, and bodies from a running around and thrilling day of paint. This past year I promised to be more active in the art community and in my own artistic needs. So I re-vamped my ETSY account, painted and sold my work at a craft show, sold numerous pieces on ETSY and to friends and family, and had two paintings in shows both in Philly and now in Lancaster. PLEASE remember your passion and love for making art-do NOT loose that love and passion just because our jobs can be exhausting--stay creative and do what you LOVE. MAKE THE TIME!!!!!

My piece was accepted for the Crow Show that is being held in Lancaster, PA. The show is titled "Something to Crow About" and will be on display the First Friday of February. It will be on display and for sale at The Mulberry Art Studios.

My ETSY Shop: Seraphic Arts

Collaborative Art:Exploring The Starry Night

Here it is folks! The beautiful collaborative mural I have been working on with my kindergarten students through 4th grade students. They all worked so very hard on this display and have done such a beautiful job. Not all of the Starry Night Kinder paintings are displayed yet and there are a few more houses needed to be add at the bottom. The students hung and displayed this all on their own. Just a small bit of guidance from the art teacher fairy that was sitting on their shoulder as well....hehe. I shared these images on the Art Teachers Facebook Page and I am currently making an in depth resource lesson that will soon be posted on Teachers Pay Teachers. I will have a brief Free version posted on my blog within the next week. Thank you all for the compliments and support of their hard work!

Masks! MuahaHaHaHa!

So these winter months and this yucky winter weather has been such a drag! I wanted some excitement in the art room and my 6th graders are currently working on clay masks. They had to research a particular culture,festival, or event that has incorporated masks and story telling throughout time and throughout cultures. After they chose they had to write 5 facts about the particular culture they researched. Afterwards, they had to choose two different cultures and combine them into a mask design of their choice. So far they are fabulous and the students are very engaged. I can't wait to show you and to see the final results! What clay projects are you working on with your students?

New and Exciting Lessons on Teachers Pay Teachers!

Welcome back to the new school year! haha Literally, it is 2015 and today felt like the first day for how sluggish the kiddos were in the classroom. Motivating them was like pulling teeth! If you are lost on ideas for the winter months hopefully some of my lessons or power points can help inspire you! I have been revamping and editing my lessons on my teachers-pay-teachers account. I have an array of lessons that are for both elementary and middle school level students. I hope you enjoy the lessons I have to share with you all and I look forward to posting more resources for you in the future! Creative Wishes, Ashley

ART TEACHERS! I am sorry I have been M.I.A!

Hey there everyone, it has been such a long time since I have gotten on here. Life hit and it has been one crazy ride. A woman totaled my car, I was going to doctors and therapy, and well it is the holiday season, so I have been on the go. I had my first craft show/fair and sold some of my jewelry, art, and artistic treasures and I have been in the studio working on a lot of new pieces. WOAH! Hope everyone is enjoying life and being creative! Visit my shop, I am still working on vamping it up :)

Visit my Etsy Shop!

My after school arts club/group that I created called "The Creative Minds" was featured in our local newspaper. If you are interested in the group and creating a chapter of your own at your school, join our facebook group/page called "The Creative Minds." We are a service learning arts group that helps create beauty through the arts in our local and school communities. 

Read the Article Here!

The Art of Freedom- Exploring the work of Jasper Johns and America's History

This lesson was done my 4th grade students. I have not done this lesson in a few years and I thought this would be the perfect year to use my book and some of my history books for this lesson. 

Students brought in their own newspapers and cardboard pieces from home. 

We cut 3 sizes, small, medium, and large-pre-cut by the teacher.

Students modge-podged each cardboard piece with newspapers. Let dry, and then next class we painted the white stripes. The following class we painted the red, blue, and white stars. We then let dry, and used small cardboard squares behind each piece to make it 3-D and a relief similar to Jasper Johns work. 

This piece below is the work done by Jasper Johns, Three Flags, 1958 that we used as inspiration. We discussed symbolism, freedom, America, and what those topics mean to them.

We used this book by Bob Raczka as inspiration and talked about using America as a subject in a work of art and why artists have chosen to use America in their art work.