New beginnings

I feel like this summer I held on a little longer than usual. My family and I had the chance to go on our first "solo" family vacation with just the four of us. We decided on a New England road trip of sorts, with Acadia National Park being our farthest point from our home in Ambler. This place is like a dream for landscape artists, canners/preservers, and hiking enthusiasts! We had the most thrilling time exploring, and I was able to even squeeze in some painting time. 

As the school year approached, I felt like I was ready to return with a fresh perspective... this is the first full year in the new school, and I was excited to embrace some things that I really did not get to achieve during the previous year. In addition to continuing to decorate and add on more visuals to the classroom walls, I made the decision to bring in my pottery wheel from home into the kiln room, with hope that I will be able to show the artists' wheel throwing throughout the school year. There may now be a need to begin the search for additional wheels to add  on to the studio over time for further practice :)

I also feel incredibly lucky that this year that I will be able to participate in two exciting Art Education PD opportunities... PAEA in Philadelphia and NAEA in New York City. In the coming weeks, I will also welcome my first student teacher into the Art room. 

We had some really great professional development sessions in late August, and I also was able to lead one session on "mini watercolors" which was part of our wellness series. Check out these fantastic artworks from Enfield staff!

After our in-service week, the last three weeks of school have gone by in lightning speed. I have (almost!) met all of my artists this year, and we have reviewed classroom routines, expectations, and had the opportunity to put on a "TINY ART SHOW" to kick off the school year. The next few weeks will continue to be introductory projects, such as "line monsters" for Kindergarten; "self portraits" for First Grade, and "abstract name designs" for Second Grade. Finished artwork to come!