Spooky Story Time!

It's that time of year again, boys and girls, when this ghoulish art girl gets to create spooky book art!  Here are a few of my haunting books that have come out to play just in time for trick or treating!

This is a haunted house "remains of the day" book.  I have spent a few seasons on this gathering together just the right spooky stuff for each page spread...
...I think I am finally finished????

This is an 8 by 8" cardboard book.  Each page was painted and then collaged on with halloweeness I have been collecting.  It was fun to load up the pages and add a bit of writing here and there. 



This is a 4 by 4" chunky book created with my Altered Artists Group. 
We each made a page and they were bound together to create a fun little
(yet chunky) scary story.

The page on the left is mine, the right is by Yolanda.

The page on the left is by Bonnie, the right is by Wendy.

The page on the left is by Joyce, the right is by Jo.

This is my latest adventure in creating an altered halloween book.  I found a black covered book at the dollar store, a little frame in the dollar bins at Michael's and a lenticular portrait sticker to complete the cover.  I then got to "play" on the inside with black paint, stencils, and stamps.  I love how you can still see the writing through the paint, creating a truly haunting look to the story!

You can see more halloween themed books here.



12 by 12 squared



"31"
Stamps, papers, embellishments

I love to work in 12 by 12 dimensions.  It is a nice presentation size and a fun challenge!  These are a few "stamples" I have made for Mrs. O'Leary's in Wichita, KS.  I used the store's line of Artful Illusions stamps.  I also layered fun papers and embellishments, which are also available at the store.



"Age of Industry 123..."
Stamps, papers, gears, clock parts

"Haunted Visions"
Stamps, papers, embellishments

You can see more 12 by 12 art here.

A new perspective...

Throughout the year, 7th and 8th grade students work on projects dealing with perspective.  These assignments start simple in first semester 7th grade and build on previous knowledge in following semesters.  Here are just a few ideas using one, two, and multi-point perspective that my students have explored!

8th Grade Two-Point Perspective City in Sharpie.

7th Grade Bird's Eye View One-Point Perspective City in Pencil.

7th Grade One-Point Perspective Initials in Colored Pencil and Marker.

7th Grade Surrealist Room in One-Point Perspective with Marker.

8th Grade Two-Point Perspective City in Pencil.

8th Grade Multi-Point Perspective Surrealist Space with Creature in Sharpie.
See more of these here.

8th Grade Two-Point Perspective City in Sharpie.

7th Grade One-Point Perspective Initials in Marker.

8th Grade Multi-Point Perspective Surrealist Space with Creature in Sharpie.
See more of these here.



7th Grade Surrealist Room in One-Point Perspective with Colored Pencil.



7th Grade One-Point Perspective Room in Colored Pencil.



7th Grade One-Point Perspective Room in Pencil.



7th Grade One-Point Perspective Room with Sharpie and Collage.
See more of these here.

artful planner



This summer I took a workshop at Friends University in Wichita titled "Creative Planners for the Right-Brained Thinker."  My friend Ruth teaches this class, as well as many other art journal classes for teachers.  She is very inspiring and has lots of ideas on how teachers can be more creative for themselves and in the classroom!  This class was very helpful in getting me to be more artful in my planning process and to make my planner more enjoyable overall!  Here are a few of my pages so far:



"Back to School for this Middle School Girl"
Most of the pages have collage ephemera, stamping, doodlings
and a bit of room for writing.  The pages have a theme and are filled
with layers of fun stuff, yet can be added to anytime that I am inspired!

A sample of one of my week pages. 
These are opposite the collage pages and differ
in arrangement and colors by week.

"Shhhhhhhhh!"



"nest"



"can you imagine"

"fresh start"

"$$$"

"enigma"

"fragile"

"sparkle"