manatee mania

Manatee in acrylic on canvas board.

Did you know that March 25th is 

Manatee Appreciation Day???

I thought I would celebrate by posting some of the manatee art work from my collection.  I am slightly obsessed with manatees and I have been since forever.  So I can not help making manatee art whenever I need a theme and collecting it to make me happy.  

These are just a few of my collection...

Texturally gessoed masonite board, mixed media manatees.

Manatee hand carved by a local folk artist and bought at a craft sale for a buck!

Ceramic manatee mug I made in high school.

"Manatee and the Sea" Acrylic on canvas by my bestie Larissa.

I drew this manatee using Tombow markers.
Resourced from "How to Draw Baby Animals" by  Top That!  Publishing.

These are just a few of my manatee masterpieces.  Someday soon, I will post about middle school manatee art lessons and a few other masterpieces floating around here! 

And remember...Appreciate those manatees 

today (and everyday)!!!

Image by Peppermint Narwhal Creative

new canvases

I have been playing with canvases lately.  Here are a few of my creations.  Above is an 8 by 8 inch canvas with leaf stencil layers, and corrugated house shape over a piece of old quilt on top of a piece of cross stitch cloth.  This was inspired by a recent trip to my friend Ruth's lake house, and given to her as a house warming gift

The three canvases above were created using a gelli plate.  I knew I would put these in my mermaid/manatee themed bathroom (yes, it is true!) so I used colors that reminded me of the sea. They are 10 by 10 inch canvases and hung as a triptych, as shown here.  I love the layers created with the stencils and printing.  I also applied a thick medium through a word stencil to add a bit of a story element to the series.  It reads "come together in beauty, release and surrender, yesterday, today, and tomorrow."

This is a series I created inspired by a class by Donna Downey.  The challenge was to create ten 10 by 10 canvases in ten days.  I decided to complete five 12 by 12 canvases in 5 days. I mostly used Tim Holtz distressing ink pads and sprays to apply the colors. I also used a house theme for my added ephemera.

I always enjoy the challenge of working on a canvas.  

You can see more of my canvases here.

Gru says...

This semester, I was again inspired by Gru and his minions to create a bulletin board using student minion drawings. This board reminds students of art class expectations (according to Gru, of course, from the movie Despicable Me)...You can see another minion inspired board here.

Keith Haring Collaboration

Another 8th grade collaboratively enlarged painting.  I decided to stay with Keith Haring this year, as last year's turned out so well.  I love how happily graphic these turn out...You can see more enlarged collaborations here, here, here, and here.

Keith Haring's Original

journal lovin'

More of what keeps the art teacher happy...
creative planner journaling...

You can see more of my planner journaling 

here, here, here, and here.