Kickstarter Launched to Help Us Get to Junior VASE!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1423282488/help-middle-school-artists-compete-at-junior-vase

Congratulations to Jerry's Art-A-Rama Winners and Partcipants!

Congratulations to all the students who participated in the Jerry's Artarama (Austin) 8" x 10" Middle School Art Competition! Accolades toMean Willie Green whose student won 3rd place in Sculpture, students ofAnna Mack who won 1st and 2nd place in Photography and sold a work as well, to students of Megan Pailin who also won several awards, and to my students who placed 4th in Sculpture and sold a ceramic "Krusty Burger." Muchas gracias at Brittany Stracke and the rest of the gang at Jerry's Art a Rama for all your hard work and support!

Work is on display through May 31st at Jerry's Art-A-Rama, 6010 N Interstate Highway 35, Austin, TX 78752

The Selfie: Self-Portraits in a Post Modern World

My Art I advanced 8th graders have really grown in their drawing skills this year as we approach graduation. Incorporating personal relevance and the popularity of "The Selfie," students took their own digital self-portraits in black in white or edited in iphoto with different filters and then translated them into beautiful graphite drawings or acrylic painting on canvas boards. We learned about the art element color and value and students were required to create a 6 stage value scale and use this as reference for their drawings.

For Art History reference, we looked at and evaluated the tradition of representations of the human form from prehistoric times such as the Caves of Lascaux

up through contemporary art and learned about Chuck Close

and Kehinde Wiley

. We discussed why it is that humans continue to recreate visual interpretations of ourselves over so many thousands of years and why is it that the "Selfie" has become so popular?

Their portraits were on display at our Del Valle ISD District FIne Arts Event and one student, Ashley Landaverde,   won an award and will be on display at the Austin Bergstrom International Airport.

 Many more "Selfies" and other work are currently on display at Jerry's Art-A-Rama 8X10 Middle School Art competition in Austin April 1-May 31st.