Upstream People Gallery Online Art Exhibit

"Walking Through The Fire" Isaiah 43:2

"Passing Through The Waters" Isaish 43:2

This week I received some very great news! I have been accepted into the 12th Annual Judeo-Christian Online Juried Art Exhibit that is currently on the website of Upstream People Gallery in Omaha, Nebraska! This show will be online for an entire year. There were 130 applicants and I was chosen along with about 4 or 5 other artists. Walking Through the Fire (Isaish 43:2), Passing Through the Waters (Isaiah 43:2), Angel Aura, Smooth Landing, and Three Crosses-John 3:16 are the titles of the artworks that are in this show. You can view it on http://www.upstreampeoplegallery.com/. I am hoping this exhibit will bring me a lot more exposure and lead to sales!

This has been an interesting week. I have had both victories and battles. There was victory with the Upstream People Gallery show and there was the victory of finally getting a tenant for one of our rooms downstairs. But there were also battles. This week one of our cars broke down and we were without a second vehicle all week long. We had to rearrange our schedule a bit. I also had to deal with a situation that was so stressful, it made me physically ill. I had to set a boundary with a person who was taking advantage of me and playing control & power games. It was hard and I had to endure anger and some pain. But it was worth it to me. My artwork (pictured above), Walking Through the Fire and Passing Through the Waters, illustrates that it is possible to go through difficult situations and still come out of them safely without getting harmed. And you become a strong person for it too.

We have also had some very "wierd" weather this spring break week. At a time when you would expect springtime weather, it suddenly turns to snow, hail, wind, rain and the temperature drops about 20 degrees. Suddenly you feel you are in winter again. You feel discouraged because it looks like spring got lost! But you have to look beyond the circumstances because in a week or two, spring weather will appear and it will be different. I thought that this is a good illustration of life--especially mine! Sometimes when things seem really bad and you think there is no hope, circumstances change suddenly. Things aren't always the way they seem. That is definitely the lesson that the weather has taught me this week.

Classroom Netiquette Guidelines

As part of my homework assignment for Education Technology, I am posting my classroom rules for using the internet. Internet etiquette is called "Netiquette". I typed this and formatted it in Word 2007 but it didn't copy exactly when I tried to paste it to this blogsite and it left out the nice looking art graphic. Since my goal is to teach high school art, this was made for high school students in mind.

Classroom Netiquette Guidelines
Boise Campus High School


Don’t Hurt Others

* Treat others as you would want them to treat you. Remember that people on the internet are real people too.

* Be polite and courteous. Don’t use the internet for swearing, anger, threats or insulting people.


* DON’T USE ALL CAPITALS! It is interpreted as “shouting” and is rude.

Be Responsible & Ethical

* Use classroom computers appropriately. Do not use them to exchange personal information, especially passwords.

* Do not download any files, photos, music or video without your teacher’s permission.

* Visit only the Internet sites provided to you by teacher. Never search online without having an adult with you. There are unsafe sites on the internet.

* Respect other people’s privacy

* Make sure the information you post on the internet is correct and factual.

* Respect other people’s time when using in-class computers. If other people are waiting to use the classroom computer, don’t “hog” the computer.

* Do not plagiarize. Cite your sources.

Communicate Effectively & Exercise Good Writing Skills

* Communicate in a way that makes you look good. Use proper grammar & spelling. Write clearly.
* Respond properly to emails and other online messages. Show people that you value their time.

Take Care of the Equipment

* Do not eat or drink around computers or keyboards. Do not place food or drink around them.
* Always log-out (sign-off) of computers when you are finished.

Women's Show of Idaho

GOOD NEWS! I found out this week that I have been accepted into the Women's Show of Idaho as one of the 15 featured artists! HAPPY, HAPPY, JOY, JOY! And I don't have to pay any booth fee! This is really good news and will be good exposure for my business, Chick Artistic Creations. I will have a booth and I may also be giving a demonstration as well. It will be on May 8th, Saturday, at the Idaho fairgrounds (now called Idaho Expo).

MORE GOOD NEWS!! I may have at least one person, maybe two, who are interested in becoming a tenant and renting one of the rooms downstairs. This will help us tremendously, bringing extra income. Now I don't have to feel so pressured to go out and get some part-time job which I really don't have time for anyway with my classes, homework, taking care of the house, and working my art business. When is there any time for art work anyway? It is kind of difficult to be an artist if you NEVER have any time for your artwork!

The Cat Show

The Cat Show has come and gone and I am at home now getting ready for school on Monday. I really enjoyed the show and seeing all the cute kitty-cats. I didn't do as well in sales as I did the previous years, but I made some good contacts. And I did enough sales that it was worth it to me. I connected with a few more people who are interested in taking art lessons from me. I also may do some collaboration work with another vendor, combining her products with my art work.

The only mishap I had during this show is that my cash box locked up and I couldn't get it open. I had put all my change and important papers for the cat show inside it. (Murphy's Law strikes again!) I had lost the key a long time ago so forget trying to unlock it! So my husband pried it open. By the time it was open, it was all bent and smashed and wasn't worth keeping. So I tossed it out.

I had a sort of epiphany this weekend. I decided that instead of wasting my time looking for a part-time job that I can NEVER find, I am just going to expand my art business and make that my job. I was meant to be an artist and an art teacher and I am TIRED of splitting myself into two careers--my art business and another non-art related part-time job. I really need more time for my art, not less time. Since the bad economy is making is near to impossible to find a job right now, I might as well work at what I do the best--making art, selling art, and giving art lessons!

So if I'm going to step it up I am going to have to find more time to actually create art. I want to offer some new product lines when I do shows. I haven't decided yet what those products will be.

The Cat Show and New Art Students!

"Got Milk?" Time to get you cleaned up

ready for the cat show March 20-21 at the Idaho Fairgrounds!

This weekend I turned on my computer and the monitor started doing some wierd things, then I saw what looked like a black silhouette of a person staring back at me. I thought, "Wow, this looks like something I've seen on Ghost Hunters!" But it was NOT paranormal--just your average, everyday normal monitor burn out! It is interesting that my monitor decided to blow up on the weekend that my husband was on a business trip. I think that my computer planned it that way. Anyway, it turned out not to be too much of a problem. Sunday, I went to a thrift store and got a used monitor for only $4.00 and it works great! This recession/depression has made me a very thrifty shopper.

This week my main goal is to prepare (as an art vendor) for the Cat Show at the Idaho Fairgrounds this weekend. I am making sure that I have enough rock animals, prints and note cards. Then I will set up the show on Friday afternoon. I advertised this show on my facebook page. I hope lots of people come and that I make really good sales!

Some good news!! I am just beginning to start art lessons again at my home. I got a call from a former art student who wants to take more lessons, so the first lesson was Saturday. It felt good to be teaching art at my home again. I have missed doing this.

It was WONDERFUL to
actually get paid for doing something that I love to do! I also got another call from someone who wants art lessons as well, so things are really looking up! Maybe this is a sign that the recession is going away??? This is not a great time to be earning a living as a freelance artist, but these two new art students gave me hope!

Hmmm... since I got two new students, maybe I should try for more! I'm going to work on some ideas to get more students. Perhaps the time is right to reopen the Beverly Chick Art School that was temporarily closed due to poor economy.

Spreadsheets

My version of Rock Art--A "Stone Critter" Isn't he cute?

This is another blog entry that is part of my Ed Tech Class homework. I am evaluating a spreadsheet lesson plan called "Sacred Art" that I found on the Building Bridges with Technology web site.

Description of Project: This evaluation was divided into six categories: Activity Description, Learning Issues, Resource Management, Materials, Assessment & Other. It included the following:

• A study of Tibetan Buddhist Monks and sacred sand Mandala art. This study included watching a PowerPoint Presentation, study questions to answer, and an opportunity to actually observe some Buddhist Monks creating a Mandala.


• Taking a look at Navajo Sand Paintings which have interesting parallels with Tibetan Mandalas


• Students use Internet to find examples of Navajo Rock Art and also take a look at the rock art of southern Idaho.


• Students create their own rock art then they make their own PowerPoint presentation on rock art.

This presentation was for 9th graders, which is the same grade level (9-12 grade) that I would use it for. I was intrigued by this lesson because it had to do with rock art. I am a rock animal artist and thought it would be fun to use this lesson to teach my version of rock animal painting.

I would change this lesson just a little. I wouldn't include the Buddhist Monk Mandalas or Navajo Sand paints, but would focus mostly on the rock art of the Native American Indians, including their cultural beliefs about spirit animals, and the rock art from India. I might not have as many activities as the original presentation did, which was about 20 hours long. But I would include things like actual hands-on rock art painting, class written assignments, maybe some Internet and PowerPoint projects too. It would be cool to include a museum field trip.

Cool Teachers Podcast Episode 40

Today I listened to Episode 40 of Cool Teachers Podcast. This blog is actually part of my homework for Education Technology Class. Anyway, this podcast talked about a tool or program you can use that has to do with Fair Use laws. You go to the Creative Comments website and you can get anything licensed on this website under "Attribution." This intrigues me because we studied Fair Use in my Art 108 3-D class last semester. There was a lesson on Attribution and Fair Use. I need to find this website and check it out because I can definitely use this in the art classes I teach and will teach in the future.

In my Art 108 3-D class the teacher said that the Fair Use Law says anything out there in the public is okay to use in your art as long as you don't copy it exactly. Generally, if the original art has been transformed to look like something else, it shouldn't be illegal. But sometimes this argument doesn't work if a lot of money is involved that has to do with how much money the artist received from the art that was appropriated.

Another thing on this Episode 40 of Cool Teacher's Podcast that I found interesting was about Sploder.com. This is a video game site where you can create your own games. I am not really a video game person but this intrigued me because you can use these games in your classroom as a clever way to get your students to interact with each other, and learn something at the same time. Cool idea!