Idaho Art Education Association Conference

Picture on the left: when I was nominated and voted in as President Elect of the Idaho Art Education Association. Pictured from left; Dr. Kathleen Keys, Bonnie (key note speaker), Jonie Cashman outgoing president, Jackie incoming president elect, and Karen Fothergill, who moved from president elect position to president. The picture on the right is of the 2010 conference. Pictured from left to right; Karen Fothergill, President, Jackie Nelson, President Elect, Nancy Walkup, Keynote Speaker, Robin Grey, Secretary, Estuardo Miranda, Treasurer, Keith

Farnsworth, Vice President. Each board member serves 2 years in any one position and they may hold a different position every two years, but they may only serve in the president position one time.

Two years ago in October I submitted an application to present at the Idaho Art Education Association Conference in Hailey, Idaho. This opprtunity came through a class I was taking with Kathleen Keys, I believe it was "Elementary School Art Methods". One of the requirements for the class was developing a lesson plan and teaching it to our classmates. I had a bunch of old computer parts that I wanted to do something with and decided that it would be cool if elementary school kids could create a picture on cardboard with the parts. I decided that robots would be a better idea. Part of the lesson plan revolved around toxic waste that went into landfills and the harm it could do to animals and humans alike. In any case, I ended up presenting and during the business breakfast the next morning I was approached and asked if I would consider taking the President Elects position on the IAEA board. I accepted, then I was nominated and voted in. Since then I have helped plan two conferences and held my President Elect position for two years, this October I take over as President. Nancy serves on the Texas Art Education Assocation board. It was a wonderful conference and despite all the education cuts and the in-service days being taken away in some districts we still had a huge turnout of teachers.

Sculpture Pour

Last semester was both tough and exciting. I took a 300 level sculpture class with Francis Fox at Boise State University and experienced from start to finish what it is like to create bronze sculpture (small scale of course). It all starts with a wax carving, then comes the 7 dips into the slip and the silica with 6 hours of drying time in between, this creates a hard shell around the outisde of the wax. That shell is then baked in a large kiln, the wax melts out and the shell hardens. We then get to check for cracks and do any repairs to the shell before t

he bronze pour. Next we get to strap the shells onto a cage and while those heat up in the kiln, the metal is heating to a certain melting temperature. Once we have reached that temperature, the cage comes out and the hot bronze is poured into the cavity of teh shells. Once cooled, the shell is broken away and voila you have your bronze sculpture. Then of course there are the finishing touches. But that is it in a nutshell. Sounds easy right . . . . not! Here are some pics.

My Temporary Classroom

These are pictures of my classroom at Gateway. The artroom is huge, it has it's own supply closet, coatroom with hooks for the kids coats and storage for their artwork, there are 7 tables and each table sits 5+ kids. Tons of display space for their artwork including a huge bulletin board outside of the classroom. I love teaching these kids and I'm excited to spend this spring and part of next fall with them. Next I get to move onto Middle and High School.

Photography

This is another one of my favorite pastimes, photography. I haven't spent much time as late playing around with my new camera, but Sunday morning I went for a walk amongst all the frost covered sidewalks, shrubs and leaves. I have this thing about having to look at every little thing when I am out for a walk ( I think that comes from my beachcombing days in Maine) and I was noticing how beautiful the frost made everything, so after my fist walk around the block, I headed back at home and grabbed my camera. I made a few more rounds and these are a few of the shots I took.

Batiking

This is one of my all time favorite things to do, Batiking. My family and I spent three weeks in Driggs this summer, just on the other side of Jackson Hole,Wyoming where my in-laws live. I usually load the car up with art supplies, my husband with fishing gear, and our daughter with much anticipation of seeing her cousins and having three weeks of just pure play time. The cousins look forward to the creative time. They are amazing budding artists themselves.

Empty Bowls

This is only a few of the Art Metals Club members who sunk bowls for the Idaho Food Bank's Empty Bowls project this year. This is a yearly event that the club participates in and one that raises money for the Idaho Food Bank. The bowls go up for auction each November and that money goes toward helping the needy in the form of food. Pictured from left to right: Ellen Crosby, Vicki Stevenson, Jackie Nelson Club President, Professor Anika Smulovitz, and Hailey Breaux, Secretary.