We completed our second mural at Brooks Elementary Museum Magnet. The school recently unveiled their new dinosaur mascot! This mural is based on the dinosaur exhibits at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. The students painted in the background- and each created their own dinosaur. We are so happy with the results!
Root elementary forest creatures!
We were excited to be back at Root working with first graders again! They were each assigned to paint an animal native to NC forests. So expressive!
Panther at Pleasant Union!
We created this Africa themed mural with the fifth graders at Pleasant Union. Each student painted an African flag to create the border. Students painted with black and metallic paints to create textures for the panther. Then the students created gradient paintings for us to piece together to make the background. This mural highlights the international theme of the school.
Mural at Ashley Chapel Education Center
We created a mural with the middle and high school students at Ashley Chapel Education Center in Rockingham, NC. It was a really fun project and we appreciate that the kids put forward their very best efforts. Special thanks to Jan Allen, principal Monica Robinson, Angela Gallagher, and Karen Good who helped us immensely! We really enjoyed our time in Rockingham and we are so pleased with the mural the kids created-
Mural in Elizabeth City NC
We created a mural for the Elizabeth City Public Library in collaboration with the Arts of the Albermarle. The project was part of the Kids Splash event and made possible by the Kate Dean endowment for the arts. Kate was a young girl who loved making art that passed away in Elizabeth City. In her memory there is an endowment that ensures art activities and classes for kids living in Elizabeth city.
The start of the color run!
We were set up in the middle off Main Street right outside of the Arts of the Albermarle. We gridded out the painting, then i I sketched out the design in pencil, then we outlined everything so it was ready for the community to paint.
With the Pasquotank County Mobile Library!
Ingrid was our photographer - I think she got some good shots!
We had two separate 4 x 5 foot pantings going at once.
Working hard - the weather was a little misty so it added a texture to some of the paint.
Mixing some paint colors.
The mural features a tiger on the left that is based on a drawing by Kate Dean. The finished piece will be installed in the kids section in the WC Witherspoon Memorial Library in downtown Elizabeth City, NC. We are excited to come back and see it!
Big thanks to Kate Dean Foundation, Arts of the Albermarle, Lauren Luther and Kim Perry and the Arts of the Abermarle for marking it happen.
Screenprinting at Penland
So I was delighted to Penland School of Craft to study screenprinting with Hope Rovelto. It was great to be back again! There really is nothing quite like the Penland experience. Learning, working and meeting all kinds of awesome artists.
One of my favorite buildings at Penland - the historic dye house.
Hope demonstrating screen printing techniques.
Working up some new designs in the darkroom.
Got it all set up to print a few t-shirts! Hope brought her mo0bile printing press - it is mounted on a bike.
Dog Eat Dog!
My friend Sarah with the finished product.
Owl power sweatshirt!
In progress printing.
Monique and I hard at work.
Proofing the design.
Dog Eat Dog on paper.
Sarah and Monique working in the print shop.
Group photo of the class. What a wonderful group of people!
At the art show!
My friend Philipe with his neon sculpture.
On the trails of Penland. Not only is the main campus amazing - there are trails around campus that you can hike.
World Map mural at Pleasant Union!
We had so much fun spending a week with the kids at Pleasant Union! We got the chance to work with every student for this whole- school mural. Then5th graders did ocean creatures for the water part of the globe. The continents were created using pointillism and topographical maps as inspiration. We had fun painting outer space using deep blues, purples, blacks and some shiny interference paint. We were so impressed with these kids- they did a great job!
Apex Elementary Cougar Mural
We just finished this cougar mural for the Apex Elementary cafeteria. Measuring 8 feet by 12 feet this is sure to grab your attention! We worked with the whole school on this mural- every student helped!
The mural of Alex’s mascot was inspired in part by Vassily Kandinsky, Yayoi Kusama, and Jacob Laurence.
Some action shots of the kids working.
Poe Panda Mural!
Poe Elementary is a GT magnet, which offers a lot of electives to help students explore their interests. For their mural we worked with the whole school. We painted the panda, their mascot, holding a string instrument to represent their music program. The younger students painted panda fur texture using shades of white and black with combs, as well as abstract patterns in reddish browns for the instrument. The older students painted textual pieces for the background in specific palettes to create a color shift from light turquoise to lime green. They also painted items and symbols representing the many electives Poe offers. We had a lot of fun working with the kids at Poe!
Pine Hollow Middle School
Anna and I just completed a residency at Pine Hollow Middle School. We worked with all the students that were taking art class. Each student painted a plane - their mascot is the pilots!
Community Mural in Camden, NC
Anna and I had the pleasure to create a mural for the Camden county public library- children’s section. We invited the patrons of the library and the community in general to help paint the mural.
Since Camden is an agricultural community- I included 3 of their crops in the design- corn, wheat and soybeans. I also included the local wildlife- bears, river otters, alligators and a deer.
We had a lot of fun creating this mural and as always enjoyed visiting eastern North Carolina.
Leadmine Elementary leopards mural
We just finished with these two large leopard heads to be installed in the cafeteria at Leadmine Elementary! They will be looking at each other when they are installed. We had the kids first paint the leopard fur in yellow and blues and then create a couple of texture squares where we used stencils, bubble wrap and combs. As always thanks to the PTA, United Arts Council and Leadmine Elementary for making it happen!
Making stickers with sticker mule!
So Anna (www.AnnaPodris.com) and I have been making stickers with Sticker Mule for a few years now. The sticker quality is great! The stickers last a long time. I sometimes see a car go by with one of my stickers from years past - colors still vibrant! Also the colors are consistent with what I send them.
Here is a link to their site - to make awesome laptop stickers.
Some of my stickers on my laptop - I didn’t make the Mario or Kirby - I just liked them!
Beaver sticker is crushing it on my Yeti.
Some of Anna’s stickers on her iPad.
Bumper stickers, magnets and buttons.
Random palette photo.
Washington Elementary mural project
We just completed this mural with the fifth graders at Washington Elementary School. The theme was based on my “Quilted Grid” paintings so we showed the students some paintings from the series for inspiration. The students created their own squares with a self portrait, a school icon, or a word that inspired them. We worked in person and also with the virtual students. Once we got all the pieces back we glued them down to a piece of plywood to create these inspiring pieces.
A completed piece at the studio.
The glue bottle was named Frank!
One of the finished mural panels at Washington Elementary.
Partnership Elementary mural project
We created this self-portrait and community members project with the students of Partnership Elementary to reflect the community in and around the school. Funded by Partnership PTA and the United Arts Council of Wake County.
Students were shown how to create a portrait using proportion and color mixing to show light and dark colors.
A just finished group of portraits and community members.
The pieces the students created were glued onto a larger piece of plywood and displayed in the playground at the school.
Wonderful details by the students.
We got a lot of attention during the installation!
Lead Mine Elementary Leopard mural
We were happy to work at Lead Mine again! Two years ago we made a bird installation with the fifth graders. This time we made a mural featuring the school’s mascot.
The kids worked hard, stayed focused and gave us some of their best creativity! Each student painted a portion of the background- with the inspiration of Van Gogh’s Starry Night. They also painted fur texture that we used for the leopard. Also each student created a spot. Inside of each spot is a “P2” trait- essentially symbols representing the school’s values- love of learning, compassion, fairness, ect.
The mural will be installed on the exterior of the school by the bus loop.
York Elementary Bulldog Mural
We have recently completed a mural at York Elementary.
Working in the schools is tough during a pandemic but we came up with a ways to create a virtual mural. The kids were send home paint and a piece of tyvek to paint on an then watched instructional videos we created to create their pieces..
Here is the finished piece at York Elementary!
AB Combs Elementary Artists in Residence
We just finished a mural project at AB Combs Elementary. Combs is a leadership magnet school and they wanted a mural to reflect that. I thought my animals in business suits would be perfect- then I was excited to find out their mascot is the alligator! They also wanted an international theme to reflect their diverse student population. The students created the flags separately and added to the mural towards the end. Ms. McKinney, the art teacher, was awesome to work with and we are really excited wit the finished product. Combs has a artsy vibe from the moment you walk in with tons of art displays in the halls and a very home like atmosphere. The kids were great- they worked hard and created something they can be proud of!
The finished product installed in the area of the school they call the swamp.
Penland - Etch-a-Sketch
Penland - Etch-a-Sketch
Back at Penland after a two year hiatus. This time I took Etch-a-Sketch with Jay Fox and got to refresh my etching skills. I was super stoked to be back on campus and working on printmaking again.
This is a view from the main campus to the knoll.
The pines dining hall and residence. I spent a lot of time in the Pines - working, sleeping and eating!
Jay Fox printing my plate as a double drop demonstration. I had an old plate that I had etched with my friend, Amy Veatch, using a sharpie as a ground. Double drop is where you ink it with black ink and then print it, then add more ink using a roller and print it again.
Working on transferring my waffle design to my plate, making sure everything was backwards!
Waffle print - 1st state. I missed a line so I went back with some hard ground and added some more linework to it.
The first state of my Chickens in a Barrel print.
This is after I added the aquatint to the chickens in a barrel. Aquatint creates the tonal shades by dusting the plate with rosin and fusing the rosin to the plate. The plate is then stopped out where you don’t want any tone. Then the plate was etched for one minute, stopped out again and etched for four minutes to get a lighter tone and a darker tone.
Class test plate - guess which part I did?
My finished prints at the art show at Penland.
My friend Jeanne and her bench she made in wood.
My friend and neighbor, Staci Sawyer, and her amazing cast jewelry.
My friend and roommate, Jorge, who created and amazing root ball in his nature journaling class.
My favorite old house on Penland campus - it was used as a dye house in a previous life.
Artists in Residence - Apex Elementary
This is our Artists in the school mural that we recently completed at Apex Elementary. This is me and Vivian Magarino-Gomez, their wonderful art teacher. We are holding up the top of the tree. This mural was painted on foam so we could work on it in the art room. We included some local Apex buildings and the water tower, which is an Apex landmark. The kids did a great job painting this mural! We had a lot of fun.
It will be installed in the media center soon.
Each class had an different assignment. Some painted the background, other did brush work over that, until we got more and more detail.
The fifth graders got to design windows to go on the book-buildings for the mura. Drawing inspiration from literature, they only had 40 minutes to complete their windows. This panel features the Halle Cultural Center in downtown Apex and the original school building.
Animals reading was another theme we incorporated into the mural.
Of course I had to include a pig!
This is the beginning stages - getting it sketched out.
