I heart post-its

Dear Art Pen Pal,

I just sent you a letter and here is a clue as to what is in it:)

Love,
Michelle

hehe..I love having an art pen pal:)

On another note...how have you been? I am still kind of bad about posting on this blog. I have been very busy with school and have just posted some art on my classroom blog.

I am having a great year so far and actually have an art show in November that I am pretty excited about. I have not shown my art in about 5 1/2 years! I know it will be fun:)

I have been feeling pretty inspired lately and cannot wait to create some new art.

Here is a mini canvas that I painted that is just waiting to get finished (my little white bird likes to sit near it and pretend it is by the ocean)


Meanwhile I can't stop listening to Madeline Peyroux...she is my favorite!



Have a great evening! I will post soon!

Oh Sunday...

(lantern picture taken on my last excursion to downtown Cleveland) Love the colors!

Sundays are bittersweet for me....what about you? It is the last day to sleep in for the weekend and I find myself thinking the whole day about the crazy week ahead of me.

Oh Sunday.....

This Sunday was spent working on lesson plans for my Intro to Art class and writing recommendation letters for colleagues and students. Now I need to go and grade some projects...very busy busy!

I just posted some new student projects on my class website if you are interested:

PHS Artroom blog

Hope your Sunday is going well!

Classroom Blog

(Drawing done by one of my students!)

Hello! Just wanted to share my newest project that I am working on! I am currently working on a blog for my art classes this year! I started last year but then got totally sidetracked when I started my masters program! Now I have a little time so I resumed the classroom blog.

Here is the link if you are interested:
PHS Art Room

I would love for you to check it out and see what we have been up to so far this year!

Hope you are enjoying your weekend! It is absolutely gorgeous here and a perfect day to be outside! Too bad I have loads to do for school! Fun stuff though... just working on ideas for my classes.

Have a great day!

Return to blogging!

I am back. I have not been blogging for a couple of weeks in order to gather my thoughts and ideas together. Life has been very crazy and I kind of needed a break from my computer in general.

So...Hello again! How have you been?

Happy Labor Day weekend...I hope you are enjoying it, I know I am!

Yesterday the husband and I went kayaking in Lake Erie...it was such a beautiful day!
We had a cookout last night. I honestly made nothing...I was just along for the food:)
The husband made: Asparagus, Corn on the Cob and Shrimp....yum!



Aren't my napkins cute?! I think adorable napkins are a necessity in dining! They just make everything look great:)


Art-wise, I have been focusing on drawing and painting more realistically. Since school is back in session, I find that I need to be on top of my game more when helping students. Before school started I completed the following artworks (not realistic at all!):

A cafe painting that hangs in my kitchen:


3 Vase Series:





Well I hope your weekend is fantastic! I am off to go running now and then the husband and I are taking a train downtown Cleveland for an Indians game! I am not much of a baseball fan but love to go into the city and sitting in the sun sounds great:)

Cafe!

This is a painting I am working on for my kitchen. It needs a lot more work but I kind of like the progress I have made so far. I love cafes and the idea of having a painting of a cafe in my kitchen makes me happy:) Alfresco dining all year round!

Scenes from a weekend...

Hello! I know it is already Tuesday, but I have been out of town and unable to post! Here are some scenes from my weekend...it was amazing and picturesque! I hope you had a lovely one as well!

On Sunday the husband and I had a fantastic brunch with my family at a state park located on Lake Erie. Afterwards the husband and I walked around and I took some pictures!

And yes there was a......


and of course some lovely sailing going on!


We also walked along this marina and gawked at the boats (we sooo want one!)


and I fell in love with the color of the docks...isn't the color so pretty and intense?!


Next time we go, we want to rent one of these canoes for the day...how fun would that be?!


We DID rent bikes with my aunt and uncle and had the best time ever:)

All of the bikes are yellow..they were awesome! I am so getting my bike out of storage now!

We rented bikes for 2 hours and rode throughout the state park. This is what we saw:








After the bike riding, my aunt and uncle took the husband and I out for ice cream (the only way to make the day complete!) They took us to the most adorable ice cream shop..I wish I lived close to it, I would come EVERYDAY (probably for the better that I am far away!)




Well that was my weekend...now I must get back to work (I have many lesson plans to work on for the upcoming school year!) Have a great day!

Video of the day: Of Montreal

I just found this video and had to post this! This is a song called Id Engager by the wonderful and clever band Of Montreal. The reason I adore this video so much is because it completely ties in with a Surrealism game I play with my drawing students called an exquisite corpse.
So much fun:)



Well I hope you enjoy your Friday and have a lovely weekend!

Summer Means 3....

Here is the third installment of my Summer Means series. If you missed the previous posts check them out: Summer means 1 and Summer Means 2
(or just scroll down my blog...they are there also!)


Summer means....

Beaches!

Here is one of my favorite beaches that I have been going to since I was a kid.




Isn't this red umbrella adorable? I want one for my next trip to the beach!


I also adore sunsets on the beach...it does not really get much better than this!




I took this picture of my brother last year on our family vacation. I love how he is staring out at the water, lost in thought.


*These beach pictures are all from Michigan City, Indiana*

Have a lovely day! I am off to enjoy my summer before it ends soon (school is starting up in a couple of weeks!)

Summer Means 2....

Picnics!


Yesterday the husband and I went on a little picnic at the park...just one of the perks of summer! I love being able to eat outside!



We both ordered some delicious salads from a lovely deli near our house and ate them on a picnic table at our favorite park.


Yum!


After we ate, we went on a hike throughout the park. Another one of my favorite things to do in the summer!




Tomorrow I will post the 3rd part of my summer series! Have a great day!

Summer Means... part 1

I will be posting a series on what summer means to me. I love summer, it is my favorite time of year and I dream about it throughout the whole year! When it finally comes I feel that I take it for granted and do not appreciate the true beauty of it until it is gone. So here begins my ode to summer...

Summer means flowers....


Here is a beautiful outside market of flowers...I want them all!


A little market on a boat..how fun!


Window baskets...so lovely!





Flowers blooming by this charming fountain