The Adventurous Art Teacher

"My Brother Lived in San Francisco

2012-02-11T11:05:00.000-05:00

This is my son, Luciano performing "My Brother Lived in San Francisco" from Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens for his voice class final performance on 2/10/2012.

I-Square Visions Art Show

2012-01-22T09:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday as one of the artists in the I-Square Art Show, it was my turn to sit at the gallery. To my surprise one of my favorite and former students, Melanie along with her boyfriend, Travis stopped by to see me and the show. She made my day!

One of my favorite pieces by Wendy Menzie.
It reminds me of my students.

My friend, Courtney Gruttadauria's image from one of her instalations.

Liz Britton-Barry's piece

One of Richard Harvey' s works

Keith Townsend

Jeanne Beck

My work that was selected for the show. This Intaglio artwork is from my Spirit Series

Would you believe this was the only photo I took opening night. Thanks to my favorite soprano, Ellice for making the opening.
I also want to thank my dear friend and artist, Zanne Brunner for inviting me to show my work with some of Rochester's leading artists. I was very honored.
If you live in Rochester stop by the show its is up till February 3rd.

Having Fun with the Blue Boy

2012-01-07T16:39:00.001-05:00

It appears something is in my way.

My goodness this doesn't look good.

I must admit I've missed painting abstractly. Its always fun trying to figure out the story it has to tell.

Celebrate the Unusual

2012-01-02T07:16:00.000-05:00

I think everybody's weird.

We should celebrate our individuality

and not be embarrassed or ashamed of it.

-Johnny Depp

Here's to always picking the picture that's not perfect.

This family portrait captured everyone's unique personality. I just love it!

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T10:02:00.000-05:00

"Happy New Year" to all my blogger friends.

My Favorite Christmas Present

2011-12-29T08:28:00.000-05:00

Ta Da...Introducing Minnie Driver and her brother Finnegan.

Our daughter Jessie got her first job teaching this year in Columbia, South Carolina; A very long way from her home in upstate New York. Over Thanksgiving she mentioned she would like a puppy to keep her company. She had seen a Miniature Schnauzer at a friend's home and thought it would be a good fit.

After researching the breed we found a breeder that had puppies. It was love at first sight for Jess. I asked the breeder to see the females... well Minnie decided she was coming home with me. She was just to cute!!! I couldn't help myself.

Well our German Shepherd Lync thought I was nuts, but as you can see he has become a wonderful big brother!!

Happy Holidays

2011-12-28T10:19:00.000-05:00

Yes dear blogger friends I am still alive. It has been such a busy fall at school and at home that I couldn't find the time to be creative or update my blog. But after spending two weeks helping my Studio Art students make holiday stamps, I had a little fun myself by creating a few gifts. I'm determined to spend more time in my studio and getting back to posting on my beloved blog.
I hope you all have had and are still enjoying the holiday season. Tomorrow I'll be posting what I bought myself for Christmas.

Daughter takes Over

2011-11-07T19:27:00.001-05:00

For those of you who have followed my mother’s blog for the past few years may have been blessed with the occasional entry about my family, specifically me! I am my mother’s (or Mim as she likes to be called) oldest and only daughter. Lately, I have been feeling a little neglected as most of Mim’s “family” entries have been about my brothers. Well enough is enough and I have taken over her blog muhahaha…with her permission of course!

In August, I moved down south to begin my teacher career as a special education teacher in MIDDLE SCHOOL!! Yikes! Driven by my desires to provide my students with a creative and cultural endeavor, I took a page from Mim’s book and spent a week and a half learning about Dias de los Muertos. Like any good educator, I needed to do some research on the Mexican holiday prior to teaching it. Mim suggested I email Stephanie Rodrigvitz from http://www.rodrigvitzstyle.typepad.com/. After sending Stephanie an email, she graciously sent me a copy of one of her favorite books.

With such a great resource, my students and I explored the history behind the fabulous holiday, abandoned our preconceptions, learned some Spanish words, wrote versions of the traditional Calaveras poems, and decorated sugar skulls. I even took another page from my mom’s book, by allowing my students to teach me. Not having spoken a word of Spanish since my high school years, I was hesitant to read a Calaveras poem… in Spanish… to my students. Fortunately, I have many Spanish-speaking students and they helped guide me through this process. Not only do I have a northern accent, which my students find funny, but they even got a few laughs in at my attempts to correctly pronounce Spanish words.

The mini unit ended with decorating sugar skulls. Traditionally, these skulls are made using meringue powder. Unfortunately, meringue powder is not easy to find in the South. I spent an entire Sunday afternoon driving all over the city in search of this ingredient, but I could not find it. I then decided to try and make my own meringue to fill the skulls molds with. This did not work either. I became EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED!!!!! And had no idea what I was going to do. Luckily, I settled on using Crayola clay to stuff the molds. It worked, but lacked authenticity. When sharing my adventures with my students, one of my Mexican students asked why I hadn’t just gone to the Mexican grocery store. Believe me, had I know about this, I would have gone there first. Oh well, lesson learned. Even though the sugar skulls weren’t authentic, my students still had a blast decorated them. A few of them even dedicated their skulls to a lost family member. It was very touching. I am glad to report this was the first lesson I actually saw my students EXCITED about and excited middle schoolers are hard to come by.

A BIG Gracious to Stephanie Rodrigvitz and my mom for making this learning opportunity possible. It was a great success!! I can’t wait to do it again next year!

Early morning run

2011-10-09T08:36:00.000-04:00

What a beautiful start to our morning run.

My running partner

Someone actually left these pumpkins on the trail. I hope they stay there.

Add Freshman Adviser to Job Title

2011-10-02T10:34:00.000-04:00

This year as a High School Art Teacher I decided to get more involved in the school community. It is so important to have a good relationship with the students and their parents. I volunteered to become one of the Freshman class Advisers along with my friend and fellow teacher, Judy R.
Our first job was to organize Spirit week and the Homecoming weekend events. Our theme, "A Blast from the Past, the 70's."

By the time students elected their class officers and got organized; they only had 4 evenings to put together their float. Thank goodness for very supportive parents who knew what they were doing! I had no idea what to do. Thank goodness one of the parents decided to show me the ropes, thank you Bob.

Our freshman crew!

Two of my favorite junior ladies offered advice as to what makes a great adviser. Thank you girls!!

The Junior class float won first Place in the parade. Isn't that amazing!!!

Talk about being organized.

Judy and I organized our first fund raiser. Hot cider and fried dough.

Thank goodness one of the Mom's helped-us-out!

Look at the crowd

Me with three of our girls.

Dispatchartwork: a creative new building block

2011-09-25T06:20:00.000-04:00

Wow! Discovered artist Jan Vormann over at grrl+dog's blog this morning. What a creative use for Lego's. Jan uses Lego's to repair damaged buildings and walls all over the globe. Absolutely beautiful ! Can't wait to share this with my art students tomorrow. Hope you enjoy.

Enjoying my Summer Garden

2011-07-13T09:10:00.001-04:00

This has been such a wonderful summer for my garden. Gee it actual looks as though I'm a real gardener.

For those of you that have been following my blog, just thought I would let you know that I did make it last evening for the Show/Critique with my new quilter girlfriends. What a wonderful group of women! So glad they invited me to join their group, and even though I really had nothing to critique there was so much inspiration! Hope you are all enjoying this lovely summer. Karen

Trying to Motivate Myself

2011-07-09T09:40:00.000-04:00

First I have to tell you that I've been invited to attend my first work /critique session with the ladies from SAQA on the 12th. I'm nervous just thinking about it because I don't have anything started to critique. If you remember in an earlier post I was invited to join the group even though I'm a beginner compared to these women. So trying to calm my jitters I went to the library for inspiration, just love the Nancy Crow book. Also picked up a few books with techniques I learned about six years ago with quilter, Carol Taylor. Luckily I kept everything from her classes to reference from.

Went though my fabrics and discovered this left over acorn that I made years ago during a class with Carol Taylor. Maybe I can incorporate it into a new piece. Also looked at my stash of painted newsprint. Just love some of the designs and though I might try recreating them on fabric.

Here's the acorn with some of my paper choices. Next step is get the fabric dye and fabric out to recreate these patterns onto. If you remember I also have the new deColourant paints to try out. I also think it may be fun to paint over the acorn a bit or maybe stamp on it. Lots of possibilities.

Another acorn found in my fabric drawer. In fact I found all the patterns I made in many different sizes. Everything is looking good but I have one problem. I can't seem to get started. All I want to do is relax and read. I don't even want to draw. I started to stress out, but then remembering my three month bout with pneumonia this past year. Not wanted to go though that again I've decided to just go with the flow, which is easier said than done for me. So for now maybe I should skip this weeks meeting even though I hate missing out on such a wonderful experience but I must listen to my body. Everything is ready to go and eventually I'll find myself in the studio again. Does anybody else put themselves though this stress?

What to do, What to do...

2011-06-28T07:57:00.002-04:00

My summer break has begun and just like every summer, my head is spinning with ideas for all the things I could do. So what's the first thing I do? Make a list of course. If I don't make a list I might forget, especially during those lazy days when I just can't seem to get myself motivated.
Number one on the list, sketch daily. Next on the list would be to exercise daily, use my 5 free yoga passes, then check out books at the library on making Improvisational quilts, work in my gardens, call my girlfriends and make plans to get together, and most importantly, relax and remember to enjoy the moment.

Over the weekend I made a test stripe of all the colors in a new box of "Derwent-Graphitint" water solvable pencils. I got an idea over at Design Matters TV on using watercolor pencils on fabric. Can't wait to try it!

Sketch using the the Derwent-Graphitint pencils. Let the summer fun begin!

See Anyone You Know?

2011-06-11T19:50:00.004-04:00

It's official, I am a new member of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates.) I'm in the back about nine over from the left.

What a great group of women! I'm so glad I joined. We met today at The Gate House Cafe. Jeanne Simpson and Pat Pauly, our representatives welcomed us. They Updated everyone with the latest news and exhibitions. Next was a brief introductory show and tell by all the members. Our limit was 2 minutes. Yours truly was the first to go over and the 2 minute timer went off. My excuse was that I was a teacher, everyone knows teachers talk to much. At least that's what my students tell me. Haha.

A quick questionnaire to fill out and than we enjoyed a delicious lunch.

After lunch it was off to view the "Paralla" exhibit at the Booksmart Studio. This time I had my camera. As you can see we were all busy taking pictures of the quilts and each other.

"Stills from a Life" by Dominie Nash

Judith Plotner

Priscilla Kibbee

"Mummy Bags/Canopic Jars" by Pat Pauly

"An Island/ A pond" by Dorothy Caldwell

If your in the Rochester area make sure you stop over to the Booksmart Studio and see all the beautiful quilts.

Quilts,Ouilts and more Quilts

2011-06-05T08:02:00.018-04:00

The first Friday of the month in Rochester is Gallery Night. Many galleries are open featuring a wide range of very talented artists; however this month many Rochester galleries are spot-lighting Fiber Art. Many of you know I have been experimenting with textiles and couldn't wait to visit the Booksmart Studio's "Kustler gallery." The Kustler Gallery featured "Parallax" an exhibition of nineteen contemporary art quilters. To say I was excited to see the show would be an understatement. We even left the house without a camera. Thank goodness my husband, Chris had his cell phone.

The good teacher that I am busy taking notes to share with my students. The quilt I'm writing about is "Making her Exit" by Pamela Allen, a wonderful artist from Canada. I had the pleasure of meeting her and artist Marcia DeCamp, who's work is pictured below. Both ladies were a delight. I only wish I had asked my husband to get a picture of us together.

Marcia DeCamp's quilts

Saturday I was off to see my first "Quilt Festival" hosted by the Genesee Valley Quilt Club at Rochester Institute of Technology's, Gordon Field House.
The night before, Pamela and Marcia told me to look for artist, Pat Pauly. Pat is also a fiber artist and was the curator for "Parallax."I have never seen so many quilts and quilters in one place before. I was so lucky to find Pat's booth and introduced myself to her. Pat was very gracious and encouraged me to join "SAQA" Studio Art Quiters Associates. She and Marica DeCamp are involved in our area, and told me of an upcoming event for members. I heard myself say, but I'm just a beginner, and her reply to me was "we all started as beginners."

One of Pat Pauly's quilts.

Marcia DeCamp.

Pink Leaf, by Pat Pauly

Quilts, quilts and more quilts.

The following quilts are part of SAQA exhibit called "No Place To Call Home." A juried exhibit showcasing the diversity of styles, methods, and processes by professional artist members around the world. I'm sorry to say I didn't record all the artist names.

This piece was so cool by Linda Field. She scattered small clippings of fabric around the tree, then overlaid w/tulle, and finished with free motion stitching. It took a first place ribbon.

This quilt reminded me of my students and their love of Bob Marley.

What a wonderful weekend. I saw in creditable art, and met inspiring artists. Maybe I'll get brave and join SAQA. I'm always telling my students to surround themselves with artists that are stronger than they are. It's truly the only way to grow as an artist.

Another Week of Drawing...

2011-05-31T17:51:00.004-04:00

This past week instead of using my pen when sketching I used a #2 pencil and glazed over the drawing with watercolor. Much more labor intensive. Eight days left with my students. Most of their final projects are completed and I'm happy to say the students are still sketching and having fun. Lady Gaga has a new cd out and it's become the music of choice in the studio. My drawing 2 girls have been singing their hearts out.

Sketchbook Drawings for May

2011-05-25T18:36:00.004-04:00

Can you tell I'm making up for lost time. The past couple of months I've had a hard time getting anything creative finished. The dreary weather really put a damper on my mood and most of the time you could find me watching movies, eating, sleeping or reading a good book.
Finally the sun has started to shine and my students are all busy working on their final exam projects in class, which means they don't ask for help just materials. So I've been taking advantage of this by catching up on my sketchbook drawing. I just look around the room and grab the first thing I see. First, it was a white feather, plastic leaves, hand sanitizer, and then shells. Tomorrow, I'll grab old paint brushes and maybe a few old paint tubes. I'm always hearing that there is nothing interesting to paint. I'll show them! Hehehe

Visting Puppy For The Summer

2011-05-24T15:00:00.007-04:00

My son, Gian-Patrick came home from college with an American Staffordshire Terrier. Yes the common name is Pit Bull.

Meet Tiko... He's a very sweet four month that's getting ready to meet the master of the house.

He's seems to have taken an interest in Lync's soccer ball.

We think Lync is laying down the law about playing soccer with him.

Rule #1 Lync always gets the ball first.

Poor Tiko, you can just hear him saying,"Please let me get the ball, I promise to give it back"

Lync has managed to tire the little guy out.

We think Lync is going to play nice now. The puppy is getting excited.

Right like that was going to happen.
Lync did give Tiko a correction. Tiko kept stealing Lync's chewy. Finally Lync had had enough. We heard a yelp and Tiko came running into the kitchen. I swear Lync was smiling in the living room chewing on Tiko's bone. haha

Both doggies slept very well last night.

Rochester Celebrates it's Lilacs

2011-05-24T05:32:00.009-04:00

Rochester, New York is know as the "Flour City", but for the past two weeks the Flour changes into Flower City. Rochester's Lilac Festival welcomes visitors from all over the world to see our collection of lilacs. There are 500 varieties of lilacs in Highland park, 1200 plus lilac brushes. Did you know that Martha Stewart even has a lilac brush named after her here? Luciano and I searched and searched for it but were unable to find it. Maybe we should have asked for a map.

All the lilacs are tagged and labeled. We discovered this romantic one. Can you image having a lilac that honors your marriage and honeymoon?

Not the best picture of me, but Luc thought I fit right in.

Luciano couldn't resist hamming it up inside this old tree that had been struck by lightning.

There were so many people standing by the lilac brushes having there pictures taken. This little one called out to Luciano. It seems no one wanted a picture standing next to it.

Mothers Day & Jessie's Graduation

2011-05-24T04:46:00.003-04:00

My daughter Jessie and her guy Dustin. Jessie graduated from Nazareth college May, 8th with a Masters in Education, and Dustin graduated with a Masters in Engineering this past Friday from Rochester Institute in Technology.

Proud Jessie with her brothers Luciano.

My favorite picture... very proud dad.

My glamorous photo. It's amazing what a little wind will do.

Later that same day we celebrated both Jessie's graduation and Mother's day with a delicious dinner. They only one missing was my oldest son, Gian who was still at college.

Bees Bees They are Every Where

2011-05-04T08:44:00.004-04:00

With Spring upon us and school coming to a close I haven't had a lot of time in the studio. I've got lots of starts, but this is the first project finished. My brain is just humming...

This is my contribution to saving the bees. Stamps on paper, hand colored, than glazed over with bees wax. It smell yummy.

Here is a wonderful website about "The Vanishing Bees", and a trailer for a movie about saving the Bee's entitled "Queen of the Sun". Hope you enjoy.

Fun with Monotype

2011-04-05T19:48:00.004-04:00

Had so much fun teaching today! In fact its what I love most about teaching. While showing one of my students how to create a monotype she picked up a tool and used it differently than I did. I loved what she was doing and tried doing it her way. I ended up with these two crazy bird prints. The color was added using watercolor pencils. It was a good day!

My son, Luciano as the Wizard

2011-03-26T05:52:00.001-04:00

Luciano Maggio, Jake Vacanti and Hector Ortiz perform in Penfield High Schools production of "Once Upon a Mattress" from Karen Maggio on Vimeo.

Karen Kilimnik at 303 GALLERY

2011-03-19T07:13:00.002-04:00

Just discovered a GREAT channel on You Tube, "The James Kalm Report." James Kalm is an artist himself that travels around NYC on his bike with a video camera. He then creates very cool video reports documenting art openings and other happenings in the NY Art scene. Can't wait to share this with my High School Art students!

My First Video

2011-02-27T09:55:00.001-05:00

Drawing and Free-motion Stitching from Karen Maggio on Vimeo.

Always looking for new ways to connect with my High School Art students, I created my first video demonstrating drawing and free-motion stitching with music by "The Naked and Famous."

I can't stop...

2011-02-26T12:09:00.004-05:00

This little square was set aside because I didn't think it had enough contrast. Well I kept looking at it this morning and couldn't help myself. I used a marker to bring out the detail in the house, and decided to practice a freemotion pattern Laura Kemshall demonstrated on a recent episode of DMTV.
The stars are not perfect, but I am happy with my effort. I wasn't sure what to do with the lower half and decided to leave it alone. I'm really liking this little piece that I thought was a lost cause.

Smiling from the Heavens

2011-02-25T13:24:00.006-05:00

Ta Da... What do you think? Should I leave the little Batik bird houses as is or do you think I should mark them with pen like the larger bird house?
I loved this thread when I saw it at the store, but was a bit disappointed when the thread was black rather than blue. The black really points out the mistakes with my stitching.

Now I want to start the process all over again and try different colors. My husband can't get over how I have thrown myself into all this sewing. I quickly reminded him it is in my DNA. My grandmother was a master seamstress. During the Great Depression, she made a living using her sewing skills. She also made all my clothing when I was a little girl. Many of them were hand embroidered. She must be smiling from the heavens.
If anyone is curious where I am learning these wonderful techniques you must stop over to Linda and Laura Kemshall's website and join their Design Matters TV program. I've been following the mother and daughter team for years and can't say enough positive things about them.

Practice, Practice,Practice

2011-02-25T12:57:00.004-05:00

I've been having so much fun practicing my freemotion stitching this week. First I made up several fabric sandwiches. The next step was to practice the patterns I wanted to use on my quilts. After feeling comfortable with the stitching, I marked up 2 sandwiches resembling the final quilts. This allowed me to work out the pattern. With freemotion stitching it should be one continuous line. The first day my foot ached trying to keep the peddle on the machine at a constant pace. I had to take several breaks throughout the day, or should I say several days.

Fabric Dye with Resist

2011-02-19T08:05:00.005-05:00

Two weeks ago I wrote about my new adventure working with fabrics showing you several of my ideas. Using some very old bee wax found in my classroom, I experimented with a batik style appling the wax to my fabric before dying the fabric. As you can see the wax was so old it stained the white fabric yellow. Yikes!!

This one I got a little to crazy with the wax, but did like the look of the larger bird house.

I poured out the old wax and donated it to the jewelery teacher and ordered soy wax. This is the second try using soy wax
.
A quick sketch using yellow paper with a new design for the larger house composition.

Using marker I will be adding detail to the fabric print and the design will be done using thread and freemotion stitching. I'm so excited! I have this week off from school and can't wait to draw and stitch on my dyed fabric.

Love you forever

2011-02-13T18:48:00.003-05:00

Happy Valentines Day

Enjoying the Process

2011-02-06T15:51:00.005-05:00

It starts with a photograph and an idea... I love little houses and birdhouses. You may remember last year, my sketchbook was full of drawings from my collection of little houses. This year I went outside for my inspiration. Wouldn't you agree this is the year of winter and snow?
If your wondering where I'm getting my inspiration from join Linda and Laura Kemshall over at their website and join their DMTV show. It's a wonderful and creative learning channel created by them to inspire us all! I highly recommend it!
From this sketch I plan on doing a series of small quilts. Not your traditional quilts, I plan on dying my own fabric, printing with stamps, drawing, painting and using free motion stitching to quilt this series. I'm looking forward to some fun and most likely a few mistakes. I can't wait to share my experiments with you.

It always starts with my sketchbook which I lovingly refer to has my recipe book. From the drawing in the first photo I made this little stamp, and the ideas started to flow.

This was stamped and the design was created with quilting in mind. I've used pencil on the stamp to add value for depth. Sorry about the glare on this photo. I got so excited about the quilting designs I jumped to fabric.

I'm a little rusty with the free motion quilting and my sewing machine. Maybe I should think about color and quilting designs.

Tracing paper, pencil and oil pastel.

Another version

I plan on dying white cotton and will only use two colors for the process. I can always use oil pastel to add more color at a later time.

Today I cut the fabric and prepared the fabric for dying with soda ash. See you later in the week with photos of my experiments. I forgot to mention that I'm also sharing this process with my advance painting students.

Journal,Memories,Haiku

2011-01-21T17:24:00.008-05:00

This weeks journal is dedicated to our beloved family pet, Lync and his love for the scent of pine.

Sun warming my soul
deeply inhale slowly exhale
swirling memories

Journaling and Therapy

2011-01-12T07:57:00.002-05:00

It seems 2011 has become the year for Art Journaling. I have joined two groups, The Sketchbook Challenge and Strathmore's (Free) online workshop series. This months theme for the Sketchbook Challenge is "Highly Prized" and over at Strathmore's workshop, Pam Carriker is explaining her process for recycling old journal pages.
Many of you know I have been slowly recovering from pneumonia and decided that journaling about that would work best for me. With that said my lungs are very highly prized and to make this work with Pam's workshop, I will recycle this journal page using her technique's. After 8 weeks of having no energy, I'm finally feeling better and so ready to start creating again.

Sketchbook Challenge "Highly Prized"

2011-01-07T04:03:00.002-05:00

This is my contribution for this week's theme "Highly Prized" over at the Sketchbook Challenge.
If your looking for something fun and need that extra motivation to work in your sketchbook follow the link above and join the fun.

Friendship,Family and Home

2010-12-26T06:32:00.004-05:00

Friendship, family and home are the real gifts that God has giving us. Wishing all my blogger friends a wonderful Holiday.

Rekindling my Spirit

2010-12-12T05:40:00.004-05:00

My niece, Lauren heard I was still sick with pneumonia, and sent me this beautiful flower arrangement. The little girl with Santa is me.

The next day her mom surprised me with this lovely Christmas arrangement.

Trying to lift my spirits yesterday, I took the flowers outside to photograph hoping the images will inspired me to paint.

It was four weeks ago that I was diagnosed with pneumonia, and I have to say it has not been fun. My head is so ready to get moving again but my body isn't cooperating. I still have a persistent cough and lack energy. Thursday my doctor recommended that I shouldn't return to work until after the holidays. To say that I'm not fighting depression would be a lie. Yesterday I took a few photographs and went on a short walk outside with my husband. It felt so good to get out of the house. This morning I ordered Heather Smith Jone's new book, Water Paper Paint in another attemp to lift my spirits. Todays goal is getting my watercolors out and painting my flowers. Wish me luck...

Post Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T11:32:00.002-05:00

The table my daughter,Jessie and son, Luciano set for this years Thanksgiving dinner.

Father and daughter getting ready to carve the turkey.

This was Jessie's first time preparing the Thanksgiving feast.

Our son, Gian's pecan pie.

Three days before Thanksgiving I was diagnosed with pneumonia. Some of you may have noticed I haven't been posting much lately. I've never felt so bad. But our daughter, Jessie took over the show. She had my favorite cookbook in hand and only casually asked my husband or me for advice. She did an outstanding job! The turkey was both beautiful and delicious, I did take pictures but for some reason their not on the camera. (I really wasn't allowed in the kitchen but kept sneaking in to document the occasion.) So a special Thank you to my daughter for stepping up to the plate and cooking her first Thanksgiving dinner.
Much love, mom

It was Celebration Time

2010-11-15T07:02:00.004-05:00

Friday night was the big celebration. My new line of artwork was displayed, Artful Blogger magazines were all through the house, and lots of yummy food and wine were on hand for everyone's enjoyment. This was the first and last picture that my husband managed to take that evening. So many of my good friends attended the celebration, the house was truly filled with merriment! My husband was entertaining in one room while I was busy selling artwork in the other that not another photo was taken. Who would of thought I needed to hire a photographer. Thank you to all my wonderful and supportive friends, I truly felt loved.

Tribute to my husband

2010-11-06T09:32:00.010-04:00

Sometimes we are so busy in our daily routines we forget to notice the accomplishments and talent of the people we live with. I must admit, the past few months have been crazy at home. Everyone is busy pursuing their dreams. Notes are posted on the refrigerator or left on the table with messages reading, can you pick me up? I'll be here, don't forget... You get the idea, we have all been there.
Well, one person in our home quietly goes about his day, walks the dog, makes dinner, picks up our son after late night rehearsals and spends countless hours in his home studio glued to the computer editing his photographs. The photographs will be used for ads and websites that he designs for clients.
I almost never look at what he's working on because I'm caught up with teaching, painting, blogging, housework, or driving our son all over town. This morning, as I was checking the latest news on "facebook," our good friend and Glass Artist, Nancy Gong had posted a link to her website with photographs of a recent installation. I followed the link to her new page. I stared with amazement at the beautiful architectural photographs and the gorgeous design of the new page. Good heavens, I discovered that the work was produced by my very own husband. Wow!
So today I'm spotlighting a very talented artist who shares his life with me, my husband, Chris Maggio. Your talent and creativity far exceeds anything I could create. I'm so proud of you!
Chris just finished-up the Erie Station Village website, and just started a site this morning, you can probably see a beta page at Zweigles.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T07:17:00.004-04:00

Just finished a wonderful on-line class with Susan Tuttle, called Ghostly Figures.
Thought you might enjoy seeing an example of what I learned from the workshop. The lovely ghost is my grandmother.
Happy Halloween.

I've been published!

2010-10-27T15:26:00.006-04:00

Good news fellow bloggers! I've been featured in the current issue of Artful Blogging Magazine.
I'm very excited to have been published for my first time. What an experience it has been. I recall reading about artists Karen Cole, Stephanie Hilvitz, and Alisa Burke to name a few in past issues and hope that my article will inspire others like they influenced me.

Sketch for a new painting

2010-10-26T16:43:00.002-04:00

Updating my sketchbook for our next project at school. I got carried away painting the glazing steps for my example. The next thing I knew the gesso was out and of course my beloved newspaper. When it was finished, I thought it looked nice enough to transfer to a larger canvas.

First Video (Lync's instinct test for herding)

2010-10-19T13:54:00.011-04:00

This is my first attempt at making a video. Eventually I would like to produce small video clips featuring local artist for my art students. Sorry about the lack of sound... it was such a windy day that all you could hear was the wind so it was turned down. I'm taking baby steps with editing. Hopefully, by next spring you will see a big improvement.

Saturday we took our two year old German Shepherd, Lync vom Fichtenschlag , to "White Clover Sheep Farm" in the Finger Lakes. He was there for an instinct test to evaluate whether or not he has potential as a herding dog. By passing the test, he can start training to earn an HGH herding title with Ulf Kintzel, the owner and trainer at White Cover Sheep Farm. Lync is from a long line of protection Shepherds from Germany, and I'm pretty sure he had never seen a cow let alone sheep. It was quite an experience, and yes he did have that natural instinct to patrol and one day herd sheep. Lync will be a true German shepherd working dog.

Acorn looking Gourd

2010-10-14T19:00:00.002-04:00

Students in my drawing class have been learning pen and watercolor techniques this week. Today was the first day of watercolor. Everyone was given one gourd and asked to sketch it, paint it and then ink it using a pen.
This gourd looked so much like an acorn I just had to share with you.

Last spring I purchased these en expensive opaque watercolor cakes from Sax's art supply catalog. A few of the colors look very similar.
Students were asked to paint a swatch of each color in their sketchbook, then # each color. This way they could record which colors were used for the painting. My recipe was written on the side.

Love Fall &Painted Newspaper

2010-10-10T11:22:00.008-04:00

Just love the colors of fall leaves. After my morning run the other day, I spent time collecting a few samples to use in my sketchbook.

Better yet I decided to illustrate the leaves with a few of my favorite acorns on old newspaper.

I don't know what it is about recycling newspaper. But it has become one of my favorite papers to paint and draw on. I have a wall of papers in my studio just waiting for me to find of a good use for. Bare with me you will see where this is going.

"Unusual Fun"
3 x 4.5'
acrylic and mixed media
The start of a new series of larger paintings.

Just love the Fall colors. Inspiration from the leaves.

Close up of the recycled paper that was added to the painting.

A good friend asked me to apply for membership to the "Arena Art Group" awhile back. The Arena Art Group is a club for contemporary artists. At the time I didn't have an idea for a new series of artwork to show them, but maybe I have an idea.
I love unusual combination's and this week decided to paint a pepper and peach. Looking around the studio for something to add to the painting my eyes rested on all the hand painted newspapers hanging on the wall. Why not collage my newspapers to the painting.
To my students, keeping a sketchbook/journal is a wonderful way to record what inspires you and sometimes leads to bigger ideas.

Color Theory and the Recipe Book

2010-09-26T12:32:00.005-04:00

This summer I took another on-line class with Alisa Burke called "Color your World." It's a fun class on color theory, and even though I have my masters in painting I knew Alisa would come up with something new that would excite both my students and I. I'm not giving away any secrets you'll have to take her course.
The past few weeks I've been super busy revamping all my classes. One of the projects has been designing a new way to incorporate the sketchbook into my curriculum. No longer is the sketchbook used for homework rather it has become my students' "Recipe Book." All instruction for new projects will be recorded in the Recipe Book.
As you can tell from the photo, our first project was reviewing color theory.

The students are now ready to paint, and we are using our recipe book to record the process. This is the example I shared with the students last week.

This week, students will be selecting a color scheme of their choice and creating a color palette of it in their recipe book. Its very important that they record what colors were used to create the palette. I keep reminding them in ten years they will be able to come back to their book to see the recipe for their first painting.
After each project, students hand in their book and art work for grading. So far the recipe book idea is working great! Hope you all enjoyed the glimpse into my classroom.

My favorite sidekick is two years old

2010-09-22T17:17:00.006-04:00

Lync turned two years old today. He continues to entertain me daily, and never hesitates when I ask if he would like to go on an adventure.

Mary Whyte "Labor of Love"

2010-09-08T14:04:00.008-04:00

Mary Whyte is one of my favorite watercolor artist. I own several of her books and reference her work when I'm teaching watercolor to my painting students. This past weekend she was featured on the CBS Sunday Morning show. Just had to post this video for my students. Hope you all enjoy as much as I did.

Final Watercolor Deer Hill

2010-09-02T19:00:00.005-04:00

Here is the final watercolor of the Deer Hill suite at
The old Rhinebeck Inn.
I also posted the ink drawing again so you could see the process.
After loading the pictures I realized I should have included the two thumbnail color studies that were done before working on the final piece.
Just love the head board, look at all the detail.

Sunflower Heaven

2010-08-29T17:09:00.002-04:00

It has been a busy two weeks. My mother had surgery that didn't go as planned and I got behind on my studio work. Today I decided to take a needed day off from responsibilities.
We spent the morning at the flea market and on the way home couldn't resist stopping at this field of sunflowers and taking pictures. Hope your enjoying your Sunday.

Ink drawings for the Rhinebeck Inn

2010-08-28T15:17:00.017-04:00

I was commissioned to paint four paintings for the Rhinebeck Inn.
This is a detail from the Deer Hill suite.

This is the Rye Field suite.

An another view of the Rye Field room.

This is the Spirited Dove suite.

A detail of the old chest from the Spirited Dove room, did you notice the date? The inn keeper didn't ask for a painting of the antique chest. It was so lovely I couldn't help myself. This ones for me.

The Plow & Harrow is the final suite.
Tomorrow I will start adding the watercolor, and by the end of the week you will see the final paintings.

Pursuing his dreams...

2010-08-22T18:23:00.006-04:00

This summer, my son Luciano was pursuing his dreams of acting by attending Geva Theatre's
Summer Academy. Geva's summer academy is a five-week professional theatre training program for 30 selected young actors. The students took courses in acting, voice and diction, movement, monologues, expansions and improvisations.

This year's camp celebrated Modern theater. The 2010 showcase was based on Ray Bradbury's classic novel, Fahrenheit 451.
Luciano's character was the young boy in the adaptation from Shipwrecked by Donald Margulies.

Final photograph of the entire cast and directors. Bravo to all! It was an amazing show.

Proud parents

Grandparents Marlene and Donald Maggio

Great Aunt Georgia and Grandma Jane

Just love this picture, and I wonder where my children get their creative expression from.

Final day of our workshop

2010-08-11T15:57:00.006-04:00

Mix media college with rice paper, cheese cloth and stamps.

I think this one needs something more, and think I should take off the brown paper dragon fly and just stamp it onto the piece.

Tried using magazine college with tea leaves and cheese cloth. I did add three distressed tea bag tags but lost them when I added clear wax. The wax turned white when it dried.

Final piece for the day. Lots of layers that I drew a grid into, than pushed purple oil pastel into the lines. I wiped most of the purple off and thought it was looking good. Then tried adding clear wax over that turned my piece white again so I added more color and tried scraping away some of the color. I actually think I like this. There most be something you can add to the wax that allows it to stay transparent when it dries.

On a side note one of the books our instructor suggested we purchase was Embracing Encaustic by Linda and William Womack. During lunch, I pursued though the book and to my delight one of my favorite encaustic artist's work was featured in the book,
Bridgette Guerzon Mills . I also follow her blog and left a message telling her I was taking the workshop. Please make sure you stop over to her website and blog, Contemplating the Moon.
You're in for a real treat.

Encaustic Workshop day 1

2010-08-10T16:29:00.003-04:00

Enkustikos Hot Cakes
Today and tomorrow is professional development for the art teachers at Eastridge. We are learning how to paint using bee wax or better known as Encautic painting.

Artist and teacher, Giacomo Sciarrone is teaching the class.

Catherine shown above is working on her painting. She has definitely done this before.

My first time working/playing with encaustic paint.
Wasn't really sure what I was doing but it sure was fun!

First stage of the second painting. I discovered the heat gun.

Building layers with contrast and texture.

Last picture for today. Tomorrows class... college, more incising and image transfer.

Wishing for cooler days

2010-08-05T07:26:00.011-04:00

Another hot and muggy morning and I'm dreaming of being at the lake. Thought you might enjoy this mix media piece that I did after a trip to Keuka lake.

Best Friend / Loyal Companion

2010-07-25T10:22:00.002-04:00

Can you tell that I'm been having fun this weekend by catching up on art projects for my family. This is for my niece Lauren. Her best friend and loyal companion, Baci. I hope she likes it?

I asked her to write down a few things she loves about Baci. This quote was from her sister Emily who I think loves Baci as much as Lauren. Lauren travels a lot and Emily helps out by taking care of the big guy. Emily I'm going to make you a print too.

Finished flea market find watercolor

2010-07-24T10:06:00.004-04:00

Well I'm one day late but I finished the watercolor of Jessie's flea market find. If you didn't get a chance to check out the blog hop yesterday here is the link again for Lemoncholy's flight of fancy.
I must admit Jessie and I had so much at the flea market we are planing on going again tomorrow, and I promise to be on time with my end of the deal to create a painting of her favorite flea market treasure.

Jessie's Flea Market Find

2010-07-22T15:03:00.005-04:00

Last Sunday, Jessie and I spent the morning at the Avon Flea market. We had so much fun looking for treasures. Jessie came home with some amazing finds. This lovely sliver water pitcher for five dollars was one of them. It was so charming we just had to turn it into a still life for me to paint. Monday we stopped by our favorite florist shop Arena's and selected a few flowers to fill the pitcher. We took some pictures for my reference and I started the drawing.

Its been a very busy week and I haven't had a chance to add the color yet but wanted to share our collaborative find and creative endeavors.
Jessie and I have joined Lemoncholys flight of fancy, "Flea Market Friday". Be sure to hop over and see what treasures other bloggers have found.

I'm still here

2010-07-07T17:47:00.004-04:00

I've been busy painting. I discovered this lovely cottage located in Buffalo years ago and wanted to paint it again in my fun new style.

I'm sure your tired of seeing this watercolor, but look closely can you see the difference?

Here they are side by side. Which one do you prefer? I love them both. I'm having post cards and prints made of the Rhinebeck Inn series. Let me know if your interested.

This is Baci, my niece Lauren's dog. He's not done yet, I just got started today. I'll keep you posted on the process. Hope you are all keeping cool.

A Taste of my own Medicine

2010-06-23T04:41:00.005-04:00

The Finished oil painting for Virginia

Can you see the difference?

My students will love this story. Last week I thought the second picture in this post was finished. I wanted it to be finished, it needed to be finished, this painting is a gift for a wedding that is next weekend. I kept looking at it...willing it to look right. But the teacher in me was not happy. That little voice in my head kept telling me that the reflection in the water was not right and it must be corrected.
Just like my students I heard myself saying " Its just fine, your being to picky, so it looks like a bush no one will know the difference and I'll ruin it if I try to fix it." In the end my teacher voice won out and I went back into the painting and smoothed out the water, and it does look better.

To my students, I'm so glad I listened to my teacher voice, isn't it nice to know that I even drive myself crazy! Hope you enjoyed.

2010-06-10T19:51:00.004-04:00

Recipe for an oil painting

Getting started is always my favorite part of painting. If I'm using a photo as my reference I start by mixing different color combination's and painting little swatches of color on the paper. Don't forget to write down what colors you used on paper. I tell my students this is their recipe card. It really helps when you're just staring out. As you can see there are only four colors plus white on my palette, Winsor green, Alizarin Chrimson, Hansa Yellow and Ultramarine Blue.
Keeping it simple is the key.

If you have been following my posts you might recognize this landscape. It's the backyard of the Old Rhinebeck Inn. If you remember, I was commissioned to paint an oil painting of this scene for a wedding gift. I thought you might enjoy watching my process.
This is the first stage better know as the under painting. With oil, your first layer of paint has to be very thin. This prevents cracking as the painting dries. It almost looks like a watercolor. Once your happy with the composition and value choices you start adding thicker paint. If you look closely you can see I started adding detail to the urn and began thickening the paint in the foreground. I'll have more pictures on the weekend to share.

This week, I'm honored to be the artist on Mr. Mmm's blog "Hot Toast & Jam", Feature Friday.
Be sure to stop over and see what kind of questions he had for me.

162 Cambridge, England

2010-06-05T17:21:00.002-04:00

I've finally finished painting all of my daughter Jessie's favorite pictures from her trip to Cambridge last year. We found four wooden frames at the "Christmas Tree Shop" for just three dollars and ninety nine cents each. I painted them a neutral color and aged them a bit for that Shabby Chic look she just loves. There looking very nice on the wall in her bedroom.
I must admit they are just so fun! I can't stop looking at them.
Hope you are enjoying this lovely weekend.

The Old Rhinebeck Inn in NY

2010-06-02T17:01:00.004-04:00

Having so much fun... Another watercolor from Virginia's photos. This is the Old Rhinebeck Inn , a delightful B&B in NY. The painting I posted yesterday is the view from the back yard. You must check out their website. I would love to stay there next time we take our son back to college in the fall. Just lovely...

Memories from Rhinebeck, NY

2010-06-01T17:03:00.004-04:00

This is for my girlfriend Virginia. She commissioned an oil painting for her college girlfriend who is getting married later this month. I loved the photo so much I did this little watercolor for her.
Hope you like it girlfriend.

Taking flight in the Studio

2010-05-31T06:48:00.002-04:00

The month of May has been a very busy month around our house, lots of social events to attend along with spring yard work. But one area in my home was accumulating cobwebs. Can you believe I haven't work in my studio or my sketchbook at all until yesterday?
After taking my favorite dog for a long walk, I spent the rest of the day working/playing on sketches and color studies for a few new things and can't wait to start painting again today.
The weather is looking promising... I just might dust off that french easel and work outside.
Hope you are enjoying the holiday today, I know I will.

Little Italy

2010-05-22T07:05:00.003-04:00

Gian and I in De Pasquale Plaza

The arch way as you enter Little Italy in Providence RI.

Most of you know I'm crazy about acorns, couldn't resist taking this picture.

Thursday we drove to Providence, RI to pick up our son Gian from college. We decided to spend the afternoon and evening in their version of Little Italy. I couldn't believe the energy, it felt like a weekend. The restaurants and cafe's were full of people, most were outside enjoying the beautiful summer like day. The art galleries were all open and full of patrons, there was actually a tour guide taking a group though all the shows. You wouldn't believe the amazing cars, Lamborghini's, Ferrari's, and Porsche's.
We enjoyed a great meal and spent the evening in the plaza sipping wine and taking in all the sites.

Having the best weekend

2010-05-09T11:02:00.006-04:00

Melanie is a former student that is graduating from Alfred University next weekend, with a degree in Graphic Design.
Yesterday was the opening day of her Senior Thesis Art Show. My husband Chris and I drove three hours to surprise her.

The proud and very tired almost graduate.

Her cell phone never stopped ringing as friends called to congratulate her.

Did I mention she was one of my favorites!

Her Dad flew in from Michigan.

My husband the photographer had to take a creative shot to celebrate the day.

Friday night was also another of my favorite students Senior Art show in Rochester.
Jenn is graduating with a degree in photography from Brockport college. Would you believe that neither Chris or I had cameras. Luckily Jenn is in town and I'm planning on going back to the gallery with her and my camera to document the event.
Every Art teacher should be so lucky to have such wonderful students as these young ladies. I feel so honored to still be a part of both their lives.

For my students, know that you can do anything!

2010-05-06T07:39:00.005-04:00

Jónsi - Go Do from Jónsi on Vimeo.

When I saw this newly released video by Jonsi my heart soared. It is so inspiring and complements my part in Susanna's winged messenger project. Being the overly excitable art teacher I had to show my students the video before posting it, when they started writing down Jonsi's website I knew it was a hit! I've included the words to his song, print them off sing along.

Remember you can do anything, Pursue your dreams!

Go Do - Jonsi
Go sing, too loud
Make your voice break-Sing it out
Go scream, do shout
Make an earthquake

You wish fire would die and turn colder
You wish young eyes could see you grow older
We should always know that we can do anything

Go drum, too proud
Make your hands ache- Play it out
Go march through crowds
Make your day break…

You wish silence released noisy drummers
You wish white noise surrendered to summers
We should always know that we can do anything

Go do, you’ll know how to
Just let yourself, fall into landslide

Go do, you’ll know how to
Just let yourself, give into flood tide

Go do!

Tie strings to clouds
Make your own lake- Let it flow
Throw seeds to sprout
Make your own break- Let them grow

Let them grow (Endless summer)
Let them grow (Endless summer)

(Go do endless summers)

You wish surprise will never stop wonders
You wish sunrise will never fall under

You wish surprise will never stop wonders
You wish sunrise will never fall under
We should always know that we can do anything

Go do!

Pursuing your Dreams

2010-05-01T10:56:00.005-04:00

Today is the first day of my next adventure...I've been inspired by Susanna's, "Winged Messenger Project" blog for about a year. She designs and paints delightful messages which are left in public places for unknowing strangers to find and hopefully get some inspiration. I'm putting a little twist on the project hoping to inspire my high school art students. For those who follow my blog, you know that I am a life long learner,and always ready to step out of my comfort zone to try new things. Remember my endeavors learning how to paint Graffiti? Pursuing your dreams doesn't always pertain to the large accomplishments in your life, sometimes its the small events that generate the greatest happiness. For the next year I'm using my wings to share my dreams and accomplishments with my students.

A morning gathering driftwood at the beach with my husband and dog, Lync.
Can you guess what's in the background of this picture?

Who would imagine finding swans swimming in lake Ontario.

As we were walking to our car, I noticed the couple parked next to us were getting ready for a bike ride. Hmm, someone else pursuing their own happiness today. I showed my wings to Bob and Roberta Fisher and asked if I could take their picture. They kindly agreed. Roberta is a career counselor and loved the message of the wings.
I would say that was a positive sign.

A special thank you to Bob and Roberta for taking part in the first day of my adventure. I hope you enjoyed your ride.

Kappa Delta Pi

2010-04-24T17:07:00.004-04:00

Do I look a little proud?

Jessie with her Dad.

Today, Jessie was inducted into Kappa Delta Pi, the International Honor Society for Education.
She joins fellow members Albert Einstein, Margret Meade, John Dewey and Piaget.
She was nominated by her professor's for outstanding achievement and dedication to education.
Needless to say we are so proud of her and all her hard work.
Way to go Jessie!

Cambridge, England

2010-04-22T15:56:00.003-04:00

Another painting/illustration for Jessie.
If you remember I created a fun illustration/painting for my daughter Jessie's birthday a month ago. She like it so much she handed me another photo from her trip to England last year.
We found another frame that matched the first painting, so she has a matching pair.

Two of my favorite guys

2010-04-11T05:56:00.004-04:00

Luciano and Lync stopped during their walk today with dad for this photo.
What handsome guys!
Luciano just finished performing in his school play, Mulan.
He was Caption Shang, Mulan's love interest.
My husband took a few video clips from the show and hopefully if all goes well and I can figure out how to use Vimeo, (it is similar to You tube) I will share the video clip with you.

Jessie's New Car

2010-04-07T06:01:00.003-04:00

Our daughter Jessie, just purchased her first new car!
A 2010 Honda Civic.
Does this mean she is all grown up?

Recycled Sail Boat Fun

2010-04-03T09:03:00.005-04:00

The classic view

Heading out to sea

Taking off

Last week I was visiting Jane LaFazio's blog, she had posted pictures of her "Dream Boat".
It was the cutest little sail boat. I just had to make one myself.
I followed the link for the pattern.
Sculpture artist, Ann Wood's is the creator.
Check out both ladies sites I'm sure you will enjoy.
I had so much fun making my little sail boat, that I may have to create a fleet.
I got carried away with the photos. My intent was to make my first animation using a program in Photoshop.
To my dismay my version of Photoshop didn't have the program. Time for an upgrade.

Maple Sugar Time

2010-04-02T11:10:00.003-04:00

The golden color of maple syrup in glass bottles is just beautiful.

The Packard Valley Farm was founded in 1821.

There was a chill in the air, but we were all smiles as our hay ride touring the maple farm began.

Our first view of the trees as we enter the woods.
Hundreds of silver buckets hanging from the trees,
just as I remembered as a child many years ago.

Friendly modern farmers with their dog.

Gone with the silver buckets, in with the new plastic blue tubing.
With over 500 trees it was a daunting task collecting sap from the trees each day, and not very cost efficient.
I must admit the blue tubing is quite an eye sore, but it makes life much easier for the small farmer.

There was a petting zoo for the children. We just fell in love with this baby goat.

The best part of the day...
All you could eat pancakes with maple syrup from the farm.

Spring is here...

2010-04-01T05:49:00.003-04:00

Yay! Spring is here and a three day weekend.
Can't wait to share with you new adventures and art work.
I've felt lost the past couple weeks, I've been taking lots of pictures but for some reason my camera wouldn't upload the pictures to my computer.
Had to wait for the expert in the house to look at the camera. Thank goodness the camera is fine but I needed a new cable.
Off to work for now, new posts to arrive tomorrow.

Jessie's Birthday Present

2010-03-16T19:46:00.004-04:00

St. James Park
London, England

Two years ago our daughter, Jessie spent a few weeks in Cambridge, England. She fell in love with the UK, and took over 500 pictures of the beautiful landscape and historical architecture.
At that time she gave me several of her favorite pictures, and asked me to paint one for her birthday. I started a traditional Plein Air style oil painting but my heart wasn't into it.
Last week she turned twenty three. I'm happy to say the painting is finished but its a much more playful version than the original oil.

Rochesters International Women's Day

2010-03-08T05:13:00.006-05:00

Jamie Columbus, Chair of RIWD "Rochester International Women's Day"
with committee member, Nancy Gong.

Good friend and Stain Glass artist, Nancy Gong.
Nancy was presenting gifts to those who purchased raffle tickets.

Trinity Montessori Children's Chorus.
Notice all the lovely hats. This year it was asked that all those participating in the event design and wear a hat to symbolizing strength and unity among women.

Phoenix Dance Studio celebrating women from Mongolia.
I just loved their costumes.

Lovely young ladies with the Bollywood Indian Children's Dancers.

This was a free treat, and I had to partake in the festivities.

New girlfriends, designer Jill Stoltz, Massage Therapist, Michelle Olsowsky, and me.

An amazing collection from Stacey Millers travels around the world. Check out her website for more information about the Hats and Headdresses at Hat Horizons.

This was an amazing event to honor and celebrate women around the world! It became official yesterday, March 7th will always be the day to celebrate Women in Rochester. We danced, sang to the goddesses, shared a universal blessing and came together in unity as women in the Rochester community.
Thank you so much Nancy for inviting me.
To all my blogger friends, I look forward to seeing what's happening in your communities to celebrate Women in the month of March.

Arena Art Group Spring Show

2010-03-06T05:46:00.007-05:00

Standing in front of Courtney's painting, Courtney Gruttadauria, Karen and Zanne Brunner.
Courtney, I forgot to take pictures of just your paintings.
I owe you girlfriend.

Courtney and Zanne

One of Zanne's paintings in the show.

Elizabeth Barry and Zanne standing in front of their work.
It was a pleasure meeting you Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's painting is on the left and Zanne's on the right.
Just love the work ladies..

Peter Macon in front of his work.
Peter is the Arena Art Group chair. We just met that night and he was a delightful host. Peter is a sculpture artist, in the Rochester area.

Thursday evening my Kimono girlfriend, Zanne invited me to the opening reception for the Arena Art Group, Spring Show.
The show can be found in Mount Morris, New York at the Apartment One Livingston Art Center.
Its about a 45 minute drive from Rochester and well worth the visit.
The shows is up until May 15, 2010.
I had a wonderful time viewing the art work, and meeting some of the artists in the show.
Zanne and Courtney are long time friends, amazing artists and Co-Chairs for the group.
Thanks for inviting me!

Crazy Man

2010-03-03T18:23:00.004-05:00

Your Acorn crazy miss, Crazy Man or Mad Crazy are just a few of the things my students have said when they saw me working on this graffiti painting.
The painting was started a couple of weeks ago and this week I finally had a few ideas to finish it. This time I thought it might be fun to include my students in the process. Everyone had opinions and suggestion. We've had lots of fun! I went crazy with it, adding to many things and then painted over some of it and started again. Everyone had advice, and I enjoyed hearing what the students thought might work. I was impressed and proud how they explained there ideas.
For now we think its done, but I think it might need a little writing over that blue sky. Something documenting our collaborate effort.

Snow Day Fun

2010-02-27T09:46:00.003-05:00

Flying Acorns

Summer Bouquet

Acorn and Bird Houses

Yellow Flower Delight

I spent most of the day in my studio just having fun! The only reason I stopped was that my shoulder and right arm started to hurt. I just love these new paintings... what should I to do with them? Should I make cards, prints, postcards? Sell them on Etsay?
Tell me what you think I'm open to suggestions.
They are 24x36" I 'm thinking poster size.

Warmer Thoughts

2010-02-26T04:52:00.005-05:00

As you can see all I'm thinking about is warmer days...

This painting is quite large. I've been hanging brown paper on the wall, turning the music up and just having fun. It may be snowing outside but not in my mind.

The Valentine Gift

2010-02-20T13:19:00.004-05:00

Mixed media painting of my new muse.

Journal page using my favorite little bird.

Three of my favorite muses are revealing a story.

Kimono Girls

2010-02-19T18:38:00.004-05:00

Kimono Girls, Lisa, Karen and Zannie.

Today the creative girlfriends spent the afternoon at the Memorial Art Gallery.
Can you guess the new exhibit?
If your thinking it has something to do with Japan's traditional dress your correct.
The gallery's new exhibition, Fashioning Kimono, Art Deco and Modernism in Japan
was wonderful!!
The show features nearly 100 garments between the 1890s and the 1950s.
The show had intricately embroidered ceremonial robes along with kimono's stenciled with cars, airplanes, battleships and the Empire state building. It was surprising to see how much western styles influenced their design.
As we were getting ready to leave a quick stop in the gift shop was in order. What little thing could we purchase to remember the day.
Zanne spotted the vintage kimonos... They were so lovely we just had to try them on...
One thing lead to another we couldn't resist... What do you think of our ceremonial outfits?
They will always be worn when were together and at art shows.
Oh what fun we had!
The show runs till April 4, its worth a visit if your in upstate NY.

Abstraction and Graffiti

2010-02-12T10:02:00.004-05:00

First in my series of hearts.

Second painting in the heart series.

"Graffiti Acorns"
Loving this piece, but its a work in process that still needs more work...
writing, images and cooler colors.

Graffiti background with doodles .
Another piece still in progress.

I just love acorns and designed a new one to use in my latest graffiti paintings.

I scanned the first drawing and changed the size so they could be cut up and use in my sketch book as I play around with design possibilities.

Looking forward to next week as we have a break from school,

and I can play in my studio each day...

Artful Girlfriends

2010-02-05T19:00:00.003-05:00

Our first adventure as artful girlfriends was a road trip to Buffalo last March.
We had such a wonderful art filled day visiting several of Buffalo's Art galleries.
A few months ago we got together and Zanne had a wonderful idea that the three of us should met on a regular basis to share our artwork and ideas.
Two weeks ago, we met in my studio for the first time. We shared our sketchbooks, worked on art projects and helped Zanne upload photos of her work onto her new art blog, ZenZappa.
We were so busy that day I forgot to take pictures so I used pictures from our first trip last March to document our day in a journal page.

Today was our second meeting. Zanne welcomed us into her home and studio, treating us to a delicious brunch.

Lisa and Zanne

Zanne, and I with Fern, Zanne's very lovable dog who wanted to be in the pictures.

Lisa and I.
Lisa loves to write poetry and just joined a poetry group.
Next month I'll remember to include a piece of her work.

Lisa and Zanne

A page from Zanne's sketchbook.

and one from my sketchbook.

We had so much fun sharing creative ideas and lots of laughter.
I can't wait till we meet again.

Meet my Hobgoblin, Hextilda.

2010-01-30T15:07:00.006-05:00

We call her Hesse for short.

Hesse was inspired from a comment left by my blogger friend,
Valerie of acornmoon.
When Valerie saw the four drawings that I had created for Mr. Toasts "Creative Tuesdays",
she wrote that the word hobgoblin came to mind.
Well the next thing I knew I was researching hobgoblins and even goggled old medieval names for my hobgoblin. My daughter, Jessie and I choose Hextilda, Hesse.
As some of you might know a hobgoblin is a type of fairy. They are the good natured version of a goblin. Our Hesse is friendly and even helpful at times, but she does love to steal/borrow things, like my favorite red i-pod that has gone missing somewhere in my studio.
She is very fashion conscience and is always tearing up our fashion magazines.
I've been busy sketching her in all the latest fashion trends and cleaning up lipstick kisses that she is leaving for us all over the house.

Sketchbook Update

2010-01-30T14:40:00.003-05:00

"Remember me" mixed media bird house

The Little Clay House using pen/ink.

The first journal page I actual liked.

I just love this one,
Using type as texture took pressure off my fear of writing on my art work..

These are just a few of my favorites from my sketchbook challenge for 2010.
I've sketched something everyday and sometimes they were not completely finished, but I've found myself going back to finish a few when I spied that perfect color or paper that completed the piece.
This is turning out to be a wonderful process that I've been sharing with my students. Wait till I show you what the clay house inspired.

Through the broken Window Pane

2010-01-24T20:06:00.006-05:00

Mixed media piece using recycled newspaper, ribbon and Mica tiles.

6x8" sheets of Mica.

A transparent mineral that you can peel apart. It looks like old glass but can be cut with scissors and adhere to art work using double sided tape.

My original pencil drawing of the clay house looked rather old so I decide to create a piece that looked old and had weathered with time. I had seen Mica tiles used before to create an effect that resembled broken glass and felt that would work well with Mr.Toast's, "Window Pane" theme.
All the other materials used for the piece were recycled items I had in the studio. One of my favorite things to recycle is newspapers. I love painting over it with acrylic paint, then I either stamp my own designs over it or use stencils.
Not sure it came out as I had envisioned, feeling like it still needs something...

Assignment "Window Pane" Week 1

2010-01-17T12:07:00.003-05:00

The Little Clay House

The creative process unfolds...
After receiving many comments from fellow blogger's writing that they enjoyed seeing my illustration develop. I decided to share what I've gotten done this past week.
Most of my time was spent drawing the four sides of a little clay cottage given to me by a friend years ago. The composition was laid out to resemble the four parts of a window pane.
Yesterday I spent most of my time trying to track down a material called Mica. In the end, I had to order it on line and am hoping it arrives before next Monday's deadline. If you don't already know what Mica is, you will have to wait because it will spoil the fun.
Today, I gathered papers from my studio to add to the drawing and I'm still thinking if I will write something to go along with the illustration. Hope you enjoy as much as I have.
Be sure to stop over to Mr. Toasts Creative Tuesday to see what the others have come up with.

Cheerio's

2010-01-09T15:04:00.003-05:00

"He sang into the Sky" is this week's creative challenge for Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesdays.

I always like to sketch out my ideas for a painting in my sketchbook first.

The color studies for the cheerio challenge.

I had mentioned last week that my painting class was starting a unit on Watercolor.
I thought, Mr. Toast's challenge was a wonderful opportunity to teach by example.
All week long I have been sharing my creative process with my students and thought my blog friends might enjoy too.
Once I came up with the concept for the project and had drawn it on watercolor paper, it was time to think about color scheme. My first watercolor sketch seemed to blue, so I decided to create a color study sketching out nine little versions of the original drawing. The funny thing about this was that everyone had a different favorite.
I decided to go with contrasting colors for the bird house and cheerios.
I also gave myself another challenge. Over the past few weeks, I have admired the witty writing style of many of the other participants, many of which write lovely poetry, something I have no experience with.
I went to my favorite creative writing teacher, John Edwards for his help. Having seen my drawing, I expressed my desire to include a piece of writing. John suggested a limerick and was kind enough to send me the guidelines for developing one.
It was much harder than I thought. In the end, my daughter, the elementary teacher, helped connect the pieces. We are very proud of the finish piece.
Hope you enjoy, and remember never stop learning.

New Year Resolutions

2010-01-03T12:24:00.005-05:00

Keep working in my studio... Maybe look a bit happier. :)

One sketch a day.

Well maybe two if it's a weekend...

Add color and mix it up a bit.

Create a series or body of work. I'm thinking a bird house / house series.

Incorporate my series into Mr. Toast's, Creative Tuesday.
Here is a sneak peek of an illustration I'm working on for next Tuesday's challenge
based on the word Cheerio.
Wow, I haven't done anything realistic in awhile. I'm also working in watercolor. Tomorrow my Painting class will be starting a unit on Watercolor, so I thought it would be a good idea to brush up on my techniques.
I really do love being a high school Art teacher. It has its ups and downs but when you get a group of students that want to learn it only inspires me to push myself to learn new things.
Which leads me to my next resolution/challenge. I would like to make a couple of on-line videos teaching a few techniques I've learn along my artistic journey. I'm thinking a short printmaking lesson. I'll keep you posted.

Festive / Festival

2009-12-28T19:20:00.004-05:00

The Festive Tree

I thought I had more time... It was about three O'clock today after shopping with my children all day, when I realized that the deadline for Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday had to be posted by tonight! Good lord it's my first project with the group, and I hadn't done anything.
What was I going to do? It was a quick dash downstairs to my studio were I found a linoleum print done in my Studio Art class last week. I grabbed a few pastel pencils to add some color and Ta...Da, The Festive Tree.

The Christmas Portrait & Behind the Scenes Photos

2009-12-24T11:12:00.002-05:00

With great anticipation we await the coming of Christmas
and the sharing of friendship, family and the real gifts that God has given us.
Happy Holidays to all...

The Christmas Chocolate Box

2009-12-20T10:10:00.003-05:00

My son, Gian-Patrick made this amazing chocolate box for me!

The snow flakes are chocolate.

All those wonderful candy's were made by him...

Can you believe those eggs?

My husband, Chris Maggio the professional photographer of the family
documented Gian's creative genius.

For those of you that do not know our son, Gian-Patrick is a first year pastry student
attending Johnson & Wales in Providence, Rhode Island.
He arrived home Thursday for the holidays. He drove home with a friend carrying the chocolate box gingerly on his lap for the entire six hour drive.
Gian made me try a small chocolate filled with caramel that night, it melted in my mouth.
I can't bring myself to try the other pieces its just to lovely.
Thank you Gian,

The Winners are...

2009-12-16T19:07:00.003-05:00

The winners are Barb S and Virginia!

Will you both please send me an e-mail ASAP,

with your address, and the color bulb you would like .

I'll run to the post office tomorrow and hopefully they will arrive before Christmas.

Being in the spot light is hard work!

2009-12-13T12:51:00.003-05:00

It's an honor when Andy Warhol immortalizes you into Pop culture.
My phone didn't stop ringing.

Someone actually wanted to paint my portrait.

Vogue wanted an interview.

Even Edward wanted to be seen with me.
How cool is that!

It's amazing the places your blog can take you. Last week while visiting Lemoncholy's flight of fancy , she posted pictures using Photfunia, a photo editing website.
The pictures were so fun I had to check it out.
It may be raining in Rochester today, but I'm in the spot light even if it is only in blogland.
Make sure to check out Photfunia. The site is free and its sure to bring a smile to your face.

My first give away...

2009-12-09T05:18:00.003-05:00

I've had so much fun making these graffiti tree ornaments!
So much so I don't know what to do with them all.
Tis the season, I decided to have a give away.
Leave me a note about your favorite holiday adventure by December 16th.
I will choose one randomly and another based on the most creative response.
If your not a blogger and can't post the response just send me an e-mail.

Tea Time

2009-12-05T11:32:00.006-05:00

Tea Time

I had so much fun creating this new painting.
The image of the woman in the center is from an old glue print made many moons ago.

I reprinted it using oil based ink and once it was dry the fun began. I added collage, carved a new stamp and glazed many bright colors of acrylic paint.
The painting just brightens my day every time I look at it.