And it is already October!

I can't believe that September has come and gone without me posting to my blog.  It is already midway into October, in fact this coming week is Fall Break which signals that I have completed 9 weeks of school. It is hard to keep track of where the days go. I am full swing into my National Board entries.  I wish I could say that I have started video taping for 2 of my entries, bit that hasn't happened yet.  I will be starting a watercolor unit right after break, so I will start taping then. Plus I will need to tape my classes as they are critiquing an artwork, hopefully that will happen the first 2 weeks that I am back in class. As for now, I have finished entry 4 and am almost done with entry 1. For entry 1, I still need to get photos of the students final project (which they are finishing over break) plus I need copies of the summative assessment that they will get right after break.  It is obviously consuming my brain at this moment.

I have been doing only a small amount of artwork, just what I can accomplish at me Tuesday night drawing sessions. I worked each Tuesday in acrylic on large brown paper, using the technique where I apply the paint with a brayer. The following are some September examples.

I did manage to make a few of my daily collages, just on the weekends.  It is hard to fit much else in on a weekday!  The collages are all mixed media, 6" x 6". Evidently I was on a black & white theme for the month!

Over fall break I really do have a lot on my agenda.  As for national boards, I am starting on the analysis of student work section. I won't be able to finish the section until after break, when I have all of the information in front of me, but for now, there is still more that I can do.  I will also try to "unpack the prompts" for the 2 video entries.

I worked in my garden just a little bit yesterday, took off the shade screen and planted beets and carrots. Later this week I hope to put in some transplants of lettuce, broccoli and cabbage.

For art making, I have some projects from school that need to be finished.  The most important on that list is to make a chart of watercolor techniques to have when I start back after break. I also have a pencil drawing and a watercolor pencil painting to finish up (these are teacher examples).  Then there is the painting of dad. It is still a too young version.  I haven't worked on it in weeks, trying to figure out where I went wrong. I think I need to make his face, or at least his cheeks, a bit wider. That might solve the problem. His skin tone needs to be paler, not so red. I guess I have some work ahead of me. I hope to make some progress on it.

This week I plan to do a Plen Air painting session with my friend Laura. Now that we are experiencing some cooler weather, it should be a nice, outdoor activity. That is scheduled for tomorrow. I plan to work in watercolor. Then there is Tuesday night drawing session plus a Thursday night session with a longer pose. I look forward to that.

For now, I think I have relayed all that has happened since my last post. I will try to post at the end of fall break. It might be interesting to see if I accomplished all that I have planned.