New Adventures

Last spring I picked up a little bench for $5 at one of our local thrift stores.  I spent some time painting this cute thing for my new art loft.  It was very relaxing for me!

Here are a couple of pictures of the 100 year old historic building we bought in the urban core, approximately 8 blocks from downtown Kansas City.  My husband and I plan to make this our live/work forever space!  It is four stories high with over 1000 sq. ft. per floor.  My art loft will be on the top floor with a gorgeous view of downtown KC!  I am calling my studio  "Studio 67" because there are 67 steps to the top floor.  Boy will I stay in shape!!  It is my hope to create and offer classes in this amazing space.  Our hope is to be in by this Thanksgiving!

We are trying to keep the interior and as much brick as possible to keep the integrity of this 100 year old beauty!  We poured concrete floors on the main level and will stain those soon!

Paintings

I have been trying to work in time for my own painting.  A feat that can be difficult when you are an elementary art teacher.  Those of you who do what I do....know what I mean.  I am showing the month of June and July and needed 8 fresh pieces.  I love painting all types of subject matter and especially love bold bright colors with heavy brushstrokes.  I think this happened because I was trained in college to be detail oriented with my painting.  It just feels SO freeing to be able to move and swing my arms when I paint!

MAEA

Our state art educator's convention was held this weekend.  It was a fun filled 3 days in Kansas City.  The Nelson Art Museum, The Kansas City Art Institute and the Plaza Marriott hosted over 400 art educators from the fine state of Missouri.  I  had some great times connecting, attended some great workshops as well as a really fancy reception in Kirkwood Hall at the Nelson Art Gallery!   Here are some of the pics of our beautiful city and the fun!

Fun at the Gala on Friday night at the Nelson!

I also got to present a workshop and it was a packed room......even had teachers sitting on the floor!  My presentation was on the "Art of Collage".  Some really talented art educators out there!  It was tons of fun! 

Collage in the Style of Teesha Moore

Teaching students how to compose a piece of art with images and other materials can be challenging to say the least.  They usually want to apply everything to their collage.....and I do mean everything they have access to!   Being selective and giving them steps to create an interesting finished piece is the key!

I recently showed them a powerpoint I created with the work of artist Teesha Moore (with her permission of course to reproduce her images for teaching purposes).   You can check it out HERE.

I created this step by step lesson when I was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007.  After missing a half year of school with treatments, I ran across Teesha Moore on pinterest.  I loved her work and began a collage of my own.  It was truly healing!  This one was called "Faith".

I did not do much with the idea for a lesson, until I was diagnosed a second time with breast cancer.  After my double mastectomy and missing yet another half a year in 2011, I was feeling pretty low.

I began my second collage titled,  "Some Days You Just Have to Get Over It!"  Doing this piece finally got me out of my funk and looking forward. 

Not only can this lesson incorporate literacy and writing, it can also give you a chance to talk to students about why people create art and how it makes them feel.  Here is my second collage in the style of Teesha Moore.

I got a wonderful email from Teesha when I wrote to ask permission to use her images for my powerpoint!  So... I decided to create this lesson for my sixth graders.

Teesha Moore <artgirl777@aol.com>	12/29/14
to me

of course it is ok.  thanks for asking but I am thrilled to know that the creativity is being spread around.  thanks for everything you do to help these kids get more in touch with their creative sides.

Click HERE to find the pdf for the lesson plan and a document for ideas for motivational ideas.  You can also find the steps on the power point above.   You can also find this lesson on my webpage  HERE.  Look for student work to come.

What a Surprise!

I was surprised with visitors in my classroom today.  I always welcome anyone into our art studio, and I immediately asked students to let our visitors know what we were working on.  Little did I know, they were there for a very special announcement.  The visitors were from the district selection committee and I was chosen as one of 12 finalists for Teacher of the Year.  We are a BIG district, but little did I know that we have over 1500 teachers in our 26 schools until they told us.   When my 4th graders heard this they began singing Happy Award Day To You....to the Happy Birthday To You tune.  It was heart-warming.

Each of the amazing 12 finalists had a small write up on our district website.  Here is what they wrote about me.  Truly humbling!

Ms. Welling teaches art at Cedar Creek Elementary School and has been an educator for 36 years, 18 years with the R-7 district. She has received two PEAK grants from the Lee’s Summit Educational Foundation to establish an art library in her classroom.  She is a published author in Arts & Activities magazine and has won several leadership awards through Artsonia. Ms. Welling also received the R-7 Learning for Life award in 2012.

I absolutely LOVE what I do, and consider it an honor to work with kids!  I love exposing them to art in a way that makes them think from a different perspective.  I see kids blossom and come up with all kinds of new and refreshing ideas.   They are the leaders of our future generation!

  On a side note...our school...Cedar Creek Elementary had another teacher, Kari Swezy (3rd grade) receive a nomination.  I feel blessed and fortunate to work with such talented, caring educators!

So blessed to have this as a memory of my career!

Creating Makes Me Feel Better!

Yup... it's Valentine's Day!  And yup.... it's also my birthday!  Yes, it is worse than a kid having his/her birthday on Christmas, but I have learned to "get over it"!  Had big plans today but instead am staying in working on some small pieces of art because I am sick.  My students sometimes get a little too close when I'm demonstrating and I think I ran myself down this week, so I am paying for it now.

The good thing is...I'm not too sick to create.  These are two 5" x 7" pieces I finished today.  Liquid watercolors with black sharpie.  I really like the contrast between the bright colors and the black!  I like to make these cards to give away in unsuspecting places to unsuspecting people.   Not sure where I will drop these yet.

BTW... I have been going back and forth about which name to use on my artwork.  As an art teacher, I am professionally known as Ms. Welling.  But I did get married in November and I think I am going back to the name I was born with.....   Linda Limbach
It has a nice ring to it!  Now off to get some chicken noodle soup!

New Studio Space

So I have a tiny corner in my upper loft maybe 8' x 8' to work and be creative.   Yesterday I finally had enough of feeling cramped in my space with all my supplies.  While standing in my bedroom/studio space it dawned on me...why don't I put my bed (which all I do is sleep for 7 hours) in the smaller space and use my 15' x 22' bedroom space for my studio.  Brilliant!  I got it all moved  around, so now I can breath.  I even got a small sofa in there as well.  Getting all my "stuff" organized is key for me.

Here are some more pieces I have finished and have been working on.

Portraits

I try to paint as much as time allows me, and these have been in the works over the past year.  My grand-daughter, and some self portraits.  When I feel like all I am doing are elementary examples, I try to do some "grown up" art and paint at home.  Painting makes me feel good!  It heals my heart, mind, body and soul, AND, more importantly, it makes me a better art teacher!  I'm getting better at not judging myself or my work... the VERY reason I don't think we should grade elementary art!  Just my humble opinion.

Weekends in the Loft

Okay....so A LOT of my weekends are spent in my super cool urban loft in downtown Kansas City creating my own art as well as working on ideas for cool projects for my "kiddos" at Cedar Creek Elementary in Lee's Summit.  Let me show you around my space so you get an understanding of why I moved to downtown KC and why I love what I do!  Here is my space in the upper loft.  A cozy little nook to work on art!

I love our spiral staircase and the open feeling our our loft!  Our 20 foot ceilings really are "freeing" and inspire me!  Downtown Kansas City is a hub for the creative types!  I've already shown at the 2010 gallery in the Crossroads a couple of years ago.   I am working on being creative every day!

I have not taken much time to work on my own art, because my first love is teaching art to little people, but when I do, I make sure it is displayed in a place where I can see it every day!  This self portrait was painted after my second go around with breast cancer and my double mastectomy.

Many hugs and kisses to my wonderful new husband Daniel Nelson... (I was just married November 8, 2014) .  He took all the photos.   He is an amazing creative producer for Fox 4 WDAFT in KC as well as a singer-songwriter.  Yes, I have a song he wrote just for ME that he played at our wedding!  I painted the guitars just for him!  He is my biggest fan & supporter!

A New Year!

Friends...
I spend most of my time refining and creating new art projects for my amazing students at Cedar Creek Elementary in Lee's Summit, Missouri.  I work hard at getting all of their artwork posted onto Artsonia, an online art gallery, which my parents and family members love!  But this new year, I am changing directions.  I plan on teaching my students to upload their own artwork on Artsonia, freeing up time for me to start an art blog!  My hope is that I can inspire and reach other art teachers as well!

There is one other area I wish to improve upon.  I have not spent much time on my own art, but this year I have vowed to make art dates with myself! After another reconstruction surgery in July 2014, (I am a two time breast cancer survivor), I began creating on small pieces of watercolor paper and joined the Kansas City based group Art Abandonment, where artists leave small gifts of art to unsuspecting strangers.  It has been a wonderful experience, much like the feeling kids get when they give me one of their precious drawings.  Here are a couple I created and  left for an unsuspecting strangers.

   

Please note I am signing all of my artwork Limbach (my maiden name).  I will still go by Linda Welling as a teacher, as this has been my professional name for over 25 years, and most people know me by this name.  Please be patient with me as I learn how to blog and begin documenting my students experiences.  I hope 2015 will be a fun and exciting year for us all!