DIY Wood Palette Transformations

This is a reprint of a post from 7 years ago ~ but, still so reverent, if even more so, today as reclaimed and distressed wood have become even more popular since then. I've added a link to Sawshub where you can get more information on DIY wood projects.

I have thought for years that it is a waste of wood palettes only to be used to lift "better" product via the forklift. Surely this workhorse item, breaking its back day after day, month after month, year after year, could be recognized for more than its eternal functionality and outward awkwardness? An ugly duckling of sorts that blossoms into its gorgeous, understated personality. A mere glimpse at others' transformation on Les Bulles de Miluccia's blog had me running to our garage looking for leftover items to create my own palette beauty.


With cool outdoor furniture being way too expensive for our budget right now (thus deemed unnecessary), I set out to create an "unnecessary" but very much wanted (by me) cocktail table for our backyard stone terrace. And keeping with the DIY attitude of our yard (my husband slaved over setting the heavy flagstone pavers for both a front and back terrace last summer), my idea for a palette table fit right in. My goal was to purchase as little as possible to make our new terrace table. I used the free wood palette that I acquired, four leftover 4" wheels from a chrome wire Costco shelving unit, and eight 20" lengths of Tigerwood leftover from the construction of our deck two years ago. I purchased a 3' x 4' sheet of galvanized metal ($20) and a few dozen stainless wood nails and screws (about $10 total) to put the whole thing together. Here is my final result ~ which I am thrilled with, I must say! As well as the inspiration that got me there.


So, what will you make this summer?
For more ideas visit 27 Fun DIY Bandsaw Projects You Can Start Today

Once you look past the fact that I need to do a little bit of weeding, you can see that it's a pretty cool table.

Detail ~ isn't the Tigerwood gorgeous?

The original inspiration

Sand the palette as necessary to keep splinters from the kiddos.

Cut apart a palette for quick and easy shelving with character.

Representing the West; A New Frontier

I'm honored to have been selected to be part of the upcoming juried art exhibit, "Representing the West; A New Frontier". I'll be exhibiting some of my encaustic art, including a piece from my recent "snow series." Sangre de Cristo Arts Center is an inspirational, educational, multi-disciplinary center for the arts accredited by the American Alliance of Museums located in Pueblo, Colorado, serving 17 counties.

New Year's Resolution Fuel Class!

Start fulfilling your New Year's resolution to be more

creative, fearless, experimental, and joyful!

It's a big order and all can be achieved by attending this Saturday's class at StudioC in Boulder. Inc.com has said that dabbling is a great way to promote your creativity so we will briefly explore several encaustic techniques and then you choose which one you would like to focus on for the rest of the class.

Location:  StudioC, 4944 Pearl Street, #C, Boulder, Colorado 80301
Cost:  $85 includes all materials, mineral water & light appetizers
Sign-up:  Call 720.206.7325 ~ all major credit cards accepted

Refer a friend that joins the class & receive 10% off!

My New Art Website

I'm excited to finish my latest website exclusively for my art work! www.shaunminne.com

Yes, technology evolves just as my work does. But, technology is winning and still waaay ahead of me. I know you are in the same boat, we all are, so I don't come down too hard on myself. I still have my original website, designhouse-arch.com for my architectural and interior design; however, it's no longer up to date with recent projects. My second website created a few years ago, allbrainarts.com, encompasses both my design work and artwork, including some student work from my classes . . . although, that site is missing some of my older, and still important, design projects. Well, for now, I have a new art website featuring my encaustic art and as of this very moment, it is up to date!

Oh wait . . . I just finished a piece today that has not been photographed. Touche, technology! 

Contemporary Architecture in China

Interesting article on architecture in China. It suggests tailoring designs to the capabilities of the existing labor pool there, rather than produce schemes that could not easily be realized. Makes sense for wherever, right? "These projects are examples of quality design and construction in China for two reasons. First, the intended material applications are compatible with the available means for construction, and the construction techniques almost always offer dimensional tolerances that are forgiving of contractor variation." Some beautiful results. Now can it be done cost effectively, too?

Creative Classes + Winey Women

(& Men!)

Get your art groove on, explore and expand your creative juices in a fun, relaxed, and non-competitive atmosphere ~ no art experience necessary! Join me in one or more of my upcoming creative classes that I will be teaching at my studio in the warehouse district of Boulder:

The Basics of Encaustic Stenciling
Tuesday, 23 June, 6-8:30 pm
Encaustic is an aromatic painting technique using a mixture of beeswax, resin and pigment which is kept molten on a heated palette and applied to an rigid surface. In this creative class we will explore several methods of stenciling incorporating typography, line and shape to creative a finished piece of artwork. $75 includes all materials.*

"An Altered Reality" :: Altered Books & Secret Lives
Wednesday & Thursday, 1 & 2 July, 6-8:30 pm
Altered Books is a mixed-media artwork that changes a book from its original form into a different form, altering its appearance and meaning. Altered book art is wide and vast with endless opportunities. This two evening class gives you the basics of how to approach a book project, teaches you the essentials of selecting the right type of book, removing pages to make space for art, cutting, and adhering new images. We will focus on utilizing the book's current text and images to reflect our own lives and learning how to make secret spaces for private stories. $150 includes an available book (you may also bring your own) basic supplies and images. A list of additional items that you may want to use and are free to bring only if you'd like will be supplied.

"Winey Women & Burying your Past" :: Encaustic Embedding Techniques
Wednesday, 8 July, 6-8:30 pm
Encaustic is an ancient art technique used for mummy portraits dating back to the 1st Century BC and has gained recent popularity in contemporary art, both figurative and abstract painting, as well as mixed media. Using an aromatic mixture of beeswax, resin and pigment, we will learn how to embed images, burying them deeper into the wax and then scraping back to reveal only what we chose. Bring a couple of copies of personal photos or items to embed into the artwork; old black and white photos, copies of birth certificates, and cherished correspondence help recreate your personal story. Bring your own wine if you'd like ~ proper glasses provided! $75 includes all supplies except personal images.*
*Still and bubble water are always supplied for free. Please feel at liberty to bring wine to any class if you are 21 or older.

LOCATION: StudioC ,4944C Pearl Street, Boulder, Colorado  80304
HOW TO ENROLL: Email me:  shaun@designhouse-arch.com ~ or call 720.206.7325.

Art Integration Website Resources

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In order to for future elementary and secondary educators to generate arts integrated lessons, I researched about three dozen websites that had cross content and art integrated lesson plans. Most incorporate only one form of art so as educators we’ll need to combine lessons and/or expand the lessons on our own to incorporate more CRISPA aspects. I have separated the websites that I thought the most helpful in two categories. The first grouping contains sites that have easily navigable lesson plans ideas where you typically can put in a content area, such as math or science for instance, and then select an art form that you would like to integrate although some sites only have visual or language art integration and not music, theatre and dance. The second grouping is not a list of “go to” sites with an abundance of specific lesson plans, but nonetheless are valuable resources providing tips and strategies for art integration and multi-sensory education.

Group One ~ Lesson Plan Ideas

The Denver Art Museum http://creativity.denverartmuseum.org/

This is the website that was presented to us at DAM on Thursday.

Artsonia http://www.artsonia.com/teachers/lessonplans/

As part of the national Art Education Association (NAEA), Artsonia is an online gallery of student artwork and lesson plans. You need to sign up for this site but it is free. You can also submit your own lesson plans to share in the Artsonia community.

Edutopia http://www.edutopia.org/stw-arts-integration-resources-lesson-plans#graph1

Edutopia does offer ideas and lesson plans that also integrate dance, language and visual arts providing common core standards and objectives, as well as provide templates to create your own.

Education Closet http://educationcloset.com/

Education Closet is an easy to navigate site that has lesson plans that incorporate dance, music, drama, and visual arts as well as strategies and articles that can deepen your knowledge and understanding of art integration and its benefits.

Lesson Plans Page http://lessonplanspage.com/

Combine contents and grade to get several samples of lessons in most cases. The lessons that do come up are generally very thorough with objectives, instructions, materials and time needed, etc. Although not all of them are specifically aligned with the common core standards, many of them do specify the standards.

Arts Integration Grant

http://schooltalkdev.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/groups/artsintegrationgrant/wiki/97f10/

This site has many lessons that incorporate language and visual arts, music, dance, theatre into math, science social studies and history as well as other useful information.

ArtsEdge http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons.aspx

Currently, there are 187 different lessons integrating theatre, dance, music, literary, media or visual arts to several other contents including physical education, technology and geography. The lessons are comprehensive providing an overview with learning objectives, preparation information, instruction steps, and standards included in the lesson.

Group Two ~ Art Integration & Multi-Sensory Resources

Artful Thinking http://www.pzartfulthinking.org/overview.php

Mentioned by DAM presenter on Thursday, Artful Thinking is the Harvard developed program that believes incorporating works of visual art and music in curriculum strengthen student thinking and learning.

Arts Integration http://artsintegration.com/

A clean, easy site that offers research information on incorporating visual art, dance/movement and theatre/drama into education and offers templates for creating your own. However, the lesson plan samples portion is a bit thin.

Dick Blick http://www.dickblick.com/lesson-plans/

A popular artists material resource site, Dick Blick also has hundreds of lessons although they are not specifically organized by cross content information. Rather this site can be used for general visual art ideas as well as artists materials to purchase.

Lesson Planet http://www.lessonplanet.com/

This site costs $4.99 per month but claims to have over 400,000 lesson plans and new ideas for cross-curricular lessons.

Art21 http://www.pbs.org/art21/

Art21 is a PBS produced and broadcasted seven season series of art in the twenty-first century specifically created for educators. Educators' Guides support the use of contemporary art in classroom and community settings by empowering educators to explore the artists, ideas, and themes being explored in art today, and encouraging them to interpret these ideas for individual student needs. The Educators Guide and additional online content introduce opportunities for critical thinking and creative problem solving relevant to middle-school, high-school, and college students. The content can be easily adapted for younger or older groups. Guides include additional information about each of the artists, as well as Before Viewing, During Viewing, and After Viewing questions and suggestions for hands-on activities. These suggestions are interdisciplinary and support various subject areas, including the Visual and Performing Arts, Language Arts, and Social Studies.

MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) http://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning

Download and customize slide shows, worksheets, and other resources for use in the classroom or for independent study of famous artists and works of art and the themes they explored. This is a site to use as a resource and ideas but does not contain lesson plans.

GrAfFiTi ArT!

Kids have a fascination with graffiti. I think it's a combination of the expressiveness, the outlandishness of it, to the mystique of "teaching" it ~ is she really going to encourage private property defacement? By the time there were walls, people were writing on them; from the caves of Lascaux to the modern day defacement of property. Graffiti style has taken hold and has become mainstream so why not embrace it and take the opportunity to educate children on the history and the respectful use of the art form?

In my last week's summer art camp graffiti class we focused on the history of graffiti in America and the ability to draw in a bold and simplified manner. The kids produced personal and stunning work with creative lettering that incorporated the basics of perspective and isometric drawing. We worked on both small scale personal work and large scale murals emphasizing community & collaboration.

Piet Mondrian

Patterns, lines, & shapes all with the goal of creating visual balance is what we've been working on the last few weeks. We used a combination of markers and watercolors then finished it off with gluing black strips of paper to separate the grid. Crayola makes some beautiful colors in their watercolor paints that seem to last a bit longer than some other brands. The end result was really nice.

When the students are finished I encourage them to help others. This collaboration usually yields happier students.
 

Community Quilt

The second graders at my placement are a bit more challenging than all of the other grades. They are beginning to assert their independence and test their boundaries with each other. My mentor teacher was going to be out for a day and I had to come up with a one day project quick. I really wanted something that would be a group project so they could practice working as a group and give them more of a sense of community while still giving them freedom of expression and personal choice. I also wanted to incorporate some math and history. So, I went out looking for ideas and came across this paper quilt project.

This turned out to be the perfect project and one of the kids all time favorite. We had been working on creating patterns in the previous project and talked about how we see patterns in nature as well as our behavior so the goal was to create their own patterns within the given framework of the three sections the protractor created on each quarter square.

The kids got more and more excited as they saw their community quilt come together. They worked harder, got along, and praised each other for the good work they were doing. Afterwards, I took photos of each "quilting bee's" quilt and laminated miniature versions of them to hand out to each one of the kids.

This did only take one class period and it had me gluing and pasting like a mad woman! You'll notice that I messed up the combinations in the first two ~ but, by the last class I was more careful and put it together correctly.