Artober Nashville: Modular Art Wall

   

Artober Nashville is almost upon us, and things here at Tulip Grove are kicking into high gear(even though we're only a week away from the end of the nine weeks & fall break).  Last year I had a community art project that we worked on at our Fall Festival.  You may remember our Kandinsky fence....if not look up Kandinsky in the word cloud to the right hand column.  

This year, someone donated sound proof ceiling tiles to our district's art teachers!?!?!  Odd...but exciting!!  Sometimes I see possibilities before I know how to actually follow through with things?!!? ha ha  I envisioned an ever changing art wall made from cubes.  The tiles were bigger & heavier than I imagined.  I first tried Liquid Nails.  It worked, but has to dry for 24 hrs..and set on a flat surface.  NOBODY HAS TIME FOR THAT?!?!  Though I had my doubts about hot gluing it (because of the weight)...I tried it.  AND IT WORKED!!  Now I went through a lot of hot glue sticks, but they seem very sturdy after double seaming it.  

I then tried different paint on the surface.  Tempera worked, but it took a lot of paint because of the absorbent surface(I already new acrylic would be way too expensive!!).  I then tried watercolor.  To my surprise, the watercolor really went on nicely!  It is a little light, but we might be able to go back into them later and add focal points using tempera or acrylic in small areas.  

So tonight....we have our Fall Festival.  I'll have the cubes set up in my room for parents & children...teachers & whoever else comes...to paint!!  I'm excited to see how it turns out.  

STAY TUNED!!!!!!!!! 

Kandinsky Inspired Complete: FORGOT TO POST?!?

OH MY GOODNESS!?!?!??!  I just realized I never posted the finished product of my Kandinsky Inspired Fence project?!?!!?  WHAT WAS I THINKING...OR NOT THINKING?????

It has now been up for close to 3 months...and still looks as fresh as it did the first day!  Once I got it in place(not an easy task for this non-handyman)....using nails, wood glue, zip ties...prayer!!!...I gave it two coats of polyurethane.  The wood was in very poor condition when I got it....so I'm not sure how long it will hold together or how long the paint will look good.  We shall see!  Sometimes the decay process is as interesting as the creation! 

Bottle Cap Mural 4 Months Later

One of my blog readers asked me how the bottle cap mural was "holding up"

out in the elements.  GREAT QUESTION!!!  

This was not constructed to be a "forever" piece in the beginning.  4 months into its exposure to the elements...I've had one repair session where I reattached about 30 caps that had come off(possibly picked off by neighborhood kids). A few of the caps came off because of my own stupidity.  There were stickers on some of the milk caps...and that is were the separation occurred.  I should have removed the stickers before letting the students attach them to the board.    There is fading happening to some of the lids. You may be able to see in this picture that the oranges are looking a little peachy.  For the most part though..the colors are staying true.  

One way that this could have been(possibly still can be) a forever piece is if I would have used resin on the board.  I may investigate this in the spring when the weather is warmer & I can use the resin outside! I'll let you know how it goes!!