Tree Murals

Well, I know I haven't been posting lately, but it's Summertime and the kiddos are off and climbing trees and swimming in lakes (who am I kidding....they're playing their Wii's and Xbox. It's Oregon, and it's raining.).

I've been trying to stay busy during this slow and unemployed time, with my own mural business. Here's what I've been up to, professionally:

- Creating a brand new website that's completely centered on my mural career. Now that I've decided that's really the direction I want to go most in my life career-wise, I'm completely re-designing the whole thing with this focus.  If you need a website, have good computer skills (but no, you don't need to know html or any other coding for this), go to the wix website and make a site for yourself.  They have templates available for free or you can buy a package without advertising. It's AMAZINGLY awesome.  Really, try it before you spend tons of money on someone to build your site or time learning other programs yourself.

- Created a custom mural for a local non-profit.  I have been involved with Nearby Nature since I was in Middle school back in the 90's. They are an incredible, inspiring environmental and educational organization in my community. And they needed some visual magic at their headquarters.  They just re-painted their Park Host House (the house for the guardians of the wilderness park where they work)  a beautifully bright sky blue. The house looked gorgeous, except for their beaten down, scratched up door. I painted the Nearby Nature logo and a forest pathway on their door and entryway to pull everything together for them.

- Painted a custom Oak Tree mural for a client. The woman who commissioned this mural felt very connected to a local mountain, covered in Oak trees. She told me she felt a spiritual connection and peace about the trees, and wanted to bring that feeling into her home. We decided on a simple sihouette design. The challenge for this project, was pinpointing exactly what it was that would give my client this feeling from my artwork. In this case, it was really an example of the artist as a communicator, and a middle man between a client's vision and what can be manifested in real paint. It was difficult for my client to tell me exactly what she wanted because I couldn't feel what was in her heart - a feeling that was difficult for her to explain. Would longer branches do it? A shorter trunk? A wider canopy? All of these small details come together and give off a certain feeling -  one that I am trying to match to my client. In the end, after visiting the trees that inspired the project, and one round of changes, she was very happy with her bedroom mural. Another lesson in very careful and active listening, patience, and trusting instincts. A fun project that provided growth for both sides.

So that's what I've been up to! Next time you hear from me, I will be in Philadelphia, working on my mural internship with the Mural Arts Program! Can't wait! I'll keep this updated from time to time so you can see what I'm working on.

Philly-bound,

Corie

EXCITING NEWS!!... And making big decisions.

OMG. I have some EXTREMELY EXCITING NEWS!!! I am going to be an intern for the Mural Arts Program in Philadelphia this July and August!!!!

A mural made by the Mural Arts Program in Philadelphia

So I guess on this blog I haven't gone through this whole story of my Career Crisis and this Happy Event following the Crisis.

Well.  Since awhile now, I have been considering as many career options as I have considered places I would like to travel in the world.  That is a lot.  Things I have considered doing range from tattoo artist to animator to illustrator, but I knew I at least wanted to be an artist to make my living. I was doing the Artist in Residence thing and totally loving it.  But I knew that someday I will move out of Eugene, and try to have another Big Art Career to do along side with being an Artist in Residence.  I guess I was at sort of a crossroads and not sure which way to focus, so I emailed an old professor and asked for advice. Which career direction did he think my art was best suited for? Well, he didn't answer that question, but pushed the notion that I really should probably narrow it down. A lot. So I gave myself a deadline. A few weeks down the road, I will have thought long and hard about this decision. It's a really scary notion, making this big of a decision. What if I am limiting myself and closing doors by picking just one area of focus for my art career?! I worried but then thought, no, this is just for NOW. I will pick one focus for RIGHT NOW and if at some point I have given it an honest shot, I will pick something else later. So I wrote pro and con list after pro and con list for each career option.  It's a funny thing, trying to make a decision this big, by being this systematic.  Once all the lists were made, it was like I didn't REALLY need to look over and consider them that closely.  Just the act of making these lists was enough to hear what my heart had been whispering to me all along. Now that voice was louder, with the facts all written down instead of floating around chaotically in my brain. A Muralist, that was IT.  With murals, I can work with people.  I can help people brighten their spaces, get more business in their places of business, work with kids sometimes, and paint REALLY REALLY BIG.  Murals are so BOLD! I love almost everything about this whole business of making them.  The answer was in my heart, it just took some focus and some dedication to trying to hear my inner voice, for me to come to the right decision for myself.

So after I had come to that, I felt, for lack of a better cliche, like a huge weight had been lifted. I felt happier and lighter, knowing I only had to try as hard as I can to succeed in this ONE area, rather than continue to dabble in and spread myself too thinly in so many others.

Not even 2 weeks after, I received a call from the Mural Arts Program, letting me know that there was now another intern spot open and would  like to have it?  (I had previously been rejected after making it to be a finalist). YES I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE IT! I screamed in my mind but calmly spoke over the phone. I applied to this last year and didn't get it. Then I applied this year, made it to the finalists, but no cigar. NOW, I was being offered this AMAZING opportunity. It is something I want SO BAD. It's just so funny to me that once I decided this is really what I want to do whole-heartedly, the Universe turned around and gave me this gift, almost seeming to back up my decision, telling me I'd made a good one.

So turns out that sometimes maybe we have to choose a path, and choose it with clear purpose. I heard somewhere that "we can do ANYTHING we want, but we can't do EVERYTHING we want." It sounds scary, like again, maybe we're limiting ourselves.  This has been a good lesson for me though, that choosing something and trying to put all the "what ifs?" and the other roads you DIDN'T take out of your mind, can be a really powerful thing. It's like I've given myself permission to just put ALL my career-starting energy into this one area. Greater things will probably happen this way, than if I just try everything. Sort of like being able to spin one plate better than 7.

I know this is long and preachy so I'll wrap this up. Just wanted to share this bit of good news and a lesson learned recently, with you guys....whoever is out there reading this. :)

One plate for now,

Corie

Peter Max Artist Lesson for Grades 3 - 6

This is a lesson about the artist, Peter Max. I like this lesson for 3rd graders up to 6th graders. This is harder for the littler kids to really get into, but older kids LOVE doing this one. Here is my lesson plan:

• First, talk to the kids about: Who is Peter Max?  He was an artist whose work got popular in the 1960‘s.  Ask them, "what comes to mind when you think about the 60's?" You may get "peace signs!", "Hippies!", etc. Then you can talk about his imagery that he used that spoke to this time period.
•  Talk about how Peter Max did things like album covers, posters for concerts and events, and other illustrations. Ask the kids, "What is the difference between an illustrator and other kinds of artists?" Explain: Illustrators create art from other people’s ideas, fine artists create art from their own. Illustrators get paid by other people  to make their ideas come alive, visually.  Children’s books, magazines, product packaging, etc., all use illustrators to tell a story. 
• Show examples of Peter Max's work in a computer slideshow. Ask kids to hold their comments until the end of the presentation, but to be thinking about what do all of these pictures have in common? What do you notice that keeps showing up in a lot of these pictures? How do we know it’s the same artist? At the end, take comments from kids and talk about Peter Max's style and how it is unique.  Hopefully the kids notice these things: He made lots of heavy outlines in black. Stars. sun rays. doves. people. neon. BRIGHT and FLAT colors. 
• Mention: He was interested in astronomy (study of the cosmos) and so thats why he had lots of stars and planets in his art. 

Explain the procedure for the project: First, do pencil drawings. They must include a sun and/or stars in a composition that is mostly sky. Then, outline everything in black sharpie. Color everything in with markers and highlighters.

These are what some of my kids have come up with. They turned out amazing, I think!!! I LOVE doing this project. The kids get SO into this. I think Peter Max's style lends itself perfectly to kids projects. 

I hope some of you out there can use this lesson plan and enjoy!

Stars and sun rays,

Corie

McKenzie School Mural Project

This project began in April and lasted only 4 Fridays for 4 hours per day. We finished this mural in 16 hours! These kids did an amazing job. 

STATS:

SCHOOL:  Mckenzie School, up the Mckenzie River Highway near Springfield, OR.

STUDENTS:  This school serves the rural community that live along this particular section of the McKenzie river.  It has about 200 students, Kindergarten through 12th grade. 

I WORKED WITH:  Students attend school here only Monday through Thursday.  Fridays are optional. I worked as a part of the school's Friday program, which tried to add back in, the arts that the kids don't get during the week due to funding.  Unfortunately, attendance to the Friday Program, remains low. Teachers believe the reason for this, is that students are so used to 3-day-weekends every single weekend, that they don't want to wake up early and go to school on Fridays if they don't have to. They have about 10 "regulars" though, who are the kids I mostly worked with. 

THEME: SCHOOL PRIDE! Our first session, the kids and I had a a huge brainstorming session. McKenzie's mascot is the eagle, so of course we included that. The McKenzie River is also a really important part of the wild landscape around their school, so we included that, too.  We decided to have the eagle carrying a banner with the school's academic motto on it, too. 

Altogether, this was such a fun project. Even though I didn't work with many kids, the ones who were there, were there by choice and were really engaged. I could tell that getting to paint something that was going to be displayed in their school's front entryway, was something that these kids were going to take pride in and remember for a long time. As I always say, making collaborative murals build self- esteem and team-working skills, along with the obvious creative and art-making skills they are building. 

Keep your brushes wet, 

Corie

SUMMER Day Camp?! & NEW JOB!

So yesterday I found out that a parent in one of the schools I teach in, asked my mom (who's also a teacher there) if I would be interested in holding an art camp over the summer for her kids!

UM, YES I am interested! By the end of this month, I will not be working in the schools because school's out for the summer! So yes.  I still will need my little creative master minds in my life.  If there's any way to keep kiddos around through the summer, I will try it. At first I thought, "Too overwhelming, no, I can't!" It's that negative self-talk that sometimes jumps in too quickly.  So I slept on it and this morning I thought, "You know what? You can do this. And it would be awesome."  What's not to love?  Still getting to do all my fun and creative projects with the kiddos, and yet NOT having to wrangle 30-ish kids at a time while doing it.  If I had a small manageable group of kids, how much FUN could we have making art projects all day?!!?  Just thinking about the possibilities has me excited.  So, trying to get that together will be a GREAT Summer project.

In other news.... I GOT A NEW JOB! And right in time too, right? (The whole not-teaching-over-Summer thing I just mentioned).  I'll be a Fine Arts Instructor at Michael's craft store here in Eugene!! SO COOL!  I had to take a test online through the Grumbacher paint brand so they could have me officially certified *ahem*, so official, to work as an acrylics instructor.  When I got this job, it was again, another moment of that little annoying voice in my head that sometimes tells me I can't do something. "How can you teach ADULTS? You've never taught ADULTS!", it said.

But you know what, as I've said before here: Trying something new and bold and challenging is always hard. But it doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. And we might really suck at it the first few times we do this new thing.  But that doesn't mean we won't get better at it, and then end up loving doing it. 

I'm excited (if still a little scared...) for these new ventures. Wish me luck!

Happy new beginnings to everyone out there who's starting something new as well.

Sidewalk chalk and slippin' slides,

Corie

Artist in Residence Perks: #2

Making kids happier through giving them an opportunity to paint.

Today I worked at Willagillespie Elementary. All 4th and 5th graders and I are still working on our math/science/space/time - themed mural in their hallway.  

One kid told me when it was her turn to paint, "This is probably the best day of my whole life."

Another kid told me when it was his turn to paint, "I've been waiting all tuesday and all yesterday for it to be my turn!"

There is nothing better than that. Better than money or fame I think, THIS is what feels good. These kids are getting less and less art in their schools, as there are more and more days of testing and test-preparation. Budget cuts have eliminated many art, music and drama teachers (physical education teachers too).  It's so sad to meet kids who have as difficult a time holding a paintbrush as some of my students in Madagascar did.  Aren't we supposed to be one of, if not THE most advanced country in the world? And our kids are getting cheated. It makes me feel good to know that organizations like mine, Lane Arts Council exists. I'm on a roster of a number of artists who are available to come to schools for 2-6 weeks at a time and work with kids. There are salsa dancers, glass artists, guitar players and me, and more! Until the system changes, at least this is a start. 

Artist in Residence Perks: #1

Getting to listen into kids' conversations with each other. 

I usually pull about 4 kids into the hallway to paint on the mural at a time, then we rotate groups about every 15 minutes so everyone gets a turn. Once I get paint and paintbrushes in their little hands and get them going on a spot to paint, I shut up and just listen.  I'm often amazed, grossed out and/or totally amused by what I can hear sometimes. For example, the following conversation by a few of my 4th graders today:"Have you seen that show, 'My Strange Addiction'?"

"Yeah. Did you see the one about the lady who has to sleep with a hairdryer in her bed, turned on?" 

"There's lots of crazy people in the world."

"Yeah. Most of them live in San Francisco."