A Peak Inside My Portfolio: Fiber Arts

Lately I've been dabbling in fiber arts,. In the past I've done a lot with embroidery, as you can see here and here. But recently I added to my skills with painting on fabric. I have done two items that were given as gifts. One was a tie for a family member on my husbands side. I painted a seascape on a yellow tie. The other was a table runner for my aunt, in which I used, batik, dyeing fabric, painting on fabric and embroidery to complete the final piece.

First I used a flour paste to create a batik design on my fabric. Although it worked out well, I would not recommend this method, it was very messy!

After applying the paste and letting it dry, I then sprayed a watered-down dye  mixture onto the fabric and let it drive completely over night.

After it was dry, I washed it thoroughly, which took forever! I was very happy with the resulting design!

The last steps were to paint the design on to the body of the table runner. I used acrylic paint to do this. Then I embroidered some white designs around the painted portion and all along the border. As a finishing touch, I added tassels!

What's Going on the in the Classroom: Stop Motion Animation

As the school year winds down (Can it really be over?! It went so fast!) We're doing some fun projects that I really like and are easy for the students. They are so stressed out with AP testing, exams and end of the year papers that I like to keep things light. One of the projects we do is a group project where students work together to create a stop motion animation film. Students create their own props, characters and backgrounds and then take all the photographs. We just finished taking the pictures and this coming week we will be in the lab working hard to put it all together. Students have had a lot of fun with this and I can't wait to see their final results. I will try to post them here as well!

What's Going on in the Classroom: Photography Field Trip

Hello all! I know it's been forever since I posted! I'm not going to lie, I do not have a good excuse :)
However, we are moving right along with the school year and it's almost over! I can't believe how close the end of school is getting. Most recently in photography we have started doing film photography. Students are all taking their own film photos, developing those negatives and making their own prints. Some love it, some hate it, but it's been a great experience.
We also took some time a couple weeks ago to go on a Photography Field Trip to Pewabic Pottery in Detroit. There was a ton of cool history and information to learn about the pottery and a million interesting photo ops!