Art Made Easy

AME 079: How to Protect Your Creative Content Do you offer tutorials, projects or handouts on social media, but get uneasy when someone swipes your idea? Protecting your creative content, from your Insta-Stories to your blog posts takes consideration. I know exactly how it feels when someone posts your content as their own and it’s not great. Today’s episode shares 3 options to consider when decid...

Art Meets Storytime My favorite way to transition a classroom full of kids to an art class is to read a picture book. I've been a longtime fan of children's literature and art so when you put the two together, you have a enraptured audience. Today's guest is Julia Linsteadt, the co-founder of KidArtLit, a subscription box company that delivers storytime and art kits every month to young families....

What’s Your Word of the Year? In today’s episode, I’ll share how I use mine and how you can incorporate a Word of the Year into your life.  There are parts of this conversation that move past picking a word to represent how you want to feel or what action you want to take in the new year. My word evolved because of a bad situation in one of my past art classes. In order not to repeat the scenario,...

CLASSROOM TEACHERS GUIDE FOR TEACHING ART You may wonder how you can teach art to your students if you don’t consider yourself an artist.  Here’s the thing…I don’t believe you need to be a great artist to teach art to kids. You just need a little bit of help. This episode of Art Made Easy offers you the tips and tricks (and the toolkit) to help classroom teachers teach art effectively when you don...

Have you ever felt frustrated or flustered at work? Perhaps a bit anxious or uncertain? Creating art lessons, prepping supplies, managing behaviors and dealing with uncertainty can challenge even the best of us. Today’s episode of Art Made Easy takes a look at how one book, Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield changed the way I approached my day. As a writer, it made a huge difference in my productivi...

Occasionally, our efforts to make an impact show up in sweet love notes from a first-grader or a required essay to a favorite teacher. Sometimes it’s larger and grander in scale like your annual art show.  Other days, the monotony of daily routines, sassy kids and challenging schedules make it hard to tell if what we are doing is having any impact at all. On this episode of Art Made Easy, Patty sh...

Bar Rucci grew up in a creative household. She was determined to go to art school despite her parent’s plea to become a computer programmer.  As a true creative, she compromised on the selection of her major,  attended Skidmore College and graduated with a degree in Art and a minor in Early Childhood Development. What followed was a series of experiences: mural painting, clothing businesses, and f...

Today I’m talking to Laurie Police Short, author of When Changing Nothing Changes Everything.  In this episode we’re talking about how changing perspective can alter behavior and ultimately our life. With the help of four different lenses, Laurie shows you how the way you see can have an impact on how you live. This is deeply personal to me as I truly believe that teachers have the power to have t...

Whenever I explore cultural art projects, I wonder if the lesson I plan will reflect on the values and traditions of the designated country. There have been so many times when I’m knee-deep in Google searches that I wish I could just call someone and have them tell me the most popular art styles in their country. Today’s interview is that type of conversation. I spoke with Sparkler, Payal Wachhar,...

Are you using literacy strategies in your art room? If you are, you know how effective they can be for engaging students, connecting content areas with your lessons and providing an opportunity for children to analyze art. If you’re not sure, you might be surprised with how easy you can adapt simple literacy strategies in your art room—so easy in fact, that you might be using some without even kno...

Teaching art in a Title 1 school can be challenging. Often there is limited funding for art supplies, behavioral issues and lack of support. Although, depending on your perspective, teaching at a Title 1 school can be no different than any other school. At least that’s how it was for me. I taught in a Title 1 school for 6 years and loved it. So why do some teachers thrive in challenging situations...

Teaching art at home to a few children is quite different than teaching 30 children in a classroom. It means you have more flexibility and freedom to create art when and how you want. I’ve taught in classrooms, art rooms and around my dining room table and love the nuances that each setting brings. This podcasts shares some of my best tips for teaching art at home. Make sure to download the Art at...

Are you a classroom teacher who is required to teach art but not sure where to start? Or perhaps you want to collaborate with your grade level peers and start an art rotation? Lynda Gordon, a third grade teacher from Lompoc, California can relate. When her school’s art teacher left, Lynda took on the role of finding the replacement. With no prospects on the horizon, Lynda resurrected the art progr...

Have you ever wondered whether it is better to have a plethora of creative works at the end of a term so that students have a general working knowledge of many styles and techniques OR just a few projects that dive deep into just a few areas at a time? When it comes to elementary students, we can frame our curriculum any number of ways. It all depends on what our admins expect us to do, what we fe...

International Dot Day, based on Peter Reynold’s book, The Dot, is coming up on September 15th. The Dot is the story of Vashti who is overwhelmed at the sight of a blank piece of paper. Her art teacher gently encourages her to explore art her way. Most art teachers consider Peter Reynold’s books essential reads for the art room as he addresses the issues children face when learning how to be an art...

Teaching art to hundreds of children requires creativity, passion, and buckets of planning time. I spent years developing an art program that represented my personal preferences for art but also incorporated elements that brought out the best in even the most reluctant artist. Download the Art Teacher’s Toolkit and follow along as I share what to consider so that your art program allows you to tea...

Former classroom teacher, Denise Lediaev, didn’t know how much she loved teaching art until she became a full-time art teacher in Adelaide, Australia. Listen to how Denise transitioned to this role with grace and enthusiasm. She is humbled to have a supportive school, loads of resources and an assistant but it’s her love of teaching art that truly makes her happy. IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:  Ho...

We all have a dream—something we long to do if only…the if only’s have a tendency to get in the way for most of us, but not Kristy. Growing up in Trinidad & Tobago, Kristy remembers always gravitating towards anything creative. But in an educational climate where only academics are encouraged, Kristy was encouraged to pursue math and business. She became an accountant and now helps her husband run...

Discover how Louise McKeon turned her career as an illustrator and graphic artist to a full time career as an art teacher for all ages. Using the stunning natural surroundings of Cork, Ireland to inspire her lessons, Louise believes in teaching the fundamentals of how to use different mediums as a base for many projects. Louise shares the history of the Skellig Island as the inspiration for two ar...

How do you introduce children to art in a remote region of the world where  children have little exposure to expressive art? Where do you start? Where do you find supplies? Celia Fisher not only has the resume, but the passion. Working with slum kids in Southern India, an indigenous school in Queensland and at an International school in Vietnam, Celia knows what is required to create an art progra...

Sana Asad is the second art teacher featured in our summer art series, Art Stories from Around the World by sharing her experiences while teaching art in Bahrain. Born in Pakistan and into a culture where art is considered a craft to pass the time, Sana stuck to her dream of pursuing a career in art. After moving to Saudi Arabia and later to Bahrain, Sana opened an art studio in her home and began...

I'm so excited to kick off our summer podcast series, Art Stories from Around the World! After starting Deep Space Sparkle's membership program last year, I couldn't help but marvel at what global sharing community we created. We have members from every corner of the globe...Canada, China, Japan, South Korea, France, UK, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, India....it goes on and on. What we all notic...

There is a huge effort to mainstream children with special needs but often teachers have no formal training in the special needs area. Debi London experienced this first hand as an art teacher and as a mother of a child with autism how important it is to be aware of the small things a teacher can do to create a warm, nurturing and inspiring environment for all children. This episode is for art tea...

The absolute worst experience for any teacher is receiving a negative comment from a parent or peer. When the negative comment comes in the form of an email asking why you disciplined a child the way you did, you start to question everything. But it doesn’t have to derail your efforts. By examining the perspective of both the parent, student and the teacher, you start to see that everyone is after...

Teaching art to kids in your home or at school for the very first time is exciting, but challenging. Developing your teaching style, understanding how children create, and determining what style of lessons to teach can be a slow process. Today’s show features Deep Space Sparkle member, Lesly Chamate from Florida. As a first time art teacher, Lesly joined our Sparkler community to learn how to teac...