This is Me...

My beautiful school, June 24, 2011

Hi, I'm Phyl and I retired over a year ago, after 36 years of teaching art, the last 27 as the K-6 art teacher at a rural public school district in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains of northeastern NY.    It's an old photo of me to the left, but hair long or short, I'm still the same crazy art teacher!

Stay tuned as I make my way through retirement, still making art with kids from time-to-time.  In the meantime, you can be sure I'll be taking lots of photographs, making colorful jewelry with beads, painting, sewing, creating annual sand sculptures at the beach, and trying out all sorts of DIY projects that I have pinned on my Pinterest boards. Whatever my creative endeavors, I plan to share them with you.

I also plan to continue to post some lesson ideas, as there are many that I've done along the way that never made it onto the blog.  Don't be surprised to find me continuing to post random opinions about art education, even though I'm not in the classroom.  And expect to find occasional pics of my family and my home as well.

Please feel free to explore my old posts as well as the new.  I have shared my love for gooey papier-mache and brightly colored paints, and for encouraging kids to imagine, invent, explore, and create, and I would love to continue to share these things with you.

baby Sparkle & her egg

Lucy and Sparkle

As for my blog name: I've always had a major thing for dragons.  A few years ago I constructed a 5' long dragon named Lucy ("in the Sky with Diamonds") who now resides in my lakeside cottage. Lucy is not alone; she proudly protects her baby Sparkle, who lives in the remnants of her cracked shell.  

Unfortunately, I have yet to encounter a live dragon, so as a result I have a passion for any dragon-like animal, in particular dragonflies (which are abundant around here), the gorgeous and elusive leafy sea dragon, and also cute little lizards.  My car is adorned with dragonflies. 

I love the community of bloggers!  So many of us art teachers work alone, often the only art teacher in the school, and lack the opportunity to work collaboratively with peers.  Blogging has brought together a whole world of kindred spirits.  

So come on in, the color's fine!!