Art Made Easy

Since the creation of Deep Space Sparkle’s Members Club (join waitlist) last June, I’ve made it my goal to help serve and support teachers on their path as art teachers. One of the newest features of the membership is the Sparkler Spotlight. This is where I share members stories on how they became an art teacher, […]

After hosting pop up art classes in her garage, art teacher and blogger Meri Cherry listened to her intuition and opened her first art studio in Southern California. Eight months later, Meri serves her creative community by offering everything from toddler art sessions to family art nights. Learn how Meri created a thriving business and […]

Does this sound familiar? You teach a lesson and it goes terrific: the students understand the concepts and are totally engaged, but then you go to teach the same lesson at a different school, and it fails. The students don’t grasp the concepts and want to do their own thing. What do you do? This […]

Do you feel overwhelmed when you look at your stacks of lesson plans and project ideas? Ever wondered how other art teachers store their lesson plans and samples? And what is the best way to store artwork? Start the year off with an organized mindset by hearing how Patty organized her hundreds of lesson plans […]

Are you looking to incorporate a few STEAM art activities into your curriculum this year? Ana Dziengle from Babble, Dabble Do is this week’s guest on the podcast. If you haven’t met Ana before, I know you’ll love her. She’s the type of girl you want as a friend. And since she is originally from Santa […]

Are you looking for ways to spruce up your art program? Move beyond traditional lesson plans with artist trading cards, a flipped classroom and QR codes. Nic Hahn, author of the popular blog, Mini Matisse, shares how she transitioned to a choice-based art room, how she uses videos to flip her classroom plus she shares […]

The holidays don’t need to be a time for stressful schedules and hectic classes. Make this season your best ever by determining what your holiday intentions are, how to navigate your school’s holiday celebration parameters and what projects to do with your students that will deliver smiles for all. In this episode, Patty addresses the […]

In today’s episode, I answer a question from Ashley, a member of Deep Space Sparkle’s Members’ Club. Ashley asks, How do you train volunteers so they become an art room asset instead of a liability? This is such a great question. I’ve been a volunteer in my children’s classes and had the opportunity to work with some of the […]

Developing art lessons can be overwhelming to create with a busy schedule. Sure you can use the same art lessons every year but every now and again, you’ll want (or be required) to create lessons for a very specific topic or subject. Over the years, I created a criteria for assessing whether or not a […]

Are you feeling overwhelmed? I must admit that this year has been an intentionally busy one for me. In order to prevent overwhelm, I fall back on 5 strategies that keep me focused on what is important, what I value and the most important tasks I need to accomplished in a day. This episode will […]

Do you love creating crafts with your kids? Or creating art based on famous artists? Learn how engineer turned crafter, Maggy Woodley started Red Ted Art, an arts & craft blog for kids. The success of her blog lead to her first book deal, Cute & Easy Crafts for Kids and grew her Facebook page to […]

Do you get frustrated when your students rush to finish a project to work on free drawing or a coloring sheet? Do you find you are constantly being challenge to find solutions for early finishers? In this episode of Art Made Easy, I walk you through strategies to help your students finish an art project during […]

Have you ever wondered whether you could run your own creative business? In this episode, I’ll walk you through what its like owning a business, qualities you need to possess to be an entrepreneur and what to look for when deciding what type of business you would like to run. This episode is perfect for anyone […]

Are you dreaming of what life will look like after you retire from teaching art? Or perhaps you’ve had enough of teaching and are ready to move on? Today’s episode helps a reader bridge the gap between finding happiness as a K-8 public elementary art teacher and her dreams of opening up a children’s art […]

In this episode of Art Made Easy I’m diving down the rabbit hole of personality tests. Don’t know if you are a fan, but I’ve been literally obsessed with the Myers-Briggs test since I listen to The Mind Your Business podcast a few months ago. Here’s what I learned; by knowing what makes you tick, you […]