A Funny Thing Happened at the Faire.

A Funny Thing Happened at the Faire.

Remember the Marilyn Monroe morph in my July 4th post? Remember when I said that on average about 1 person out of every 7 people can instantly identify Marilyn Monroe without using a mirror decoder? I was wrong. Turns out it depends on the folks who show up! When you...
Super Human Skills – Does Your Child Have a Hidden One?

Super Human Skills – Does Your Child Have a Hidden One?

Rare and Valuable Talents Might be Discovered in that Young Head! I remember witnessing a jaw-dropping ability in an eleven year-old. The child had no clue he possessed the gift. That day changed his life and mine. The occasion was a reflection/refraction workshop I...
“Coloring meets funhouse mirror magic” –  A Review

“Coloring meets funhouse mirror magic” – A Review

The following review of Morph-O-Scopes Kits appeared  in the September 2010 CoolMomPicks. We learned of it only recently! The review is reprinted here with permission of Liz Gumbinner, Publisher, Editor-in-Chief of CoolMomPicks.com. “I’m not going to lie...
Negative and Positive: Optical Illusions and Anamorphosis

Negative and Positive: Optical Illusions and Anamorphosis

I adore negatives that are also positives – anything that can be seen more than one way. I grin like a fool at two-toned silk fabric, figure/ground logos, mowed baseball fields, vacuumed-patterned rugs, and even double entendres like Flintstones’ slogan...
Q: Is STEAM Just a Lot of Hot Air?

Q: Is STEAM Just a Lot of Hot Air?

What do I think? I think the Arts absolutely deserve a seat at the STEM table. No question! The Arts utilize the same critical thinking skills essential for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The difference between STEM and STEAM lies chiefly in the form taken...
STEM Education Needs Good Visual Art Curriculum Partners

STEM Education Needs Good Visual Art Curriculum Partners

Scientific Method depends on top-notch observation skills that visual art curricula should be enhancing, but some art lessons need serious improvement. Let’s take the portrait-drawing formula – where kids draw an oval head, grid it, position eyes,...
All Mediums are Huge – #2 – Anamorphic Apple Slices

All Mediums are Huge – #2 – Anamorphic Apple Slices

The most exciting interactive art today in public and private spaces – hands down – is anamorphic art – in all its variations! Google alerts show it’s spreading across the globe like wildfire! Anamorphic art inspires with its ingenuity. The...
All Mediums are Huge These Days! #1 – Cast Shadows

All Mediums are Huge These Days! #1 – Cast Shadows

So what if you can’t afford standard art supplies! All mediums are huge these days! Draw with cast shadows! Check out these ingenious art works.  Every example  makes me pump my fist, “Yeah!  That’s what I’m talking about!”  Use what...
Thinking Outside the Rubik’s Cube – Art Phenom Pixel Pete

Thinking Outside the Rubik’s Cube – Art Phenom Pixel Pete

“Dream Big” was a year-long project in which “Pixel Pete” Fecteau created a brilliant mosaic of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. using 4,242 manipulated Rubik’s Cubes!  Fecteau created the installation for ArtPrize2010 – Grand Rapids, Michigan’s...
Optical Illusion Fashion – Shadow Knitting

Optical Illusion Fashion – Shadow Knitting

In my last post I promised  more optical illusion fashions. Shadow knitting is a clever optical illusion technique that produces patterns which vary with the direction of viewing.   “The visual effect of shadow knitting is due to the different height of the knit...
Summer was a Blur of Activity!

Summer was a Blur of Activity!

Three days ago, the new, easier-to-navigate OOZandOZ.com website went live! And two Saturdays ago, my daughter got married. As the only person with a station wagon, I was the default go-fer for cases of wine, ladders, seating, etc.  What fun! What exciting beginnings!...
Deception. It’s All in Your Point of View!

Deception. It’s All in Your Point of View!

Joseph Egan and Hunter Thompson are first year Graphic Design Communication Students currently studying at Chelsea College of Art & Design in London. Exploring the relationship between graphic design and architecture, they learned about master artist Felice...
Forget Justin Bieber. Just Get Rebuses!

Forget Justin Bieber. Just Get Rebuses!

Have to entertain a group of  middle school kids? Believe it or not, rebuses can wow ‘em! I was a new art teacher at an affluent private school in Virginia. Three of us were assigned lunch duty to keep order in the cafeteria and police the area. Well, I remembered how...