Lighthouses with Green Elementary!

Green magnet elementary recently won the distinction of becoming a lighthouse school- and decided to celebrate with a mural! The whole entire school participated in making this 8 x 12’ mural. Each student helped with a specific part and was given directions and a specific color palette. Then after a week of painting with the students at Green, Keith and I got busy cutting and gluing their paintings together. We had a lot of fun working at Green- thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this project happen!

Southeastern birds at Abbott’s Creek!

Keith Norval and I completed a bird installation with the 5th graders at Abbott’s Creek! We assigned the students each a bird that can be sighted here in the southeast. The students sculpted their bird with newspaper and tape. They then plastered the birds. Then teachers and volunteers coated each bird with kilz to help weatherproof them. (Keith and I normally do that part- but since there were 5 5th grade classes we needed more help with this project!)

Then it was time to paint! Each student used a reference photo of their specific bird to help them mix the right colors. The birds were finished but needed one more protective varnish- again we were helped by the amazing teachers and volunteers at Abbott’s Creek.

Meanwhile, Keith and I had been collecting sticks and branches. Volunteers installed 6 posts by the garden at Abbott’s Creek. Keith and I built a trellis for the birds to perch on.

This process was a huge undertaking- our biggest bird project yet! It would not have been possible to complete this without the help of the amazing volunteers and awesome teachers- Susan Reynolds and Brian Imfield. We really enjoyed our time at Abbott’s Creek and were so impressed with what the students made!

Mural at East Millbrook!

We are so happy to have completed this lively mural we worked in with the students at East Millbrook middle. We worked with Mr. Miller’s first period sixth graders and also with the art guild class.
After brainstorming with Nic Milner, Joanna Caves, and Marla Brautman we decided that we wanted to work with a theme that prized representation and diversity- and also celebrate the arts at this arts magnet. We wanted to take inspiration from the artists Jacob Laurence and Faith Ringgold- which led us to pick an urban setting- using the Raleigh skyline. We also included some instruments in the skyline as an homage to the music program at East Millbrook.
Each student made a simple painting representing themselves using some texture painting techniques for the clothes. The guild students helped us paint the textured background pieces that make up the skyline.
Keith and I took those pieces home and cut them to fit the skyline we had planned. Because a weather delay had interrupted our project we were able to bring the completed background back for the make up day. The students then laid the figures out in the background and glued them on.
We really enjoyed this group of creative kids- and we are so grateful for all the support and contributions from the staff. East Millbrook rocks!

Striking the Balance- Penland August 2021

Last week at Penland was a transformative experience! I was granted a full scholarship to study with the amazing sculptural artist Aisha Harrison. (https://aishaharrison.com/home.html)

Originally I intended to go to Penland to create a surrealist sculptural planter for my own use. I did this- but gained so much more than I thought I would!

Aisha shared with us tools that she uses in her practice to access the rich imagery in her personal “well”. These tools are ones that I am planning to incorporate into my art practice. They include touch painting, meditation and journaling.

I am so happy to have had this amazing experience of working with Aisha. Also everyone in the class became a friend. Penland is an art utopia that I hope to return to.

Abbott’s Creek nature mural

We had so much fun working in person- socially distanced- and online with the fifth graders at Abbott’s Creek! Since their school is located close to Durant road nature preserve we used that for our inspiration. We used three palettes- blue, green and earth toned. Each student painted a native NC critter in their color palette. Keith Norval and I arranged the paintings into a larger nature scene.

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Martin mustangs!

Keith and I have been busy making an epic mural for Martin Middle School, where our daughter attends. This project has been made possible through the Martin Middle School PTA and the United Arts Council.

This mural was created this winter- all students were attending school virtually- and could not come together to create it. So Keith and I created over 1,000 packets of paint and tyvek (to paint on) and instructions on how to do a small abstract painting. We also highlighted some of our favorite abstract painters like Joan Mitchell and Gerhard Richter.

The project was designed to include every student at Martin and the response was overwhelming. We took the art the kids made and arranged it into a mural that is 8’ high and 24’ long- featuring the school’s mascot- Mustangs!

We are really proud of how the kids came through and glad to bring everyone together for a creative project during these bleak days.

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Museums mural at Brooks elementary

What an awesome week we had at Brooks Elementary! We gave these kids a difficult task and they rose to the occasion. The fifth graders painted a mural featuring three of Raleigh’s museums. On the left is the art museum, the science museum is represented in the middle, and the history museum is on the right. The Raleigh downtown skyline behind it. Along with painting the mural background, some students worked on individual special projects that were cut out and glued into the mural. These included the paintings in the art museum (which were based on paintings and sculptures from the NCMA’s permanent collection), self portraits as museum visitors, and animals. We are so pleased with how well everyone did! Special thanks to art teacher Olivia Moschberger and artist as well as parent volunteer Liz Esser for all of the help!

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The end of an era- and a new beginning

Change is hard but necessary for growth. Keith and I will be transitioning from being at Artspace to a new artist collective- City Market Artist Collective- or CMAC. Though we leave our public studio that we have shared for 16 year, we look forward to continuing our endeavors. We have enjoyed very much helping people understand our processes and practices- and shedding some light on what it’s like to be a professional artist.
We have painted, created and sold a lot of art in our little space. It’s a place I will remember fondly- I have had so many ideas that became a reality while being there. Now we will be producing the best paintings we can, focused even more without interruption.
Although our studio will move to a private location- our art will be available for viewing and purchasing the same as ever. CMAC is literally around the corner from our former spot. We are a group of 11 professional artists. We will he keeping regular hours there. We will host workshops, classes and special collectors parties. We will have artist talks and demos. We are an organization for artists by artists who put artists first.
As always please continue to follow Keith and I on social media and sign up for our emails for updates and more information about CMAC as it becomes available! We appreciate those who have supported us over the years and allowed us to make our art life a reality. We cant wait to show you the new spot!

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Abstract Amoebas at Pine Hollow Middle School

We launched our very first abstract amoeba project at Pine Hollow middle school! We prepared for the project by cutting and priming 120 different amoeba shapes. We showed the students some photos of amoebas as well as abstract paintings by Kandinsky, Miro, and Stanton MacDonald-Wright. The students created their own amoeba inspired designs with acrylic paint. Keith and I then installed them on the school’s back staircase. It was fun doing a project that brought science and art together!

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Mural at Wakefield Elementary

We had a fun week at Wakefield Elementary working on a mural with the fifth graders! The mural design was inspired by the area around the Falls lake dam- which is really close to the school. Included were local landmarks- the mill house, the bike shop, and the boat house. Some students created paintings of native woodland creatures and birds for the mural. The kids did a great job- everyone worked really hard and they were so proud of their efforts. We also go lots of help from their awesome art teacher Ben Blackmon and parent volunteers Jenni Ellinger and Rosemary Ros. We loved spending time with these talented kids!

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Signal box!

My signal box is done! Tucker- aka @oakcitykitty will finally have some of the glory he deserves! This is on the corner of Davie and Salisbury streets in Downtown Raleigh.

See the paintings and drawings In the available paintings section of my site - I’m donating 50% of proceeds to SAFE Haven for Cats

https://www.annapodris.com/imagined-cities

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Birds of the World at Lynn road Elementary

We had a beautiful day to work outside installing the birds onto the trellis we built at Lynn Road Elementary. This project wraps up our residencies for this school year. It’s been a blast! We are so proud of the kids at Lynn road- they pulled together and did their best! 

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Lead Mine Elementary School birds!

We have completed another artist in residence project through the United Arts Council of Wake county! 

It has been our pleasure to create this open air free standing bird installation at Lead Mine Elementary School. This may be our favorite version yet of this project! It’s interesting how the idea keeps evolving. The project is split into three sections- each fifth grade class did birds of different ecosystems- rainforest, grassland, and deciduous forest. 

These kids worked hard and gave the project their all. We are so proud of all of them. We would also like to thank the art teacher of Lead Mine, Mrs. Brautman, for the use of her artroom and all of her expertise.  

 

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Nature art installation at Durant Nature Preserve

Keith and I are excited to have upped our public art game by creating a nature art installation. The call was for art using natural materials that would span the length of a fence that is up in the park while the dam is being repaired. This is a temporary artwork. We came up with the idea to paint sticks and have a color transition that undulates across the fence. Making this has been a blast- hanging out and painting in a peaceful nature park, also doing art totally unlike what we do normally. It has been gratifying to hear the positive comments of passerbys as we’ve been working on this. Thanks to the Raleigh arts commission and the staff at Durant!