I’m so glad you discovered Deep Space Sparkle!
I’m an elementary school art teacher in Goleta, California (near Santa Barbara) and share paint, pastels, and paper with 400 creative kids. You’ll find hundreds of classroom-tested art lessons to share with the children in your lives. If you’re a teacher like me, you may want to explore my Shop, which features pre-bundled art lesson plan booklets that I created to take the work out of coming up with your own lesson plans. They are a big time-saver, include drawing handouts that I use in my classroom and are priced with the budget classroom in mind!
Navigating the Site
Art lessons are sorted by category, grade levels and even art techniques. Drag your mouse over the blue menu bar to see your options. If you can’t find what you are looking for, try the search box in the side bar. Sometimes that may be the best way to find a “snowman” project or something “pumpkin” related.
If you are interested in Classroom Management and Organization, you’ll find many relevant posts under Inside the Art Room (top menu bar)
About my free art lessons
It’s my goal to share my best lessons with you, providing complete instructions, photographs of actual kid’s artwork and helpful tips. But despite my best efforts, some art lessons don’t come out the way I had hoped. I share this too! Afterall, mistakes are a huge part of art. And besides, it’s therapeutic for me.
I use a variety of techniques in my classroom and try to balance direct-line instruction with personal observation. A little of both suits me and for the most part, I think it suits the kids. If you don’t agree with my techniques, please feel free to leave a nice comment. It’s always good to hear other points of view.
About my bundled PDF art lesson plans
My PDF art booklets evolved as an extension of the services I offered for free on my site. Art teachers, moms and home-school parents have asked for more detailed instruction and copies of my handouts that I use in the art room. It is my hope that these art booklets remove the hurdles (time, expertise and ideas) that prevent you from offering dynamic art lessons to the children in your lives. If you have any questions or troubleshooting concerns, please visit my Customer Support page.
My Favorite Things
- I love color, the brighter the better, although I’m considering painting my kitchen floors grey.
- Matisse, Picasso and Maude Lewis (Canadian Folk Artist)
- Books, especially Young Adult novels
- I used to be a gymnast (not a very good one) and became a life long fan. Nastia winning Gold in Beijing was almost as exciting as Shannon Miller’s Gold in ’96.
- I’m a Food Network addict. Don’t you think cooking is a fantastic creative outlet?
- Writing. Check out my writing blog Capturing Joy.
Advertising and Product Reviews
My Family
When I’m not Mrs. Palmer, Art Teacher, I’m mom to Newt, Tate and Elliott. Here’s my family (Neil is my husband and my awesome TECH SUPPORT guy!). In the summer, we travel back to our home in Prince Edward Island, Canada. We have a little cottage by the sea (Northumberland Strait) where we like to dig for clams, swim at high tide and sip coffee on the deck. Life on the Island is exactly the same as when Neil and I grew up there. Things haven’t changed. We love that and it’s why we go back every year.
This is my parent's backyard overlooking the Northumberland Straight.
Where we spend our summer vacations
Neil swims out to the boat every time he wants to ski...unless its low tide. I wait at the beach for shore service.
Media/Interviews/Press
- More Magazine’s Reinvent Yourself article
- Featured in the Los Angeles Examiner
- Featured in More Magazine’s book 287 Secrets of Reinventing your Life
- Disney’s FamilyFun Magazine Badges of Fun
- Interview at The Artful Parent
