Wacky Bunnies
Laura and Sam's bug eyed polka dotted bunnies – 3rd grade
I know I must sound like a broken record when I say, “I LOVE kid’s art!” But, it’s true because it’s simple, adorable and my students are prolific to say the least. I’ve mentioned that good ideas spread like wild fire as witnessed by the bug eyed bunnies above. Sometimes I catch the the 4th and 5th graders in my class say, “Stop copying me!” I always tell tell them to, “Chillax – when you take it home, your creation will be unique since you don’t live in the same place (they just roll their eyes at me when I try to speak their lingo teehee) .” Laura and Samantha aren’t worried about copying each other – in fact, they plan their projects together. It’s pretty funny to watch the evolution – in fact, it’s more like play than a project. The 2 bunnies above are the central characters in a cast of smaller less important chicks, animated carrots and baskets.
Yesterday, the saga continued for the bunnies with the construction of an elaborate bunny abode with the inclusion of a bunny sized hot tub. Every so often, I over hear their play dialog and it’s a riot. Have you ever listened to kids play? I could make out the bunnies talking to each other, and occasionally Laura and Samantha would break from character to talk as themselves to each other. Weird – maybe grown ups need to play more?
Vampire Bunny, Rhiannon – 4th grade
Rhiannon and many of the older kids (my daughter included) in class are obsessed with the Twilight series right now – hence the vampire bunny. I sort of dig it in an “Ugly Doll” sort of way. Okay, I confess, I read the series too – I had to see what the hub bub was all about. If I had known about some of the more adult scenes in the books, I would have [maybe] censored the books for my 11 year old, but I didn’t. I guess I just have to trust that she’s mature enough to get that the characters are older than she is. The fact remains that Twilight is marketed to teens, and naturally tweens are very interested in the series too. If you have kids, do you censor what your kids read or watch on TV/or in theaters? I do the latter for sure, but I’m definitely more lenient than many parents I know.
Still in the studio,
~Cynthia
In other news, I registered for classes for next fall – nothing terribly exciting - Site Planning, Ecology and Plants in Design. I’m considering a 4th, but might want to ease into school.
Growing Plates
My kitchen and dining room table are being overrun by plates that my kid’s clay class made last Tuesday – they’ve sprouted everywhere! I needed an easy project to work on since I combined both classes for this week because their show happened during Monday’s scheduled class time. So, 19 leather hard plates are in various stages of drying in my house. I hope to bisque fire them tomorrow.
The plates are a project that I read about in the March/April 2008 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated, pg. 39. (scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the pdf link titled “Instructors Link: Full Plate”). Just need clay, basic tools and some paper Chinette plates. It’s quick and gives the kids a real sense of accomplishment at having made something recognizable and functional.
Meanwhile, I received an email from a local Denver fiber artist, Angelina Kastroll, who purchased ceramic buttons from me within the past year, with some photos of completed projects attached. Somehow, between going to law school and being a new mom, she finds time to knit and crochet. I think they turned out really great!
With that bit of eye candy, I bid you farewell for a few days,
~Cynthia
P.S. I really love the Akismet spam catcher that WordPress provides – it’s caught some really heinous ones in the past few days.
& Underglaze Monotype Experiment">Clay & Underglaze Monotype Experiment
In preparation for a kid’s art workshop that I’m going to be teaching at the Art Student’s League this coming summer, I decided to attempt making a clay and underglaze monotype outlined in Paul Wandless’ book, Image Transfer on Clay, pg.72. I had limited success, but, to be honest, I didn’t really follow his instructions to a “T”. I didn’t have time to make any slip to transfer my drawing, so I tried using a very wet slab. The results? Not all the image transferred – so I filled in the blanks by directly painting the underglaze onto the printed slab. I will try again next time using either a plaster slab, or a slip applique as outlined in his book. I do think, that by taking the short cut and seeing the results, I learned a lot – sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. You just never know until you try.Meanwhile, I’m not impressed with my image and am going to add some interest to the piece after it’s bisqued. Maybe I’ll stamp or screen print more onto the background – I’m going to continue to think about it.
This is an awesome book – one I highly recommend if you are interested in combining printmaking techniques and ceramics. Paul’s book has great step by step instructions along with recipes and supplier information. Another good book on the same topic is Ceramics and Print by Paul Scott.
I used the students from my after school kid’s clay class as my guinea pigs for the monotype experiment. After spending an hour glazing their projects from last week, I realized that a 2 hour class wasn’t long enough to do this project. I made an executive decision to scrap clay monotypes and had them draw and paint their designs directly onto their slabs.I have exciting news too – my class is overflowing and now have 13 kids in my Monday class and 18 in my Tuesday class. After trying to teach the class by myself last week and practically re-enacting a scene from Lord of the Flies (where I’m afraid the kids were close to tying me up), I decided I needed help. I just hired a high school student who is taking advanced ceramic classes to help me out. Yesterday was her first day and she’s perfect!
That’s all for today,
~Cynthia
Thoughts on Creativity, Education and Human Ecology
There was a time in my life when I considered returning to school to get a masters degree in art therapy from Naropa University in Boulder. Instead, I applied to the University of Colorado at Denver for a MLA in Landscape Architecture. I was looking for a creative career with a guaranteed income when I set my sights on Landscape Architecture. While some people are able to compromise their values for money with aplomb, I was not as successful. In fact, I didn’t listen to the tap on my shoulder when things weren’t going well despite the nagging feeling inside – and didn’t change my path until a brick slammed upside my head and knocked me straight.I spent a good part of 2006 feeling sorry for myself after dropping out of the graduate program at UCD. Don’t get me wrong, I was a really good student – but at the expense of my family and my health. And, then there was that nagging feeling that I wasn’t in the right place. So, before I made the decision to drop out I asked myself, was I willing to continue for 3 years in a program that would put me into $60,000 of debt which would guarantee that I would work 60+ hours a week after graduating for the next 10 years, albeit well compensated. 20 years ago, that wouldn’t of been a problem, but today it is. It just doesn’t feel right, especially after coming off of a 17 year career with an airline where I prostituted myself for free travel and a job where I didn’t have to think too hard.2007 brought greater clarity to my life and I’m really thankful to have bumbled about the past 2 years. When the children’s director at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center emailed me last year about teaching a kid’s art workshop this coming summer, it was an avenue that I had never considered. I thought I needed to be licensed to teach art. Turns out I didn’t. I just needed to have some cool projects, a passion for my medium, a desire to work with children and a good rapport with children. Check, check, check and check! My after-school clay classes will begin again next week and I have gained even greater clarity with what I want to do next.I have noticed a correlation between clay and learning that is so exciting to me. Most kids really dig working with clay – and they do so intuitively. I notice active kids calm down and concentrate when they’re really into the project and artistic children really flourish. My clay class is also very social – the kids talk freely about a lot of different things going through their minds. For the past few months, I have been mulling over the idea of opening up a clay studio outside my home that offers wet clay classes to kids and maybe a few to adults. There’s a huge demand that I can’t fill myself at one school.
Granted the Art Student’s League offers art classes for kids, but mostly on Saturday mornings during the school year and during summer art camps. Downtown Aurora Visual Arts does offer art outreach programs as well, but, they are a multi-disciplinary destination program. I would like to offer the clay classes year round. My model is the Baltimore Clay Works, where I hope to take a field trip in the next year. I believe there’s a similar program in Richmond, VA. My ultimate goal is to offer clay out reach programs to children in less advantaged areas of Denver. My husband has offered to help me write a business plan, but being the responsible finance guy that he is, he wants numbers and cold hard facts rather than dreams and good wishes.
In a sense, this new found clarity taps into my original interest in art therapy – helping people by tapping into their creative selves. Only, it doesn’t involve any more schooling or degrees, just action.
One of the parents from my after school kid’s clay class forwarded me this video of Sir Ken Robinson in conjunction with TED, a creative think tank. If you have the time, I highly encourage you to watch the video – it’s thought provoking and in a sense, relates to my rants of recent weeks.
I have really been thinking a lot about education, especially since my daughter started school 5 years ago. She’s a terrific student academically, but, after volunteering in her classroom, I worry about some of her classmates. I don’t believe that children learn in the same way. Maybe we’re not giving them the best education and that one size doesn’t fit all.
Sir Ken Robinson relates a story about Gillian Lynne, dancer and choreographer of Cats and Phantom of the Opera that really hit home for me. After interviewing her for his new book, she told the story of how her teacher insisted that she see a therapist because she had a low attention span, did poorly on tests etc., etc. Her mother took her to a Doctor, who after turning on the radio and watching her dance, told the mom that she didn’t need therapy or drugs, just a dance class. What if the Doctor and Mom had medicated her? She might never have had the opportunities that she has since enjoyed.
What if we’re trying to educate, strip mine style, all the kids in this country? There’s some lost potential. Here’s my favorite quote from the video:
If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original…in this country we stigmatize mistakes.
~Cynthia
PS. It’s been brought to my attention that email subscribers to my blog might not see the video. If that’s the case, click on this link to go directly to this blog post.
