Playful Mind

    So the full story of how these pieces came about includes my students.We were in the middle of state testing in April and after they had finished their tests on one of those long days (they had 3 hours to take the English portion and all finished within two) I decided to entertain them and demonstrate some thrown pieces on the wheel. Usually when I demonstrate it is for something they are expected to create...perhaps a small cylinder. Well... this was more to kill some time so they requested something "bigger". I threw 3 pieces quickly finishing one on the wheel and moving directly to another wheel. It was very playful and fun and the students enjoyed seeing me throw (I think!)... not as a teacher, but as an artist.
      I was also thinking about how I needed to create work for the exhibit at the Arts Council coming up in July, so I figured I would take these playfully created pieces and finish them for that exhibit. The days after state testing, I decided to continue "playing" with carving, textures, adding grog as decoration and so forth. I am really excited about how they transformed from entertainment for my students into pieces of art that I am excited to share with the public. Hope to see you at the opening of "Playful Minds", July 6th at the Younger Gallery!

Summertime...

That's a Wrap

It's been 15 years since I graduated from Bakersfield High School. This is the end of my 8th year of teaching and my 5th year walking the field with the students in my cap and gown as Visual Arts Department Chair. It still seems pretty surreal that I work here and get to spend all day in what was my favorite class in high school. Have a great summer students and congratulations to the class of 2012!

Last week of school!

Me and my student Amy. She took my class for one year and conquered wheel throwing.
 She is so talented!

These are 18"x18" and still need some sanding and stain. 

These boys are 3 ft x3 ft and also need some sanding and stain. I calculated that I will need to make 256 tiny bowls (as shown below) to cover just one of the big ones. I may need to call in some troupes to help. 

     It's the last week of school! We had finals today and I said "Goodbye" to numerous seniors. It is always a bitter sweet week. This year there was a group of seniors who ate lunch in my classroom every day... I will miss them. :-(  In art developments, the wood shop class brought over these beauties above for the project I am planning for Valentien Restaurant in the fall. I plan to attach these to them. I can't wait to see just one finished...

   

Last Week of School...almost.

At the end of the school year I have to play catch up on firing, unloading, glazing and refiring with the students. It has become a tradition to paint wine bottles in my class while we finish all the pottery firings. See previous posts here and here (the second link is my favorite) about the evolution of the painted wine bottles. This year though, the BMOA didn't do painted wine bottles for Winescapes so I got to paint on this little guy as an example for the students. It was actually really fun to paint a small (regular sized) wine bottle. I am giving this to another teacher as she donated some empty wine bottles to the class. She requested oranges, browns, yellows and earthy reds.  

If  you haven't read the children's story, "The Dot", you should. 

In the Works

Today I took work out of the kiln! My favorite kind of day. The vases below will be part of the exhibit this summer at The Younger Gallery entitled, "Playful Minds". The little pieces below them will be shown at Valentine Restaurant and Wine Bar in the Fall. I plan to make many pieces and mount them onto wood to hang on the wall. And the last photo is from our wedding 7 years ago; today is our anniversary. Off to dinner now!

Solar Eclipse May 20th

I knew the eclipse was going to happen today, but didn't think I would get to actually see it. I read about making something to fracture the light and so forth... but honestly I just couldn't get it together enough to make that happen (read lazy). But luckily our two huge trees in the front yard did the trick for us. Check out the eclipse on our house! I'm so glad I noticed it in the backyard and thought to run out front with my camera.