Oops! forgot to post some pics!

Here are just a few of the ceramics projects that my Intro to Ceramics and Painting classes have been creating. The coaster sets are wonderful and I very pleased with their work.

 Painting and mix media are working with watercolor. The first assignment was to draw a still life and using any of the watercolor techniques we went over.

Art or not to make art?

Most of my energy and time is spent encouraging and assisting my high school students to make creative and beautiful ceramic pottery, paintings & digital art. This I truly love but at a cost of personal energy and creative energy. If only I could bottle the energy and enthusiasm my students exclude!

I am very excited to see the ideas and work that is coming out of the classroom this semester. Presently my Intro to ceramic classes are constructing coaster sets. This project students really get into! We use under glaze for the surface color and some will crackle the surface which is fine black lines that look like webs.  The next several projects will be a relief carved tile, slab building and finishing off the semester is coil building.

New Beginnings in the Digital World

This school year brought a new beginning for me. I am jumping head first into the world of digital art! New, exciting, frustrating, challenging and fun! I am a hand on artist, getting dirty and messy with paint or clay is right up my alley. But the world of computer based is art is incredibly clean and save. 

Everything in the digital art world can be undone. If there is a color or texture I don't like I can just delete it! Amazing wonderfulness of digital art. 

Teenagers are amazing with technology, there is no fear with working on a computer. As for their fearless leader I am always apprehensive and trying to figure out what this or that tool does. I must say I am enjoying working with Coral Painter 12. It is very cool how paintings can be created with such ease. 

The examples with this post are student pieces. We are using Coral Painter 12 and a Bamboo Tablet. The tablet's are taking the students some getting use to. Time and patience is what it takes to create art on the computer. 

Let the School Year Begin

The one thing I am not very good about is blogging. Nor does anyone follow me, maybe because I am not very interesting or have anything but art to share.  No matter, I really enjoy sharing and talking about the art being created by my students and my own creative work. 

The beginning school year brought yet another new class that I was to teach and better yet to learn. It is pretty fun to learn something new, particularly technology. This semester I am teaching Digital Art. My district really went all out for my class, purchasing Bamboo tablets, Coral Painter 12 and Photoshop. I really was thrilled! The students will have all the tools to create amazing digital art. 

As always with technology there are issues with computers not turning on, printer problems etc..... But now everything is working wonderfully. I am very excited with the pieces that have been created. It has taken time for the students to get use to drawing on a tablet, it is a completely different feel. The first assignment was just drawing with line, hatching and cross hatching. The two pieces posted with this writing are line drawings with monochromatic color. I am thrilled these pieces. 

Ceramics I & II are going smoothly, students created pinch pots and now are constructed Pods. Next will be Coil constructed cylinders. Good times ahead.

Creative Students & a Wonderful Semester

The semester is coming to an end next week and I have had some hardworking and extremely creative students. Every semester I have a students surprise me with creativity and hard work they put into their pieces. There is so much pride and since of accomplishment when their piece comes out of the kiln. But I am also full of pride with what they have learned and what they can achieve with hard work and patience.

The pictures with this post is work created this spring semester. Mishima surface design, sgraffito and under glazing always seem to very popular with the students. Enjoy!

Introduction to Ceramics Coil building Projects

So very pleased with the coil construction that is occurring in my classroom. Students have built a cylinder showing no movement and presently are building vases showing movement. This assignment is challenging, keeping the vase symmetrical and keeping coils the same size (not to small or to big).

Part of the assignment is also thinking creatively and adding texture or an exterior surface design to their pieces. Some students are extremely creative and others well, or not. Keeping the work symmetrical and adding design to the exterior surface is a tuff task but the students have done a wonderful job.

The semester is coming to a close in about 4 weeks and today I just presented the demo on Slab construction, the last of the hand building techniques. I will post pictures of the slab work in the near future. Enjoy your Week!

Fine Arts Show Case at Seaman High School

I am excited for Seaman High School Fine Arts Show Case. The kids hard work and creativity is always so fun for parents, family and friends to see.