Today in Art Club we learned how to make pinch pots. Its fun, easy, and relaxing. Since eating food and working with clay isn't the best idea, we had cool drinks like ginger ale, iced tea, and soda. Our next meeting will be December 8th during AP, but Art Club members are encouraged to return at any point to work more on their piece! At our next meeting we will finish up our pots, and then learn to apply glaze. Stop by one of our meetings if you'd like to give it a try! And, of course, if you want more..take Ceramics! (Photos courtesy of Katherine Carlile!! Thanks Katherine!)
0 Comments
The Memory Project is back! Our first group of photos were of children from Columbia. Our student artists here at Skaneateles receive a photo of the child, their age, and favorite color. They then create unique portraits in a medium of their choice. These original pieces of art are taken to the children and cherished by them forever. It may seem like a small thing to receive a portrait made of you, but it isn't. To know someone across the world spent hours creating a drawing of just them can be life changing. To know someone cares is so important. In the spirit of compassion and empathy, this project continues to inspire. Anyone interested in participating, stop by Room 226. When the children receive the work, I will receive a video of them opening their portraits, and I will share that here on this blog. A note about the children from Columbia the organization who runs The Memory Project: "These particular children all live in a very poor shanty town, often with a single parent or grandparent. Over the past decades many Columbians have fled to such shanty towns to escape the drug-related violence, murders, and kidnappings in their country's more rural areas. Systemic poverty in these shanty towns leads to many on-going social problems, especially for women and children. Fortunately, these children are being helped by an organization that provides them with healthy nutrition and early childhood education. For all of them, receiving the portraits will be truly unique, and their lives will be touched in a truly special way." If this drawing were a movie, what would it be called? Yesterday for our final critique, students walked around and created movie titles for each drawing. Some examples that were assigned to this piece drawn by Connor Gell were:
"Lost" "Wonder of the Future" "Writer's Block" "Writing the World" Art has the power to tell stories in just one moment...how amazing is that? Our Graphic Design class as well as Independent Study and Advanced Art students got to visit Chase Design today! We had the opportunity to first meet with Doug Whitehouse, a manager at the company who gave an introductory presentation on the history of the ChaseDesign, what they actually do, and how the creative process works. "If I leave you with anything today, " he said, " you must find out what the problem is, and solve the problem" He also made it very clear that having self confidence and presenting ideas with pride is a huge part of design. "Ultimately you must do your own best work, and choose what to present." He said. "We call our team problem solvers" Doug shared. "We don't look for people who are super specialized; we want people who have many different life experiences." One of their designers used to be a lawyer, another a fine artist, another used to work for National Geographic. "There are lots of opportunities in the arts" he said, "a lot of these opportunities are just well kept secrets". Anna Neuenschwander said that she was "very intrigued by the drafting and sketching that proceeds any actual decisive creation. Putting all of the consideration into every single aspect of the design is admirable. I have a new appreciation for store organization and design. This can apply to my interest in medical illustration in that I now an understand what I might be doing as a designer."
"I learned how much visuals impact the average person's mind and persuade them to buy something." Skyler VanLeer shared, " Its amazing how in a short amount of time so many ideas can be created that are actually successful." After spending time chatting with many designers and seeing their work, we all met again with Doug who spoke about what inspires him personally as an artist. He showed us the imagery, photos, and architecture that he tries to capture everyday that he will ultimately draw from to create, and even showed us his own paintings. Empathy was truly the theme of the day, something that wove in and out of all the conversations. In order to create something for someone else, you must understand who you are designing for, why you are designing it, what makes people interested, what makes them bored, and what makes them stay engaged with a product or idea. "You can't hold onto your ideas and sketches" Doug said, " they are always going to end up changing". Its always nice to see Juniors and Seniors mentoring Freshman artists.
Here, Mary Lambdin gives Connor Gell advice on finishing up his Hand drawing. Our first art meeting was really fun! We ate snacks and got to work with play dough. Students also came up with some ideas of projects for our future meetings. First on the list- creating pinch pots and christmas ornaments with clay! Stay tuned for more..and feel free to stop by next time!!!
A huge part of Art is about the process. Those cool places in the middle where things are not done yet. Here are some treats from this week- I hope they inspire you to notice the little things this weekend. Think you "can't" do art? I dare you to come have fun and give it a try!! Bring your friends! Hope to see you here November 8th!
|
Archives
March 2017
Categories |