Speckled Flower on a Pinch Pot
May-ember, as it is called for all the busy times and many events planned in the month of May. We survived! We made it through! And as I reflect, wow I made a considerable amount of art also. Both digital and non digital art! I kept with the floral themes and loads of speckles, other experimentation too. School is out and my classroom is getting cleaned while project materials are put away for a few months. It is time to reflect and ponder on all the growth and progress in my art room both for my students and myself. I am excited to share that I will be teaching sculpture class once again in the fall - enough students signed up for it to make a class. Something to look forward to in the fall. But for now, summer time is upon us and I have lots of ideas to try while on break.
Here is what I have been up to in May…
I am excited to share the Screenshot Saturday has been going strong over on my social media sites. If you missed a Saturday, here is what was posted for May. This has been a great exercise for me to not overthink, keep things simple and share it consistently. And it has also been a great avenue for me to try out some older designs in a different way. I have gotten some great feedback, thank you, it means so much!
Remember to take a screenshot of the design you enjoy and crop it to use on your digital devices for the background. It seems like a simple thing, but why not have a free, fun or inspiring background on your devices you look at all the time.
Such an array of cards this month! Pen and ink, acrylic markers, colored pencils and a combo of a digital background and drawing on top of it. All created by me as I continue to find a style that comes easily and is not forced. Sometimes getting into flow can be easier than others, but always worth the try.
In my high school classroom, we do a clay unit each semester. Well this particular semester, I had one student who enjoyed working with the clay, but was struggling with the clay being overworked and not having success in their idea. This student's’ idea was to have a vase and a tall flower standing inside the vase. I, of course had many concerns about the stability and how would I get this moved and fired without it breaking. At one point I asked her about laying the flower down on the rim of the pinch pot instead and made this example quickly to show the student. After a few more attempts of her original idea, laying the flower down is what they decided to do. Once class was over, I looked back over my small pinch pot example with a flower laying on the rim and decided it would stay out of the discarded clay bucket. I really liked it. Weeks passed while my classes pottery, along with this small piece were bisque fired and I decided to glaze it more soft pastel colors and speckles. I love LOVE love our glazes at school. They are called crysteltex glazes and have small pebbles of different color glazes inside for random pops of color. It is such a blast to use these and you never know how it will turn out.
This little dish came out of the glaze kiln and I loved it so much. It was one of the fastest things I probably ever made, just an example piece to show my idea to a student and it opened up a ton more art ideas and inspiration for loads of work I plan to make. You just never know when inspiration will hit. But I have noticed that my judgement mind needs to stay quiet during these times for something like this to get through.
Artist Trading Cards are a wonderful way to create miniature art in a short amount of time. They are loads of fun in the classroom too! I love to take an idea and create several variations. Artist Trading Cards are always sized 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches.
This cute little character was also created this month while showing an artist trading card example to my art classes. Is it a coffee mug, a pot of soup, a clay piece I can make with handles? I am not sure, but certainly came up again and again. It became fun to draw this character in different ways. I drew this guy over and over beyond these artist trading cards and on sketchbook pages too. I hope to keep sharing this character in future blog posts as I develop this seed of an idea.
Thank you for all your encouragement and support on this creative journey. I have many ideas I am ready to try in these summer months so get ready, I will have loads to share. Some old ideas resurfacing and some new ideas to experiment with and stay a beginner. Always more to learn!
Have a delightful start to your summer and enjoy some creative sunshine moments when you can.
Stay creative out there~
Hannah