Narratives: A Workshop Given by Terri Kern

Summer time is a perfect time for teachers to catch up on professional development.  Quite a few professional development opportunities have been offered by Greater Cincinnati area organizations.  I wish I could take them all but there is not enough time (or money) to do it all! I had to choose wisely and I think my choice was a good one! Last week I had the opportunity to take a week long, intensive class from the wonderful ceramic artist, Terri Kern.  I have pictured one of her pieces above but you can also see more of her work here.  The workshop was offered at Queen City Clay, a public clay studio here in Cincinnati.  Just stepping into this place will inspire you to make something!  It is a dream come true for artists, and I got to spend five days there being taught by a professional artist and surrounded by other students who are artists and teachers. We learned so much from Terri and each other all week long!

Terri Kern's artwork is rich with symbolism, telling stories about herself and those she loves.  Each piece has hours invested in beautiful craftsmanship. The unique imagery of animals and objects is a fantasy for your eyes to get lost in.  

The morning of the first day Terri shared with us about her background and how she got to where she is today.  Her life experiences inspire her art.  When she was a young girl she went to day camp at the natural history museum. She remembers being one of the first people allowed in the museum in the mornings and seeing the exhibits of natural objects with lights on them.  This influenced her greatly and today her art work reflects that precious experience.  Terri's work is very personal and I feel that is one reason her artwork is successful.

Each day of the workshop Terri would give us a demonstration in the morning and in the afternoon, allowing us to have the remainder of the time to work on the project assignments that she had given us.  She was so good at continually checking with each student in the workshop to see how we were doing and to give us our own personal demonstrations if we needed help!

Terri uses mostly underglazes for her designs.  The first project involved a sgraffito technique on a glazed background of blended yellows, oranges and reds. Sgraffito is a technique of carving into the glazed surface of a ceramic piece.  We first transferred our design onto the background color with pencil and then began painting the design in black.  As the black glaze dried we scratched into it with various tools. Above is my tile before it was fired and also before it got the coat of clear gloss glaze.  

The second day we did a design on a new tile that involved a sgraffito technique that was faster, scratching into a semi-wet, glazed surface. This was on a black, glazed background.  I liked doing this technique a lot!  She also taught us about blending the colors before scratching into the glaze.  Above is my little interpretation of a dessert I make with strawberries, blueberries and kiwi.  

The third project was a tile that combined all of the techniques she had taught us up to that point.  This is my design, in progress, pictured above.

 I have always known that craftsmanship is important, but this workshop really emphasized that for me.  Terri reinforced how important it is to keep trying and practicing to get better and find the best way to do something.  When she is working on her pieces she makes sure that each little part is done with her best effort and if she gets tired she takes a break, so that when she comes back to it she can continue to do the best work she can.  When someone owns that piece they will see the close attention and thoughtfulness that she put into every part.  

Now when I am working on my own artwork I am thinking about being careful and giving it that high amount of attention. 

The fourth day was packed with more demonstrations and projects to make.  Terri showed us how she makes her miniature books using a slab of clay cut into small pieces.  She demonstrated how she creates the pages and details on each book.  

Terri makes whimsical salt and pepper shakers. These salt and pepper shakers by students in the class were each made with one triangular slab.  All three points of the triangle were pulled together and then the sides were pinched together and details added.  

Terri's necklace pendants inspired these made by students in the class.  

This cocktail cup (above) by Terri was first painted with black glaze, and then while it was still wet, the sgraffito technique was used to create the design, complete with a cocktail recipe.  The glaze is applied to the cup while it is still greenware.

Above is my cocktail cup with a mango! 

The fifth day Terri demonstrated her relief carving. An example of her carving can be seen on the nest pictured earlier in this post. We spent the day finishing up all of the projects of the week.  

In addition to the variety of techniques that I learned in this class, that I can apply to my own art work and my teaching, I took away something else.  Terri opened a fresh channel of creativity in making my own art work. She also gave me confidence in putting my work out in the gallery world, which is something that I have been recently working on.
As an art educator it is important to pursue my own creative adventures.  This allows me to direct my students more successfully when they are struggling, because I know first hand what it is like to be in that situation.  It sets an example for my students, showing them that making art is an important profession that is a part of our community. Making my own art work makes me a better art teacher.

The Night Before the Storm

Abby Miller

2016

Managing the Art Room

Motivation Needed

Its not easy to transition from one class to the next, switch from this project to that, motivate 28 students to return the art room to a presentable, organized state in five minutes or less AND make it fun and something the kids want to do.  

I want to share with you a couple of systems that I use in my art room.  One that I have been using for  the last 18 years and one that I just began this year.  Not this school year. This 2016 year, and I'm wondering why I didn't start it sooner because it works so well and the kids love it.  

Golden Broom (the old trick)

  At the end of each class period, after the students have lined up, I judge how well the class cleaned up, and if they did a good job I award them with a ticket or more to drop in a jar (I have one for each grade). They write their homeroom teacher's name on the ticket.  On Friday at the end of the day a ticket is drawn out of each jar and the winners are announced during announcements.  The winning classes keep a Golden Broom trophy (a small broom I spray painted gold) in their homeroom for the following week until the next winner is announced.  

Clean-Up Jobs (the new trick)

I would like to thank blogger, Cassie Stephens for giving me the inspiration for this idea.  The management method she demonstrates in her blog post gave me the idea for my system.

When students are finished with their project for the day, they go over to this poster and select a clip from the poster that has a job written on it.  

I made a clip for each job needed to clean up after any project we do. Different clips are put on the poster each day or class period depending on the project we are doing.  This gives the students more ownership for organizing and cleaning up the art room.  When students finish for the day they flock to the poster to choose a job and they love being in charge of what they choose to do.  My favorite is the "shelf keeper."  This works very well for 3-D projects.  The shelf keeper directs students where to put their projects and checks if the name and class code is written on it and anything else that needs to be checked.  For example if there is glaze on the bottom of a clay piece they either wipe it off or send it back and have the owner of the piece fix the problem.  It frees me to be able to continue to circulate around the room and assist students.  The clips are attached the students' clothing so I know who is doing what.  The students return the clips before they leave. This system is great for keeping those mobile kids busy!

Happy Chinese New Year

Peace and Good Luck!

Each year my 5th graders make a Chinese New Year hanging medallion.  

Here are the "I Can" statements that I post in the room for this project:

I can:

• Explore the art of Chinese calligraphy.
• Demonstrate carving in clay.
• Demonstrate good craftsmanship in constructing, carving and glazing.

We begin by talking about some Chinese New Year traditions and the differences and similarities of our New Year celebrations and those in China.  The students practice writing Chinese symbols on red paper.  I provide handouts of symbols of the animals in the Chinese Zodiac and some other chinese words for prosperity in the new year.  

Constructing a clay disk:

The students each receive a piece of clay that they shape into a ball.  The ball is then flattened by pushing it down with the palm of the hand onto the student's work mat (burlap).  The student smooths out the rough spots and when they are happy with their disk they copy a Chinese symbol onto the clay by lightly scratching it into the surface.  Then the symbol is carved using a clay wire tool over the lines that were scratched, making them deeper.  The students then create a design around the symbol with clay tools and other objects that can be used to push into the clay to create texture.  A hole is made at the top and the bottom and the student writes his or her name on the back and their class code.  

The students use red glaze because red is the color of the Chinese New Year and it is a symbol of good luck.  After the clay pieces are finished I show the students how to make a tassel with yarn and they tie it on the bottom.  

Make a tassel:

1.  Wrap yarn around a piece of 6" cardboard 15-20 times.  

2.  Tie a piece of yarn around all the strands on one side of the cardboard.  

3.  Turn the cardboard over and cut through all of the pieces of yarn.  

4.  You will have something that looks kind of like a mustache.  Make the mustache into a ghost by gathering all of the strands together.  Tie a string around the top part so it looks like the "ghost" has a head.  

5.  You are finished making your tassel!

Embellished Clay Pinch Pots

Function and Beauty

These whimsical little pinch pots were made by 6th graders.  The students were required to create texture on the outside and inside of the pot.  After the pinch pots were glazed and fired the students embellished them with beads and wire.  Two choices they had were weaving wire in and out all the way around the pot, or creating a handle with the beads and wire. See another project using clay pinch pots here.

A Multitude of Pinch Pots

The 6th Graders are in the process of making textured pinch pots.  They are glazing them with underglazes and after they are fired they will be embellished with wire and beads.  I will post photos when they are finished!

Drying on the shelf.  Chinese New Year medallions in the background.

Waiting to be loaded into the kiln.

Me getting ready for a long day of clay. 

Tribute to Paris

For Paris

The Berry 5th graders recently completed a watercolor/sillhouette project dedicated to the people of Paris, France in response to the November 13th terrorist attacks.  I wanted to allow the students to speak about this tragic event through their own visual art. It is difficult to understand why things like this happen and sometimes it is easier to make art about how we feel than it is to talk about it, and this can help us heal.  

This project idea came from the blog by wonderful art teacher and blogger extraordinaire,  Cassie Stephens.  Thanks, Cassie!  

We started out by learning some French words and wrote them on white paper.  I selected a list of words that surrounded the topic of surviving a tragedy and that were uplifting. The words were provided for the students to copy in French.  The students painted their backgrounds with liquid watercolors.  The colors of these paints are very vibrant, and the students were required to use either cool or warm colors.  We sprinkled salt on the wet paint and when it dried the salt crystalized, creating a beautiful effect.

The next step was to cut out our silhouettes.  There were three parts to this:  the Paris skyline, a monument and something in the sky.  I gave the students a choice between the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffle Tower. They also had a choice of what to make in the sky.  

The flag gives this one a feeling of majesty. 

I gave the students a demonstration for folding the paper and drawing half of the object and cutting it with the paper folded.  This way they get a symmetrical design.  This technique was used for the Eiffle Tower, Arc de Triomphe, the Paris skyline and the hot air balloon.  

I love the reflection here!