Pinch Pot

The earth without art is just "eh".

During my second year of college I enrolled in a ceramics 101 course. While enrolled in this course I learned the proper techniques of making a pinch pot. The first step is to start out will a ball of clay and then push your thumb into the surface of the ball to create a hole (not going all the way through). Once the hole is created you pinch the clay with your thumb on the inside with hand supporting the pinching on the outside. You continue the pinching until the walls of the pot has achieved the desired thickness. For this particular clay I simply had to wait for the clay to dry rather than heating the clay in a kiln . Once dried I painted my pot using watercolor paints, acrylic paint, and tempera paint. Although this is not my best work with clay I enjoy the opportunity to use a different variety of clay that is more "kid friendly" and can one day be incorporated into my future classroom.
Pinch Pot Tutorial

Milk Jug Mask

A milk jug is a jug for holding and pouring milk, usually intended for use on the table.

Over the years I have learned how to look at simple items like a jug for holding and pouring milk in new ways. Although my brain wasn't the mastermind behind the plan, I have grown to develop my recycle art abilities. I was instructed to cut the milk jug in anyway I saw fit to create the shape of my mask. The next step was to cover the mask in the best tape for a mask...masking tape. Once completely covered with tape, I then rubbed brown shoe polish to cover the tape and give the true African mask look. The final step was giving my mask some small details to bring it all together, these details included the paint dots and the funky hair do.  
Milk Jug Mask Tutorial

Wire Sculpture + Tutorial

                                      Tutorial

I was instructed to create a project around the theme of circus act. I choose to create a wire sculpture that represented a girl doing a ribbon act. 

Supplies Needed

• Gloves (optional but expect blisters)
• Needle nose pliers
• Wire cutters
• Wire
• Ribbon

I started by creating the arms and legs of my figure. I twisted the wire using the needle nose pliers in a tight spiral. 

Next I began to create the body of the figure. I used a similar process of creating the legs of my figure although this time bigger spirals. It was important for my spirals to be as circular as possible to create the look of a body. I then used smaller pieces of wire to connect the body parts together. 

Once all the body parts were attached I simply had to tie the ribbon on a leg and an arm. This wire sculpture hangs from the ceiling by the ribbon.

Practicum

"Teaching is the act of sharing the knowledge we have been given by others with hope that someday in some way, it again will be passed on". -Unknown

Eight-Expanding

Mathematics is not about numbers, equations, computations, or algorithms, it is about understanding. -William Paul Thurston 

My brain loves numbers even though the rest of me usually doesn't feel the same. I have always been great at math but never really enjoyed it. Integrating math and art was the goal of this project. We were assigned groups for this particular project and given a transparent paper, list of equations, and a piece of graph paper. We were instructed to graph each of the equation on our transparent pages. Once the lines were completed we combined them together to create our interpretation of a two sided skyline. 

Gesture and Contour Drawings

Free flowing means moving in a continuous, steady stream.

It was important for all of my lines to be free flowing. This drawing included swift long movements using a piece of red charcoal and an obvious flip flop for reference. The reason for gesture drawings are create the basic shape of an object in anticipation for creating a drawing with more details and fine lines. 

Weaving

A magic carpet is defined as a legendary rug or carpet capable of transporting one who stood on it to any place desired.

To create this weave I used a variety of different materials including yarn, twine, fabric, rope, and fibers. I enjoyed making this project other than the teasing that was included by my husband stating I was making a "mini rug". This "mini rug" was another project that tested my need for patterns and organization. I had no plan for the order of the various materials yet, still enjoyed the outcome.