We started the day with donuts from Rolling Pin (5 star home made local donuts delectable!) for all and a brief discussion of the reading from The World Without Us which I could tell most of them hadn't read. A few did and they had lights on in their eyes and made it quite evident to me. But, I am not going to hold a grudge against them - they have a lot to do at this point. In fact, in lieu of the crunch time at hand for the students, I've opted to eliminate 2 of the readings I had planned to assign. I am replacing one with a 20 minute video that you can watch via The Story of Stuff website (Bravo Annie Leonard!). I have asked all students to watch it and please post a comment to our class blog with their perspective on it before class on Monday.
I want to stress to students to try to take turns looking at the big picture and the details, as much as possible from this point forth. I know is really hard with the lighting problem in the studio but this is the critical phase of their creations. Also, I'm asking students to stop to consider the foundation for their sculptures - whether it be a practical solution for how to wall mount their relief, a stable foundation for a standing piece or establishing a hang point for a suspended piece, this aspect should be addressed before too much more fabrication takes place - if any. It is easy to get lost in art making and forget these important issues and end up in a quandry later on.
That said, I am glad to see more effort being put in by most of the students. Effort makes itself apparent. Effort has a value. Art reveals everything the artist is thinking and doing. It is a window into the soul of the artist. There should be no automatic decisions. Kill your autopilot, love what you love to the fullest, make that your focus, and then you will make unique work that will resonate. Easy as pie. But you must think it all the way through, for yourself. Straight from the Aurora advisory board. Ha.
Good news: Thanks to Professor Sconyers (who has work in an exhibit called Printmaking Perspectives opening tonight at The Beverly Street Studio School in Staunton from 5:30-7:30) we managed to get our paws on a mini-airbrush that he loaned us for the duration of the class. It is so much more efficient and good for the work we are doing then using Prevals - which are simple and quite useful, but also very fussy & require an extremely light touch to get a consistent paint application. They really require some getting used to.
Okay, signing off for the weekend! I expect the students to be here diligently working in order to achieve their respective goals... If you are reading this send them some love and feel free to comment and cheer them on!
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| Note the reusable BPA free water bottle... |
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| Don't forget to breathe & be conscious of your breath! |
