what students say

March 11, 2008

Dear Ewa,

I would like to thank you for educating me on how to do gesture drawings and learn about the shape of our bodies. I did not like art very much before and thought it was very hard but your talent and kindness inspired me to do more art and see how easy it was…The sculpture process was really cool. My favorite part about it was painting the sculpture. At that part we got to think outside the box about what role we wanted our sculpture to play. I really liked it when you showed your process and tricks to drawing because most artists just show their work. You taught me a lot and inspired me, so I hope to see you again,

Sincerely,
Liam


…My favorite part was you modeling. That really caught my eye.
- Emily

…doing contour drawings. it was fun and funny how they turned out.
- Lexi

…At first I thought art was really boring and not that exciting, but now I know that art is funner than I thought. What motivates you to go to other schools and share all your work with people?
- Spencer

…Thank you for teaching me that when you’re working on art it doesn’t have to be perfect. I enjoyed the time we worked together…Modeling, I always thought, was just about walking down a hallway and looking good. But I learned that modeling can be used in art in so many ways. And blind contour, who knew that drawing without looking could be so fun…
- Emily Z

…We had a wonderful time. People around the school such as the students and teachers are commenting on the beautiful sculptures you helped with. You are a great artist and you should never give it up. Thank you for walking through my classroom door!
- Kylie

…I loved to do the wire sculptures with you. My favorite subject in school has always been art but I don’t think I have ever had so much fun. You inspired me to do more art and take more time to be better at my art. I think the other kids will love to have you in their classroom.
- Christal

the figure in plaster

the print

I did the inking 4-5 people at a time. We shared the process of ink transfer - from the slab to the brayer; to the block; to the paper. Our first prints - our proofs - helped us deterine if we needed to alter the block.
Many of the blocks needed fine tuning - trimming edges or regluing - before coming back for another print. We used water soluble block ink and a retarder that slowed the drying time.

Each participant has two or three prints each. Because these blocks are small and can be used as stamps, it would be interesting to put them all together in one large class print.

printmaking: the block

Printmaking was undertaken in conjunction with the study of the Canadian Arctic and the Inuit. We examined Inuit artifacts from a museo-kit and researched arctic animals and stories. In the sketchbooks we recorded our explorations and began to work out a design for our relief print. Over the two week period, each class also participated in a school program at the Glenbow Museum.

I asked for several drawings of arctic animals. I also encouraged other subjects that reflected their learning about the north. One drawing was chosen and reworked as a design using simple shapes within a traced rectangle. It was then redrawn directly on foam rubber and cut out.


First the general shape was cut out. Then other parts were cut away to produce positive and negative shapes in the design. The pieces were puzzled back together, glued onto a cardboard cereal box and tightly trimmed.

school projects

Alena does a lot of work with clay in her classroom. These vessels were made in response to Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They are bowls for oatmeal.

Children glaze bowls with the help of an aide, student teacher or parent volunteer. Groups of 5 are taken out of the classroom to finish the project. Importance of glazing technique stressed in a class discussion of eating cereal out of the bowls.

I noticed these in the grade 2 hallway. Group of Seven images translated in acrylic. Careful looking and analysis visible in the paintings. The text reveals sensory writing - walking into the work of art and commenting on what one experiences through the senses, one by one.

wax resist and dye

Designs were broken down to basic shapes, manufactured into cardboard blocks, and then printed with melted wax onto prewashed 100% cotton broadcloth. Each person brough their own shapes to the table to use. Inevitably they were shared.

The remaining egg dyes, (composed of vinegar and food coloring), were set up with paint brushes and we painted in our designs. Color theory played an important role in keeping the colors true in the jars.

Primary colors were painted directly on the fabric or mixed to secondaries by moving from lightest to darkest, in order to prevent contamination. The wax resist contained the dye and controlled the spread. Areas of color mixing become more deliberate: I want this to be green, so yellow goes down first, then blue...

wax resist

We recalled shapes and symbols from the various countries through which students had travelled in studies curriculum. Most recently, we'd been exploring the Ukraine, ( as well as my own stories of growing up Polish in Calgary), through the process of creating pysanky. The remembered patterns and symbols were broken down to fundamental shapes and then created in folded cardboard blocks.

The blocks were heated in bees wax and then stamped on the cloth. In this case, groups of 5 are decorating the tails of a kite. Each participant created cardboard shapes in response to their own cultural study. As a group, students decided on a repeating pattern of symbols along the length of their kite tail. There are 5 tails in total.

fairy tales contiued

Our second illustration was planned in the sketchbook a little more deliberately. The story was still the artists' choice: a fairy tale that we invent, or a fairy tale that we've heard.

Inspiration can be found in other artists' pictures in favorite storybooks. A collection of vividly illustrated fairy tales is a joy to read and to study.

In this piece, we focused on exploring a scene in the story that included the setting, (the where), the character, (the who that drives...), the action. Each of us chose to focus on those elements to differing degrees in their collage stories.

Setting is the most common content. Where do the visual referents for castles come from? When you are 6 or 7 years old, where have you seen castles before? In the landscape? In cartoons and Disney movies? Or maybe heard read aloud. Or read through illustrations.
The sketchbook drawing becomes a plan of the particular scene in the story. Setting, character and action have been considered. Notice the translation between the line of the drawing and the physicality of fabric.

body ornamentation

The coil, if properly fulled, makes fabulous beads. We snipped them of in small pieces revealing their layered construction. I found some elastic cord for stringing.

The taperstry needle is sharp enough to penertrate the felt - sometimes with a little wiggling. And the elastic cord is easy to thread. We all sat together on the carpet and made these bracelets from our felted ropes.

soft sculpture

Our felted elements included a coil, a ball and a vessel. Using, scissors, needles, threads and some found objects, we transformed them into sculptures.

Tapestry needles and yarn were used for sewing the elements together. The vessel can be turned inside out to aide in attachement. The coil is being stitched to the inside of the vessel.

Various notions were brought in including feathers, buttons and fine needles and threads.

Participants felted two or three elements that they then were asked to put together in some way. Many created containers. Some created body ornaments. A few created characters.

figure continued

Rebar tie wire is black and greasy. Lengths were cut and each person had two pieces to work with to create an armature for the sculpture. We tried to keep in mind the proportions we'd noticed during our drawing sessions. The wire was shaped by hand - twisted and woven to the desired arrangement then attached to a base.