Suzet's Studio Blog

I wanted my classroom door to be a destination that was memorable, so I decided to paint it like this just before school started. I think I will add to it every year. The PrinciPAL is still getting used to it.

Bull Kelp Pod Rattle Class

Today I had  fun with the Jennys'! My friend Jennifer Star had a class on making bull kelp pod rattles. I thought it would be a nice addition to my cultural art project lesson plans so I signed up. Jenny (in photo) was in the class too and made two super rattles as well. We had a great time. 

 Jen has classes each month. I highly recommend them if you are interested in making art with recycled materials with a super awesome person. She has her schedule posted for the next class here.

I made one rattle into a singing woman and the other with an abstract design that reflected the ocean and music to me. 

Jenny made a clown rattle and an ocean theme with seaweed (very fitting ) and sea stars. 

It was a great day!

I'm into Throwing Big Bowls

Lately, I have been on a bowl making kick. Not just cereal bowls, but larger. It started when I told my sister I'd make her another one because her dog jumped up on the counter and broke the one I had made for her years ago. Now, I am obsessed with making the perfect size, shape and thickness to match my mental image. I'm going to post the process as I get closer to the final one in the series. The image is the second one in the series. I am trimming the foot. Stay tuned for the evolution of the fruit bowls.

Who knows what I will go after next. 

I think it is super important to keep learning. Even if you have learned something before, there are a million ways people teach it that can make it new to you. It has been years since I threw on the wheel. Now that I am teaching ceramics again I thought I had better brush up on my skills. I'm taking a six week class from master potter Gary Gall. He is showing us how he throws off the hump. His specialty are these thrown goblets. Pretty cool, ah?

Using Wallpaper Sample Pages

Sometimes as an art teacher you have to create lessons backward. By that I mean you have to look at a pile of something you have acquired and make it work to help teach the masses without breaking the budget. 

Well, wallpaper sample books are my focus right now. They are taking up half the garage and I have more on the way, so it is crunch time. Last year we painted portraits on them with acrylic paints. That worked well for high school, but in middle school we only have tempera paint. That is a "no go" for sticking on the surface of wallpaper that is made to repel the gunk of everyday life. So I decided to try out the process of paper weaving using complementary colors. We can study Bridget Riley and Victor Vaserely and use the principle of rhythm. So, I made this video of my late night adventures of making a project with my wallpaper sample pages. I hope it helps you out if you r garage is full of the discarded books as well.