A week of cake, memories, art and thoughts...

I took this picture last week. It looks identical to one I took in 1994!

Well, I am back from an extraordinary week at my old art school. In so many ways, it was what I expected, but then just a bit better. (I am thinking it could have gone both ways: It may as well have been a disappointment.) It was certainly a trip down memory lane, but at the same time, I brought back a lot of new, useful (and yet a bit confusing) mind material.

I was surprised how much there, is still the same. There are a few more houses, and a few extensions are build on to the school. The old printmaking room has changed into a Mac-filled graphics- and movie room... But the atmosphere, the pure sense of the place is EXACTLY the same as it was back then, 17 years ago. I couldn't help being happily, pleasantly surprised, and enjoyed my experience in this personal time machine. It was very sweet to see the old staff members, and be back on the island, with it’s sense of innocence, romance and good, old days. Tea and cake, brought to the various studios in little wood trolleys... Loved it!

Now, as back then, the school has a very contemporary and modern approach to art. It is essential to the place, and such a contrast to the beautiful nature and surroundings. It hit me now, as it did back then.

But also... on top of enjoying and taking in the place, I took a lot home with me as well. The course truly made me stop and think, and consider new ways and methods. I wasn’t sure how to prepare for the week, and (as somewhat expected) I didn’t need any of my preparation, I ended up working very differently to how I normally do. As I’d hoped, the teacher was great. Very good at understanding where I came from, and good at giving me some ideas on how to grow, and move on from there. I didn’t finish my painting during the entire week. Which I took as a sign of something moving, happening. I am still working on it, and I am hoping to return later to this blog, with the painting and the journey of it. (And believe me, it has been a journey!)

Great teacher, sweet fellow students, wonderful food, fantastic weather and new knowledge. What’s not to love?!

Going Back In Time

One of my photos of the school from back in 1994.

Today and yesterday I have been packing. Yesterday mainly mentally, today in a more practical sense. Tomorrow I am leaving for a week, for a class on an art school in the south of Denmark. More specifically, on the small island of Ærø. The course is on portraiture and figure painting, and I am curious to know what I will bring home from this week.

This school has a very special meaning to me, as I went there on a long course back in 1994. I haven't been back there since. I can't help thinking of the place as it was back then, in the mid nineties. I know perfectly well that it has changed, it must have - it's been 17 years... But I feel I remember every little nook of the place, the sense of the rooms, the views and the surrounding nature. I was really young then, I was a different person to the one I am right now. So I am excited to find out how the place will feel now. And then, naturally, I am really excited about this course, on many levels. To meet the teacher, the new people and the old staff from back then (yep, I've been told the kitchen ladies and the secretary are still the same good, old people:)

What exactly I am hoping and expecting to take home with me is hard to say. Actually, I really don't know. I am mainly seeking general and broad inspiration and fresh mental air. And then I hope to get a few tips, new ideas and ways. If I am lucky, perhaps my work can be moved in some way, and aimed in slightly new direction. I've packed all my paints in a (fairly heavy) suitcase, and have brought a few brand new canvases in a bag. It is hard to come prepared when you don't now what to expect. But I've tried to come as prepared as possible. I sense that the course will be quite individual, and that suits me perfectly.

Ærø is (to put it mildly) a bit out of the way: train, bus, ferry, hours... Not quite as bad as going to Guam, but it feels like it on a tiny level, sitting here the day before. Travel fever and high expectations.

Link to the school's website:

http://www.kunstaeroe.dk/

Art Class Shows work at the Library

Yesterday I went to the Metuchen Public Library and hung my students art work. They had all brought me a stack of work they wanted to show, and there was a lot to choose from.

But, the exhibition space was rather limited, so I had to pick out a few pieces, and hung them in themes. There was a lot of good work that I unfortunately had to leave out, but I think it still gives a good idea of what we have worked with the past 12 weeks.

The art work will be on display in the Library until Dec. 14th. 2008

# 11 Art Class - Still Life

This week was an “open week”. I wanted to keep one week available to add a sudden idea for a project or a surprise. I had asked the students if there was something they would be interested in doing in particular... A few mentioned that they like to finish up older pieces from previous weeks, but none of them actually brought anything along when Tuesday came along. I had a feeling this would happen, so I prepared a Still Life class, using color pencils combined with water color.

I have noticed that they like working with Still Life - they enjoy having an object/arrangement to look at, rather than making something up. I think that is great; they have to look and observe - great for bettering their drawing skills, as well as their focus.

I made a very traditional set up with a bowl of fruit and one of my personal treasures: a Royal Copenhagen Jug. I gave them a sheet of water color paper and they started drawing the arrangement. When the drawing was done, they added a bit of color with the color pencils and as the last step, they put water color on top. This created an interesting effect. We talked about how the two materials affected each other, how the pencils were great for shadow and the watercolor worked wall for the lighter part of the painting.

As always the results were very different, they each approached the subject as well as the materials very differently.

We only have one week left of the entire semester. Next week is a painting on a stretched canvas. After Thanksgiving I am having two make up classes.

# 10 Art Class

This past Tuesday was Election Night, which meant that a couple of my students were away for the week. So, on this dark (and later history changing!) fall Tuesday only two kids came for art class!

According to my lesson plan were were going to draw faces, and we started out talking about proportions of the face, and they did a couple of drawings of each other... But pretty soon it became clear that it was hard to do with only two people that kept on drawing each other. (I was planning that they would take turns, all drawing one person at a time, just like in the figure drawing class.) So, we decided to change the plan a little - I had a big pumpkin outside my door that I broad inside, along with a handful of beautiful orange/brown leaves that covered the ground outside my house. Initially I wanted them to draw faces with pastels - so we stuck with that medium ( -which we had not actually used yet- ) and the drawings were very vibrant - we talked a bit about complementary colors, and they tried to make oranges and browns pop, by surrounding them with ‘opposite’ colors.

# 9 Art Class - Egg Tempera

It was time for the (among my students) most anticipated week - egg tempera! They just couldn’t wait to mix the paint! Almost every week, someone would ask me: ”When are we doing the egg thing??” I decided to give them each a primary color (unfortunately one student couldn’t make it, so we were only three). They each got a tile and a piece of marble to turn a color pastel into powder. It was a pretty tough process - breaking the pastel turned out to be more difficult than expected. They mixed the fine powder with egg yolks, and it turned into some very clear and vibrant colors.

They each painted a small painting with the tempera, it was very different than regular paint; sticky and very transparent. They could still mix the colors, lighten the red and blue (-or green as the egg yolk changed it into). After making one painting they were more interested in mixing more paint, than actually using it for painting! We had a bit of time before everyone was being piked up, and one of the students suggested that they spent the time drawing each other - like they did in week # 3. I thought it was a great idea - we are going to draw faces next week, and this was a good exercise to return to, before next week. So I quickly found paper and charcoal and they worked on figure drawing until they got picked up.

# 7 Art Class - Abstract Collage

On Tuesday it was time for abstract art! I wanted to combine the abstract with the collage, and it worked out well. I started out by talking about Paula Rego, a portuguese artist living in London. She is an interesting (and very skilled) painter with many different styles. In the 1960s she made some beautiful big abstract pieces in mixed media. We looked at some of her work and talked about form and color, as well as the different materials used. They all had very different ideas about what it was supposed to be. I thought it was interesting that it had to be something; a monster behind a tree, an old woman with flowers - it could not, not be something!

As oppose to our weeks of various still life, this time our conversation was all about shapes and colors - the students had to focus on the overall look and feel of the piece, rather than the right proportions. I sensed that they enjoyed this change of pace, and they created some interesting pieces. I think they did really well in cutting out odd (and what seemed random) magazine pictures, gluing them around the cardboard, and then connecting the images with paint as the last step. They clearly worked very spontaneously and that gave some good results. I was truly impressed! Next week we will continue the collage, but in the shape of self portraits...

# 3 Art Class

This week we got a new student. Or, she was actually enrolled, but she was not able to show up until this week. She is the only girl of the group, and truly a social butterfly! As mentioned before, the two previous classes were very quiet, everyone was very shy. But she just walked in, started chatting to everybody, and before we knew it, the class was buzzing and laughing and there was a great relaxed atmosphere.

The theme of the week was figure drawing. I wanted them to LOOK at the person modeling, draw what they SAW, not what they thought they saw. It turned out fun; each student modeled in front of the others for four minutes, they took turns and returned back to the same drawing, as they each kept the same pose a few times. I wanted them to think of a good pose: not to difficult to draw, and one they could hold for four minutes. We started with charcoal and later moved into pastel, to put a bit of color in the drawing. I encouraged them to draw BIG on the paper, and use as many sheets as they needed. So by the end of the session, four stacks of great drawings were produced, along with dirty faces & fingers, black from charcoal ; - )

They all did extremely well, as previously they worked very concentrated - I had to stress them to LOOK, and also tell them a few times that the figure was the main focus as their fellow student did their pose - hairstyles, glasses and details of the clothes could be added later.

Next week is BLUE - creating a painting in different shades of blue only... I am excited and know they will come up with some surprising paintings.

Ready For Art Classes

It is August already - for a while I have been wanting to teach art to kids again... I have done it in the past, and would love to get back into it! The idea has developed in my mind the past few months, and I feel very excited and ready at this point. I have taught at a few different Art Museums in WA, all in different ways. At the Seattle Art Museum I taught a six week art camp, at the Frye Art Museum I taught a few afternoon classes with different themes, and at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma I was the Artist in Residence, teaching a project that somehow related to a current exhibition. And the studio was open to anyone interested.

Now, it is time to teach in my own preferred format: a small group of kids at one time, two hours every week. All is going to be 2D projects; drawing, painting, collage - and we are going to relate the work to a famous artist or art movement every week. And naturally end the day talking about each student’s work.

The last few weeks I have been busy putting together flyers, postcards and thought of fun and creative ways to advertise my classes. Hoping to reach as many art interested kids as possible.

I have a lot of ideas for lesson plans - that’s almost the funniest part to get ready.

And I am ready to get it all out of my mind and down on paper. That is what’s next...