Ceramics Fired!

Thanks to Mr. Hall from Grand Prairie High for loading the kiln so I could fire it on Friday! Time has been a precious commodity lately and I was running low (thus the 8 blog posts in one hour!) Well, the firing was successful and I'm happy to report pieces will be available to take home today for the holiday break! This was our first clay project and I cannot wait to see how next semester's clay work goes now that we have gotten our feet wet.

Jeff Rogers FaceTime

Last Wednesday we had the honor of having a FaceTime lecture/interview with NYC illustrator, letterist, and designer Jeff Rogers.  Jeff has an impressive list of clients as well as a striking portfolio of work, many of which can be seen at his website here. You can also find a link to other interviews and bio information on his website (www.howdyjeff.com) You may remember him from a McDonald's commercial that aired over the Summer during the Olympics promoting their new Spicy Chicken McBites. Jeff painted a mural during the commercial which was then used in parts for their print campaign and signage. You can view an extended version of this at: https://vimeo.com/55461045. Students were able to ask questions relevant to his current and past experiences as an artist as well as information that may help our students begin their journey in an art career. After the talk, Jeff then assigned our students with their next major project involving lettering.

Here are some of the key points I noted from the talk:

You must establish and build relationships.

When you love something devote yourself entirely to it, indulging in something else will take time away from the thing you love.

Practice equals improvement.

Keep getting better. 

Do what you truly want to do until someone starts paying you to do it. 

Sometimes work will be free.

Be nice, no one wants to work with a jerk. 

Sketch several ideas.

Start with a pencil.

Thank you Jeff for taking the time to talk to us and share your experiences with us!

Fort Worth Museums!

Yay! It took awhile but we were able to finally get our young academy artists out to look at some more work. The students and teachers from Grand Prairie High were able to join us and it wouldn't have quite been the same without them. We toured The Modern as well as the Kimbell and had lunch on the lawn where some students played games and others socialized. Students viewed works from Picasso, Matisse, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Cezanne and Courbet just to name a few. It was a great time and I cannot wait for our next adventure out next semester.

Empty Bowls

Empty Bowls this year was a great success! Although this year none of the middle schools were actively involved there are hopes that we will be next year! I invited my art students to check out the art sale as well as test out a potters wheel for the first time. They had a great time and the students and teachers from Grand Prairie High were so helpful and friendly.

PBK Calendar Competition Results

Congrats to 6th graders Serena and Clarissa on their recent wins with the PBK Calendar Competition! Both pieces were feature on the outside and Clarissa's oil pastel drawing was featured inside. The students were to draw their favorite part of our beautiful campus designed by the PBK company. You make us proud girls! Great job!

MLK & Surfaces

The students have begun their district MLK art competition, heres a peek of what the 6th graders are doing!

Students started by listening to the speech and highlighting the visual imagery and character qualities.

MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech can be found online with transcript 

We have also began our workshops on the various art media and surfaces. Students have learned the differences between hot and cold press papers as well as what they are all best used for. Next we'll learn about pencils and various dry media as well as the different types of paint. Of course most of the students have already worked with these materials but this gives them an opportunity to dig deeper into their capabilities and their history

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Still Life, Complete!

The student drawings from our still life project are on display in the library. All academy and non academy drew the still life over a period of a week and a half and also wrote an explanatory piece on the steps of creating and drawing a still life.