Glassblowing Field Trip!

My 8th grade class just returned from a field trip to McFadden Art Glass in Baltimore where we had an amazing time making blown glass bowls and cups today! The kids were involved in every step of the creation process and they had a terrific experience... We will be able to pickup the cooled pieces later (check back for pictures!), but here are some pics of the process- enjoy! 

After molten glass was collected on the blow pipe from a giant furnace, the pipe was cooled in this nifty fountain to make handling it a little more comfortable: 

After a second gathering of glass, students gently rolled the glass onto colored glass frit of their choice (the pipe has to be turning the entire time so the glass doesn't plop off the end like dripping honey!): 

 The glass is heated again so that the color can melt into the glass...:

and then Tim, the owner of the studio helped blow the first bit of air into the piece, before we rolled against this metal table to get it to a nice even shape.  

Students then worked at the bench with Tim to shape the piece further using these big tweezers to pinch the top and other various shaping tools depending on if they were making bowls or cups:

 Meanwhile, a friend is helping out at the end of the pipe by blowing additional air into it to make the piece larger (not as easy as it looks- you have to blow pretty hard and move from side to side while blowing since the pipe is constantly twirling):

 

At the same time, a new bit of glass has been gathered on the end of a solid pipe, which is called a "punty". The punty is stuck onto the bottom of the glass piece so that it can be detached from the blow pipe and then worked with further from the open end:

Students then used the tweezers to open and shape the mouth of their bowl or cup. Occasionally the glass needed to be reheated to make it more flexible/workable. Depending on the piece, small additional steps were required (to make a heart shape, students had to push down certain parts of the rim of the bowl. To create a wavy rim, the bowl was heated and then twirled really FAST, which causes the glass to spread out; then when you hang it upside down and turn it, the thin, spread out edge becomes wavy) :

 The last step is to detach the piece from the pipe and put it in an annealing oven overnight so they can slowly cool (cooling too fast = shattering glass!). A friend helped out with this step too, catching the piece in these gigantic oven mitts! 

I'm a Little Teapot!... Take 3!

If you've been following my blog for a while, you may have noticed that in each grade I attempt to teach a skill in clay building even though the projects may differ from quarter to quarter (for example, 5th graders learn about slab construction- last quarter's boys made lidded boxes and this quarter's boys made mugs). In sixth grade, I want students to create a project using the "pinch" method of clay handbuilding- create a form with pinch pots and small sculptural pinched details... This year, students are making teapots and I haven't changed the project from quarter to quarter because I love how every time is unique and the pieces are getting more and more creative! These are semester three's teapots:

Sixth Age Buddies Visit Again

Today in Advisory, Ms. Clark's Sixth Age class came to visit us in the Middle School and together we created a Springtime art project, similar to when we got together to make "Trees of Thanks" for Thanksgiving in November. After a brief introduction about cherry blossoms in Japan and closer to home in Washington, D.C. (the National Cherry Blossom Festival begins next week, March 20th!), I demonstrated how to paint realistic branches and how to use the bottom of the small soda bottle as a blossom stamper. Sixth graders painted the branches and their Six Age buddies stamped the flowers to create some beautiful springtime art!

NAEA Conference!!

I am fresh off the train and home from the National Art Education Association's annual conference and I CAN NOT put into words how incredible it was (but I'm gonna try!)... This is the 4th conference I have attended, and so I knew what to expect, but every time I experience it, it just blows my mind. Imagine putting 6,000 passionate, wacky art teachers in the art capital of the world- give them materials to play with, ideas to run with, and artists and educators to inspire them in over 1,000 sessions and workshops, and you might get a sense of what this thing is like. I uploaded all of my iPhone pics to show a recap of the conference in pictures (excuse the quality of the photos).

An early morning train ride on Thursday- it was so foggy- check out the view as the train skimmed over the water. It was mysterious and stunning:

I didn't get any photos but the first thing I did on Thursday was go see the nationally recognized installation artist, Jean Shin, discuss her work. It was awesome! One of my Thursday sessions titled "Computers to Clay: A Study of Architecture" gave me some neat ideas for a possible future clay relief tile project:

This was the line waiting to get into a session called "Exciting Pencil Art is Unpredictable"- there were about 25 chairs in the room and about 70 attended (I sat on the floor). This was kind of the deal the whole time... everything in Manhattan is cramped, so the conference rooms in the Sheraton and Hilton were just not large enough to hold the number of people who wanted to go to the sessions:

Thursday evening from 7:00-9:00 was the Opening Night Event called "Hats Off to Art Education!" which consisted of about 75 artisans tables selling work, as well as a giant room of hatmaking. Yes, you heard me right, hatmaking. This is what happens when you give art teachers craft materials and set them loose...  

On Friday afternoon I had the opportunity to go to the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), which is conveniently located a stone's throw away from the Hilton, where the majority of the conference was held. Admission to the MOMA was FREE for NAEA members during convention, so it was not to be missed. There was an interesting special exhibition on contemporary artist, Cindy Sherman, which was great. Here I am with a piece titled F-111 by one of my favorite artists, James Rosenquist.

The crowds around the Starry Night are just crazy:

I've never been obsessed with Monet the way some people are, but this piece simply took my breath away. Seeing Monet in a book, I usually think "yeah, yeah... more water lilies," but the size, scale, colors, treatment of the paint, etc. in person is a whole other ballgame:

Friday evening around 7, I headed down to the Big Screen Plaza to wait for my 8th grade student's painting to play in the slideshow of artwork submitted by NAEA teachers, sponsored by Artsonia (more details in my last post). It was SO EXCITING to see it!!!!! Since it was dark, it was difficult getting a good picture, but we tried...

The way we took the picture makes the Plaza look empty, but there were dozens of people there looking at the work- Here's a shot of them:

Another INCREDIBLE part about the NAEA convention is the Exhibit Hall. At most other conventions, the exhibitors are NOT the big attraction- you get a mini Snickers, pick up a brochure here and there and try not to make eye contact with the booth attendant since you don't really care about what they are selling anyway... The vendors in this hall could not be more different. You must show your conference badge to enter, the crowds line up in droves outside of the hall waiting for the 10am opening and then push like cattle to get in. The exhibit is FILLED with booths that let you test and get samples of art supplies, curriculum resources, books and posters that are heavily discounted, lesson plans are handed out and examples are shown. You could literally spend an entire day there, and some people do! Here's an example of someone trying out a technique of printing on wet paper using Shrinky Dink film as the plate:

I got some great project ideas for my JEWELRY CAMP this summer, this one using Crayola Model Magic:

Here is pic of the Sargent Art company's booth- convention attendees literally sit for hours making examples and playing with materials:

A company that sells potter's wheels does demonstrations- very cool:

The HIGHLIGHT of the trip from me was on Saturday, when I had the absolute pleasure of attending a Super Session featuring the famous painter, printmaker and photographer, Chuck Close who, together with Irving Sandler (who has played a vital role in the NY art scene as chronicler, commentator and education), discussed life, art and education. It was unreal. To be in the presence of such genius is just the neatest thing ever, and, as is the case with most famous artists I have encountered in my life, Close was humble and real... I think all 6,000 attendees had to have been there. He spoke to a packed house with standing room only:

 

Chuck Close is best known for his large-scale photorealist paintings and prints of people, and especially his technique of using a grid to reduce each square into the formal elements of design- you might recognize something like this self portrait???:

It was too hard to get a photo of him on the stage, but I sat with a great view of one of the large screens and got this shot of him. Don't you just love that outfit?!

Close has relied on a wheelchair since a 1988 spinal artery collapse... As he zipped down the aisle after his talk, I caught this blurry photo of him from just a few feet away. I was star-struck to say the least!

In addition to all of this amazingness going on, the NAEA convention is the ultimate place to network with colleagues. I saw art teachers and Art Office administrators that I worked with in Baltimore County Public Schools, a professor of mine from my art ed grad program at NYU as well as an NYU classmate who now teaches elementary art in Brooklyn, art teachers from Garrison Forest and Bryn Mawr here in Baltimore, a former colleague from the art department at St. David's School where I worked when I lived in NYC, as well as some amazing people I met at prior conferences. Needless to say, the last four days in the Big Apple was an experience I will never forget. I can't wait to incorporate some of the ideas and lessons into the art curriculum at Calvert, and I am feeling renewed, energized and excited to inspire my students in the months ahead!