Clay at Wilson Elementary School

 This spring I visited Wilson Elementary School and led various "spring themed" clay projects with every class. Each grade worked on a different clay project listed and pictured below. The students had a blast and learned some fun clay building techniques and skills.

Kindergarten: We talked about things that make up think of spring and learned how to make some bugs, butterflies and worms out of clay. Students made a platform and attached their critters to it. The clay was painted with glaze and students got to decorate a background for their "spring scenes" with oil pastels and watercolor paint.

First Grade: Students decorated clay slabs with flowers, butterflies, trees and more to create wall hanging plaques. Once glazed and fired, students strung string and beads on the wall plaques. 

2nd Grade: Students took the hanging plaques one step further by creating wall pockets/ vases. They also made tissue paper flowers to put in their wall pockets. 

3rd Grade: Students learned the technique of making pinch pots, then transformed them into fairy/ bug houses for the garden. There were some very elaborate designs with windows, chimneys, stepping stones and bridges! 

4th grade: Students made coil and pebble bowls, mugs and clay baskets of their own design. 

5th Grade: Students learned coil building and made water tight vases, bowls, mugs and more! 

It was such a joy teaching at Wilson!  The projects turned out wonderfully diverse and students really put a lot of thought and skill into creating them. They were also very patient during the long wait for finished work as work was transported and fired off site at the Corvallis Arts Center. Many thanks to teachers and parent volunteers for the help loading and unloading work and help in the classrooms during the project! Have a wonderful summer everyone!

"Insects of South Corvallis" Cornerstone Neighborhood Project

Charles Goodrich's Poetry Book
"The Insects of South Corvallis"
and clay materials 

This month I am working with associates at Cornerstone to create sculptural clay art works based on the poetry of Charles Goodrich, a local South Corvallis poet. Cornerstone's mission is to create meaningful community involvement for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A culminating event will occur on Thursday April 16th 7:00pm @Taylor Street Ovens 1025 Northwest 9th Street, where all are invited to attend a free public reading and exhibit of works created during the project. - Insects of South Corvallis is funded in part by Benton County Cultural Coalition and is a part of inVISIBLE a nano festival celebrating inclusion in the arts: http://outpost1000.weebly.com/invisible.html. I will be working with performing artist Kaitlyn Witting Menguc who will be putting together a performance based art project based on interactions with Cornerstone Associates during the project.








Here is a brief description of the event at Taylor Street: "This art exhibit/ community reading presents material created during an intensive artist residency which paired a ceramicist and an artist with participants of Cornerstone Associates, Community Access Program and references poems found in Charles Goodrich's collection 'The Insects of South Corvallis'."

An observation from Kaitlyn, summing up the first day… "I was struck by how silent the room became when I was reading poetry or when most individuals were focused on drawing or sculpting. I had the opportunity to also read poems to individual associates while they were working and the response was positive. I know that some participants are looking forward to our return on Friday and I see that as a big success. There were also associates who did not seem to want to participate at the beginning of class who ended up joining us at the table and making some work. That was a really great thing to see!"

The artwork that resulted from this project was fantastic! I also strongly feel that it's all about the process rather than product. I really felt that to be true especially for this class. Many associates seemed so happy simply creating and when they were done we took the finished piece and brought another fresh piece of clay. Clay as a medium seemed to really grab their attention whether they were working with a single piece of clay the whole class or turning out sculpture after sculpture. The versatility of the clay, the smell, the feel; it all seems to have such a therapeutic effect. Everyone who participated made at least one sculpture and many associates were very prolific in their art making. After the fourth class, and with one more to go, I have seen so much progress in terms of individuals participation and excitement about the project! Several associates who had been fairly quiet in past sessions were very enthusiastic about their artwork and excited to bring it home!

During the last class we did some colorful collaging inspired by butterfly wings. Though this part of the project was almost 1 month after the initial clay portion of the project, associates remembered us and there were ear to ear smiles and lots of laughs! I feel really great about the project and I think the associates really benefited from the exposure to different art mediums and poetry. I am looking forward to the event on April 16th!

I mounted the tiles on a frame that I built and this will be hung at Taylor Street Ovens for the event and potentially permanently!

 Some of the finished collages! Loved seeing so much color on the table!

Click here to read an article in the Advocate about the project!

Action Packed Still Life!

 This weekend I taught a drawing lesson at a "Drink and Draw" hosted by 2Towns Ciderhouse. Adults 21 and up gathered in the beautiful Barrel Room with it's gigantic Lord of the Rings door, mood lighting and relaxed feel. The theme was "Still Life" but I wanted something fun so I posed some classic action figures and dinosaurs with the fruit for an "Action Packed Still Life". Lots of folks turned up for the event, all with different levels of confidence about their drawing skills. I gave a brief overview about getting started; figuring out the composition of the drawing, blocking in objects, determining a standard of measurement and building up the drawing. Once everyone got started I bounced around the room and checked in with people offering drawing tips and motivation. It was a fun group of people and the drawings were totally fantastic! See for yourself!

Medieval Madness!

Last week was my first week back from maternity leave teaching classes at the Corvallis Arts Center for a 2 Day no-school camp. The theme was Medieval Madness and we designed and sculpted clay dragons and unicorns. Here are some of the wonderful and creative sculptures students made!

Entering into the Bliss

This Autumn I will be having my second child and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to take a maternity leave this Fall term to focus on my own pottery and spend more time with my family before new baby comes. As busy as I am with a 2 year old, I have been making my work into habit (thank you nap time!) and been very productive getting ready for the Fall Festival as well as the South Corvallis Art Walk. There is a real freedom in allowing myself to simply be an artist through motherhood and I see this as such an important time in my life. My clay work has helped me maintain my individuality and identity during a time where caring for my family has been such a huge part of my life. It's easy to get lost in laundry and dishes and lose sight of the things that make you uniquely you as you transition not motherhood. I am so grateful for my home studio that is accessible and welcoming any time I feel the creative urge as well as supportive family who respects me as an artist.  My hope is to build up an inventory before baby comes that will allow me to take advantage of opportunities to show/ sell my work in 2015. I am not sure when I will be entering the teaching world again, however, feel free to contact me after the new year as I am happy to consider teaching private lessons and small groups at my home studio until I am ready to offer classes again out in the community. 

Puppets!!

 During puppet week at the Corvallis Arts Center students worked with myself and teaching artist Chris Neely to create a fabulous puppet show from scratch. Students created rod puppets, finger puppets, masks, and created props and backdrops. The result was a fabulous puppet show!

Trillium Family Services CFH Project 2014

Details of some of the tiles before installation

 I just completed a tile project at the Children's Farm Home that has been in the works since the beginning of 2014. The intention of the project was to create a tile mural to be displayed at the Farm Home showing both images that represent the history of the farm home as well as the farm home today. Farm home residents helped to design the layout of the project and even designed and hand drew many of the images. I gathered some old historical photographs of the farm home and printed them for us to use. The process of making the tiles was in a classroom setting. Residents were taught the basics of making tiles from scratch, hand carving them and using a process called "mishima" or slip inlay to add the black outline of the drawing. We decided to keep the mural black and white so that the details of the drawings would stand out and to keep the tiles more consistent. Project organizer Martha Shimeall and myself then arranged the tiles and adhered them to a board, grouted them in and the facilities team built a frame for the mural out of recycled wood from the floor boards from one of the farm home's old buildings. I painted the frame and added text around the frame that represents the seven commitments of a Trauma Informed Care Model that is being implemented through the agency right now.

Non- violence
Emotional Intelligence
Social Learning
Open Communication
Social Responsibility
Democracy
Growth and Change

Finished Project complete with frame and mounted overlooking the gardens

The tile mural now hangs outside overlooking the garden behind the old school historic building in a public area used by visiting families, residents, staff and visitors. This project was funded through a grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust and the Benton County Cultural Coalition.

Diana Ryan adhering the tiles to mounting board