trust me to forget.....day 11!

The workshop is over....I woke up Wednesday morning, went for my morning run, though my throat was feeling a bit weird! As the day wore on, and I prepared for the last day of the workshop, I began to feel ill. By the time I got there I was very snuffly but kept on going.

So, everyone showed up more or less on time....chatted, greeted then, we tidied up, then sat down and reviewed what had been accomplished over the last couple weeks. Later, we unpacked the kiln and carried all the pieces up to the room where the closing ceremony would be held. Everyone was very chatty but I had all chip in to do something. Ms. Christopher had organised two talk sessions for them at The Ministry of Gender Affairs, which was located nearby so they left to attend those sessions. I created a display with everyone's artwork and the pottery pieces. Once I was finished, I headed over there to join them. The talks were very interesting....one on HIV and the other on behavior. Very interactive and informative sessions.

After lunch we went back to the Crafthouse for the closing session. The girls and guys were very excited. They sat in front of their pieces in the small conference room...a couple parents and friends showed up....actually Erica came with her friends from since early in the day. Ms Christopher gave a moving speech, followed by me, with a an off the top overview of the past couple weeks...I can talk alot when I am passionate. Then we had the distribution of certificates. The representative for the sponsors didn't show up but that didn't matter...it was just as impressive a closing as if it were held at an hotel.

As the session wrapped up and they wrapped up their pieces, I realized that I forgot to take photos. I quickly took some photos of the pieces I made.

I am going to miss teaching this group of young people....Kelvina, Erica, Delton, Eleisa and Earletta! Tylah, Kian, Crystal, Justina, Christiana! Zulieka(Sue-Sue), Tekelia and of course the not to be forgotten Tatianna! Yes...I know all the names now, after two weeks! My daughters Stara and Kande attended the last few days....Stara loves Tatianna, and Kande, whose girlfriend Crystal, was in attendance at the workshop, always loves adding to her long list of friends. It was fun and I am thankful for this great oppportunity I had this summer.

day 10.....almost done!

The Kiln was open, but very hot when I arrived at the Craft House this morning. Some of the girls said they were not happy with the colours they were seeing after the firing. When I peeped into the kiln the pieces blazed bright and pretty in the kiln. I put on gloves and started unpacking with the assistance of some of the young people who were there. As I unpacked I placed the pieces in cardboard boxes which were then moved to the workroom. Once the kiln was totally unpacked, everyone took their pieces, the bisque pieces which now had to glazed...they took a few moments to criticize the glazed pieces which we had just removed from the kiln.

I decided to divide up the glaze colours on plates so that everyone would have a chance to work with a variety of colours so as to bring interest to their pieces. Some students used their creativity and played with the colours on their pieces but others stuck to one or two colours. I know working with colours on pottery tend to create fear so I totally understand. We had to work efficiently because I needed to repack the kiln by midday. Ms Street joined us at some point...she bropught along her friend who is also an art teacher on the island. Since this is the last week before school opens, I brought along both my daughters....Stara was very enthusiastic about painting so I gave her a pot I made along with one glaze colour and a brush....this kept her very happy. My older daughter was in her comfort zone since a number of her friends were in attendance....one of them a boy named Kieon, who joined the class last week and is constantly going off by himself and hardly ever does any work. They met at football camp earlier in the summer, so finally he has someone whom he can call his 'dawg!" Yesterday, he told me he didn't want to get dirty. He also gets a lot of heckling from the girls, who thinks he is unfriendly and depressed. Today, at some point a fight almost broke out between him and Eleisa....but then again, he seems to rub all th girls the wrong way...I think he is more interested in one girl in particular...he actually commented on her breasts! I think I have had to scold too many times.

Anyway we are almost done and with lots of encouragement, we were able to complete glazing the pieces and had the kiln packed by 12.30pm!

day 9...being a tough cookie

This is crunch time.....I got to the craft house on time. The plan was to have the participants complete the glazing of pieces so that we could pack the kiln. I knew that I would have to do a bisque(firing of green-ware or the first firing of clay pieces) and a glaze firing together. I had those who had arrived early to put all the green-ware pieces outside and we began the packing of the kiln. All the green-ware pieces were stacked on the bottom shelves of the kiln. Those who had glazing to do I had them complete it. I notices that quite a number of pieces had not been glazed on the inside, so that had to be done. I places all the glazed pieces a the top of the kiln....I then called everyone to the kiln room and explained about the firing process. At 10.30am I started the kiln and put it to fire for 13 hours. Over the course of the morning I kept turning up the switches as recommended.

We then turned our attention to creating pure contour drawings then contour drawings of the yellow-bell flower...mostly they are not grasping the concept and are rushing ahead without really looking and drawing just what the eye sees. We also practiced using the phones which some students had in their possession.

After this exercise I gave every child a piece of clay to wedge and shape and shape into ball so that we could practice the wheel. I decided I wouldn't get involved in the pieces they created on the wheel, so I sat in front of the wheel, acing like a real teach. Everyone tried but there is still a distance t go, the wheel isnt easy...there attemps were very good...Three (3) persons were successful in completing a pieceby the end of the day.....Erica, Kelvina and Delton!

Lunch arrived on time....

Nursing a terrible headache I headed out to Frigate Bay to meet someone and then took a dip in the sea before heading back to mi casa....lol!

the workshop is in full swing....day 7 and 8

I am tres exhausted.....teaching pottery saps ones energy. There are times I feel totally at peace while teaching, but at other times it is exhausting. How do I impart information so as to get through to the participants. Some are experiencing, for just a moment how to center a lump of clay on the wheel. It is a quick moment, but it's difficult to recognize. Learning the wheel takes time!

I have given projects which has allowed them to practice the various handbuilding techniques. Making bird, building houses proved to be good creative projects once again. They spent time cleaning and refining the pieces. I stressed the need for pieces to look like they can be bought by the person who made them.

Today, day 8, they got to play with colour....glazing the pieces which had been fired. They also got to take turns on the wheel again. I have each partcipant practice with 1 ball of clay....it may or not survive to completion.

day 6...they're getting there

My challenge today was really getting the girls and the two boys who were in attendance to find that place within them to work quietly. Mostly they know each other and from time to time they will talk about other activities which they would have participated in. It can get a bit noisy and getting them to work quietly is a challenge.

The day started on the potter's wheel. I showed everyone present how to turn the bottom of the pieces which are thrown on the wheel. I had made two pieces the day before so I was able to use those as examples. Turning the bottom of the pieces has to be done at this leather -hard stage of the drying process.

For the benefit of the one of the students who was absent yesterday, and also a male student, I made another piece on the wheel. We already had balls of clay prepared for practice on the wheel. My strategy was to have them all make a piece of handmade pottery that wasn't to demanding yet would give them much needed practice. I showed them how to make a bird from clay.

Since we had only one wheel to work with, I would call each participant, one after the other to spend time with me learning the wheel. Some are beginning to grasp the concept and really get a feel for using this method to create. By the end of each session I attempted to save the pieces....a technique used by the man (Mervelle Martinez) who trained me in Dominica in 1994. My hope is they will be encouraged to continue. I worked all morning barely taking a break today. Ms. Street joined us since she also wanted to grasp the concept of the wheel. She also assisted me with some clay I was in the process of recycling. I really want the participants to grasp that part too....that the clay which isn't used properly can be recycled!

I forgot to take photos of the birdies....but they all did good! Also, everyone now has a piece of pottery which was thrown on the wheel.

Day 5....time to get on the potter's wheel

The day started out very rainy and I really hoped the weather would hold up by the time I got to The Crafthouse....and it did.

The usual early crew were already there including Miss Erica....a tiny twelve year old girl who has a bundle of energy, but is very enthusiastic....maybe overly so, was already working on the mask she had created the day before....much to my chagrin, she was handling the piece way to much and though I cautioned her against that she was adamant....so....it BROKE! I was a bit upset since this meant she would either have to forego making that piece or remake one. I chose to allow her to do the latter but did tell her she needs to wait and listen a bit more. I must say I do admire the fact that she comes prepared....she did the research I asked them to do. One day she came prepared with designs to place on her pots and today she had the newspapers which Ms. Christoper asked them to walk with....but like I said early....a bundle of energy and much to chatty for her size and age...(yep she stands up to the bigger girls)!

The first task of the day was to refine, shape and smooth out the face they had created the day before. The three girls who were absent before were brought up to scratch, meaning I gave them a quick overview of what we had done the day before. They had to draw a face and then create in clay. While Erica, Crystal, Christiana and Jamila(not sure) worked on making the faced I showed the others the potter's wheel.

I decided we would use white clay for the introduction to the wheel. I cut up the clay and gave each participant a block of clay to wedge. Then they each formed 3 balls of clay. I had everyone look at me as I went through the whole process of making a piece of pottery on the wheel. Each participant got an opportunity to attempt to make a piece of pottery on the wheel. By the end of the afternoon, the only male in the class to date, Delton(finally got the name right) was able to produce a bowl-like shape. Since there was only one wheel available, those who had already attempted were encouraged to use the remaining clay to make an imaginative piece. At the end of the session I put all unused clay in a bowl of water to recycle for later use.

There were eleven young persons in today...One girl....Eleisa was missing...I hope she'll be back tomorrow.

Learning the wheel will take practice so I encouraged the girls to do some hand exercises, and to visit you-tube to view videos of potters making pottery on the wheel. More practice tomorrow.

Monday morning....it's day 4 of the pottery workshop

Monday morning, after a very stormy weekend, dawned bright and beautiful. I got to the The Crafthouse on time at 9am to find Erica and Tatiana already there. I must mention that the sea was still quite rough and the strong breeze and sea-scent was quite invigoration. We didn't have to wait long before we were joined by Tequila and Delvin(not sure if I have all the names right yet but I am trying...I am remembering Kelvina's name now )... Others trooped in little by little! All except the three fashion-sistas (Crystal and the two sisters) from Shadwell were present by 10.30am. We were also joined by Ms. Street, an art teacher at Immaculate Conception Catholic School.

We started the day by working on the pieces that had made last Friday. I showed them techniques for using a variety of clean-up tools. Some tools are more comfortable to use than others, so they needed to find which worked best in their hands.

After that exercise, I invited them to grab their sketch pads, pencils, and chairs and head outside. I had decided to show the, how to draw a face using construction lines to create the a map so as to guide them to where every facial feature could be placed in correct proportion to each other! The usual barrier to drawing again appeared..."I can't do that".... but for those who paid attention and followed the instructions, I had very little changes to make to the drawings. The exercise again proved very valuable and they all had an interesting face to show for their hard work....this was a great entry for the piece they would create later.

After a quick mid-morning break we went back inside the studio and I showed them how they could use the same technique to create a face in clay. I did a piece, going through it step by step....I had given each participant a good sized piece of clay and at times let them work along with me....So first the wedging of the clay....then it had to be 'slammed gently' on the table, over and over to create a large slab. A face shape was then drawn very lightly on the clay, then all construction lines for the parts of the face were put in....balls and coils of clay was then added....then came the attaching and sculpting of the faces. The participants ended up produced some beautiful and creative pieces.

At the end of the day, they were encouraged to tidy up the space before leaving and secure the scraps of clay for recycling.

Day 3....pottery workshop

The third day of the pottery workshop saw an increase in the number of attendees. By the end of the session there were eleven participants, including one boy. Teaching the newbies meant of course that I had to go through the techniques I had taught over the past two days....no problem...great for those who were there from day one...i.e. if they are paying attention.

I decided to start the session with having them draw a landscape from there memory....I did a quick drawing of my own somewhat childhood drawing of a landscape. That exercise was very interesting. I also gave them colored pencils so that they can begin to get comfortable with the use of color on their drawings. At the end of the exercise, I told them about my drawing and also looked at what I felt and why I think I put certain design elements came out in the drawing. I then allowed them to tell me, one by one, about the piece they created. They were shy and most were comfortable with a brief explanation....I then told them what I saw. I was in fact amazed at how much I was able to see and they too didn't realize that they were able to create and tell so much about themselves and their home through a drawing. This exercise proved that we can all tap that creative person that dwells within.

After the drawing exercise we had a snack break. For the rest of the mornings session, I showed the participants how to clean and smooth out the pieces they had made on previous days. The pieces were at the leather-hard stage which was ideal for scraping and cleaning the pieces. Of course some wanted to do their own thing and just use water to smooth out the piece....one of them ended up burnishing rather than scrapping......to burnish a piece, is to smooth it using a tool and a movement along the pot, to seal the surface thus producing a high shine! This particular participant did that without knowing that this was actually a technique. A good discovery for her. While they all worked on their pieces, I went through the techniques of clay preparation, wedging, making a pinch pot and addition of coils to grow the piece. One of the new girls, Tatianna,(I am learning the names now) a very vocal young lady, decided since she couldn't grasp the concept, went ahead and used a rolling pin and made a Japanese vase. At the time, I was helping some other girls (the boy is very quiet and works well, while the girls chat about every thing) when suddenly I heard Tatianna praise herself for creating a piece. I looked up and saw a crudely done Japanese vase, which I am sure she had no idea about. I asked her how she achieved that and she told me. This young lady had jumped ahead of me and gone on to do the slab technique without being taught. Since this wasn't my next planned activity there wasn't enough rolling pins. I had planned the production of another piece of pottery but decided to showed them a technique for creating a slab without the use of a rolling pin, instead. I then showed them that again, you have to score when attaching pieces of clay. By the end of the class, they all had variations of the vase, using the slab technique! I told Miss Tatianna to take clay home and return with the pieces she was supposed to make using the pinch and coil methods...lol!

Lunch arrived just as we were cleaning up....thus ended another day....thank God it was Friday!

pottery workshop day 2

Twas a nice hot and sunny day today, so I expected all the members of this group of young people to take advantage of the opportunity they were being offered, and attend the workshop in there numbers. As it turned out by the end of the session there were nine young ladies in attendance. I went over some of the activities from yesterday with the newbies....drawing exercises, history of pottery and pinch and coil method of pottery. The girls from the previous day were already immersed and almost completed, their drawing exercises by the time the new girls arrived at around 10.15am. I gave the new girls the previous day's activities while the other girls went on to complete pieces made the previous day. By the end of the session, the new girls with the exception of one, had caught up in terms of number of pieces made because I decided to work on two pieces at a time....in that way got got to get immediate practice on creating a pinch pot then using coils of clay to grow a pot and create a shape. Some weren't as happy as others, but for those who were boastful I cautioned them, that until the pieces survives the firing don't wast time boasting about their accomplishment. Pottery making is very humbling and they are already beginning to experience that.

teaching pottery again

For a couple months now this lady had been trying to talk me into running a pottery workshop for the young people in her group. Honestly, I didn't know much about the group and I didn't ask. I only knew that she had asked me before and after I submitted a budget there was some mind change. So this time around, taking time out my schedule to prepare a budget again seemed like a chore. I was also in recovery so I didn't want to overtax myself. If I was really honest, I would realize that I just didnt want to change my routine to accommodate teaching! One day, out of the blue, I started responding to an email she sent and the budget just came to me.....it just simply flowed! It's like my spirit said, you have done this before, you know what to do so just do it!

The workshop started today, and the young ladies who showed up today, despite the rain were quite enthusiastic about learning this new skill. I felt good and it felt great, imparting my knowledge of the craft to these young people. Teaching can be exhausting and it requires patience, but because it is creative everyone benefits including me! Today I taught a brief history of pottery, techniques in drawing which allows a person to see, as an artist does....to tap into their creative side...they were amazed at the drawing they produced, but the rushed through an exercise which was really meant to show them that will happen to the mind when it properly applied. I showed clay preparation (wedging the clay), pinch pot and coil methods.....quite a challenge but we kept practicing until..... By the end of the session all the particpants had created a cylindrical or bowl-like shape utilizing both methods. They will continue work on these pieces tomorrow!