Been awhile. Since my last entry I have completed two Artsteach grants and am working on a third with Villa Heights Elementary in Charlotte, N.C.. This latest project has the 3rd through 5th graders creating a hanging mural for the front lobby of the school with my help. It will be an abstract creation using North Carolina and community as the basis. I'll attach pictures when we are finished. The other two projects involved mural making with another elementary school and solar plate mixed media etching with a high school. I really enjoy this type of teaching. The students are a delight to work with and I can concentrate on one project at a time rather that four to six a day as a regular art teacher and best of all... I don't have to grade them.
Since the grant projects don't take up a full 40 hour schedule (another perk), I can spend time on my own work. I working on some new monoprint mixed media pieces in the "Pillars and Pedestal" series (see earlier blog entries). I probably wouldn't be still involved with this genre but Haen Gallery in Asheville, N.C. is interested in showing my work in this series but wants some fresh pieces. Since most of the original pieces have sold, this is not a problem. The show is scheduled for the end of April and I hope to be finished with 10 to 12 new pieces by mid March. This may be wishful thinking but what the heck... I can dream. The new pieces are more abstract and less cluttered. The statements are more embedded and the printing process is monoprint and gum arabic transfer. I have attached images for you to see. What do you think?
