Clay Monsters & Aliens

Hi everyone!

My after-school clay students outdid themselves with creativity and imagination on April 6th. I gave them two prototypes to work from: a Pointy-headed Alien and an Octo-Monster. As you’ll see, most went beyond my rather tame ideas.

Here are the prototypes I made for this class. Two pointy-headed aliens, one with a definite softer side, and two octo-monsters. Well, I suppose quadro-monsters would be more accurate. I tried to add some features that the students could adapt in their own unique ways. I provided sheets of varying kinds of eyes and some slices of clay in several designs.

Got pink!? The way I set up this particular project was to let them choose the colors they wanted. These are some of the younger artists and boy, did they gravitate to bright colors! The little gal who made the alien on the right came up to me specifically to tell me how she didn’t put a mouth on it. I love it.

I’m really proud of the gal who made the pink creature on the left. She has a heck of a time trying to meet her own artistic vision and has been very frustrated in these classes. What you can’t see is that this little creation has a beautiful blue two-part fin in back. He’s also wearing a hat and has sunglasses by its side. As far as I can tell, it was a perfect execution of an idea.

The blue starship has an equal amount of detailing underneath. It was hard to choose which side to show. The tall, leaning alien is colorful and squid-like and the octo-monster on the right is boldly different. It doesn’t hurt to remember they’re creating these objects while sharing tools and bumping elbows. There’s no quiet contemplation available in these sessions.

Aren’t these wild? The sweetly weird alien on the left reminds me of a Russian stacking doll while the blue octo-monster looks like something that could have come from a toy store. The engaging purple dragon was made with the same aluminum foil center as the pointy aliens, but the rest was entirely the artist’s personal vision. I’m very fond of the teeth on the green guy, as well as the little box with tongue. (No idea; better not to ask?) And the monster with the crown on the far right has two limbs in back that are detached and pools of green “blood” at the base. Yep. Imagination at its heady best.

Hope each of you are playing at something creative today and maybe pushing a boundary or two. We don’t want the kids to have all the fun.

Happy finger-painting! —Chris

Leaping Lizard Clay Play

Hey everyone!

They’re done! In less than an hour this after-school class managed to create seven sweet turtles, one lively frog and four very unique lizards.

Here are four of the turtles:

Aren’t they fun? Some of the little guys look like they’re about to duck back into their shells. The kids had slices from some spiral (jelly roll) clay canes to use as decorations. One little gal didn’t want to give up her new green friend, even to have it baked, which I thought was a sure sign of success.

Here are some of the other creations. The lizards came out very differently from each other, even though their artists were all at the same table. I love the addition of the red tongues. That’s purely their idea. Only one chose to make a frog. I think it’s caught something on the end of its sticky tongue. Very inventive!

Next week is spring break, but the following week the class will be You Can Make a Cat or Dog from Clay and the one after that is Make a Clay Monster Today! I’m very excited about the latter class. The trick is to make the prototypes varied enough so they get more ideas, but not so much that it spoils their creativity. I’m hoping for wild colors, multiple eyes and wacky appendages.

What are you hoping for?

Happy Spring Equinox everyone! Enjoy!
—Chris

Fall for St Croix Art

Hello again!

Saturday I went to Hudson, WI and not only visited The Phipps Center for the Arts, but also the Spirit of the St Croix Art Festival. It was a beautiful day for it.

The art festival was very entertaining. Lots of booths to look through, tasty, melty cheese curds, live music playing familiar favorites, trees just starting to turn yellow and red and the riverbank as a backdrop to the bandshell. It was a fun way to spend a fall afternoon. I even saw the unloading of a kiln, with children’s art getting a bit of a raku-glaze treatment. I love it when adult artists take the time to honor kids’ work. This potter fired all these small, very individualized bits of clay and then described to the adults how they could display the pieces, even those with cracks, to best effect.

At The Phipps Art Galleries I saw several cool exhibits. I was fascinated by Carol Warner’s series of copper vessels. Click on her name! Under the Metal Gallery, the first four sculptures are of her “Molten” series of which some are at the gallery. They’re tantalizing. (I wanted to touch them, which is often a problem for me. Hands in pockets, hands in pockets.) They’re also large. Many are the width of a traditional wok. A few of these are inspired by sea creatures. I liked “Branching Anemone” particularly; it looked more like glass on top. (If you haven’t had your quota of art envy and need to push yourself, check out her Fiber Gallery. She also appears to have mastered that medium in an equally confident way.)

"Gardening with Three Little Monsters," by Layl McDill

As most of you know, Layl McDill is my mentor through the Women’s Art Registry of MN (WARM). Here’s a photograph of a recent postcard of hers so you can see one of the pieces currently in The Phipps exhibit. It’s big, maybe three feet wide.  Two of the monsters are perched on the dragon’s tail while the third is neatly carried in a basket.

That’s the part I enjoy the most about her art. You discover gems whenever you take the time to look closely. If you don’t linger, you come away with a sense of color (bright), pattern (intense) and creativity (unexpected). But there is so much more! For example, the dragon has a star necklace and in the stem of the flower/tree are windows where little bees peer out while the base features a repeating hiker and hearts.

The image above is what The Phipps put on their postcard. I think it’s called “She Blew Away the Doldrums.”  At the top of this piece is a bridge-like structure. Ms McDill uses a similar construction in “Saving the Salamanders,” including a castle front with 3-D boulders.  In “Too Many Wigs Story Landscape,” there’s a monkey that actually swings from a tree and storyboards with cartoon illustrations.  The Phipps has displayed these pieces on the wall and on pedestals of differing heights in a way that both smaller and taller folk have plenty to see.

I also want to highlight Linda Deg Lee’s paintings which are acrylics on canvas.  She’s doing very organic-looking abstracts that remind me of cells in the body, neural networks and sea organisms.  Her work “Primordia” is a large, vertical piece in blues and greens.  Is it just me or does it remind you, too, of a spinal column?  A tentacle of an octopus?  A highway buzzing with cars?  So many references packed into one canvas.

The hardest part about The Phipps Art Gallery is that each exhibit only lasts a month!  I’ve missed more shows that way.  But it also keeps that space fresh and current and creates more opportunities for artists to show their work.  If you get a chance, before Oct. 24th, head to Hudson, WI and check out the art.  Don’t miss their galleries and stores on the main drag (Second St).  There’s a lot to see in this town.  Even the Hudson Hospital has healing art exhibits.  It’s a fun town to visit and now that it’s fall, the colors are one more reason to go.  Road trip!

—Chris