from Morija..

When Shari Densel and her collegues visited Morija I had little idea that their visit would sow the seeds of such inspiration. I have long believed that art is a language and that this language should be one that is able to join people living in far flung places in a profound communication. That this will be happening with students who are at the beggining of the long and extraordinary journey in the discovery of art is fitting and something really worth celebrating. My own sense as an artist is that I always yearn to return to that seminal moment when I first began making art; the first brushmark, the first smeared colour. The beginning of the journey.
Now we have seventy or so students from two vastly different continents about to discover that art making is a profound language and that these ideas are indeed more than just the rantings of a slightly dipsy art teacher.
As I am slightly ahead of Shari and her students as far as time tables go, I have been able to broach the subject with my group of students. The idea was met with some bemusement at first but soon the students began enthusiastically scribbling away at a random coollection or series of connections showing the beggining of their unfolding ideas of who exactly they see themselves as being. "Who am I?" will be followed eventually by "Where do I fit into the world?"
I am a relatively inexperienced blogger but as I get the hang of it I will include portraits in words and pictures and videos of each of the students. Hopefully as this happens, I will be able to take more and more of a back seat and the students, boisterous, noisy and full of life, will be able to take over. In the immortal words of Brancusi we will find here no great mysteries or hidden formulas but simply pure joy.
Thankyou Shari and thankyou to your collegues and from Morija, Lesotho I say: "Let us begin. Let us take the first steps, however tentative they seem."

Our Favorite Place - a 3-D postcard in clay

1/18/2012

My Favorite Place....3-Dimentional Clay “Postcards”
Tonight the student were introduced to their next project dealing with identity. For this project student selected a place that they felt happiest in, safe.... the perfect place for them. We briefly looks at the clay artist Szilvia Vihriälä, Michael Anthony Thomas as well as how clay jewelry artist dealt with this topic in their medium. Following our discussion students sketched up their ideas and started rolling out their clay bases.







Students in Lesotho and in the U.S. are really starting to get excited about being part of this International Art Program. We have finally found a way for our students to communicate. It is slow but the impact and the energy it is creating is simply amazing. I can not wait to share more as I we meet each week, I'll share our progress weekly as well.

Feb. 20, 2012

My Favorite place in 3-D. Construction is complete

Students in the U.S. as well as Lesotho have now finished the construction of their Ceramic sculpture that communicates their ideal place, one that they feel most comfortable at. We had many group discussions regarding this project. Through our discussions students began to make comments that showed they are beginning to understand how social, cultural, and political factors affect what artists or students in this case create. The students are discovering how much they have in common. Here are just a couple of the constructed sculptures with the student reflections:

“My favorite place and inspiration for this project is anywhere with my friends. My friends always cheer me up, except when they are mean to me. The picture is 2 people sitting on the ground and 2 people sitting on rocks.”

--Sidney :)

“My clay is a picture of me and my house in the far back. My house does not look like that, but because I am not a good sculpture I made a simple house. I feel safe in my house because it is where I have grown up my whole life. I feel secure there knowing that nothing can harm me or hurt me when I am protected.”

---Kitty

My favorite place is a tree I used to visit in Poland. It is a very big maple tree that I climbed when I was young. I feel safe by that tree because it is located in a forest near my old house. The forest is very peaceful and I would enjoy relaxing there. There are leaves on the ground around the tree because my favorite season is autumn. The tree looks beautiful in autumn with all of the colorful leaves around it. Since I enjoy nature the tree is the perfect place for me.

Another very gifted individual. Montsi is quiet and unassuming almost
to a fault but there is a piece that cries out to be cast!

Kao, our resident BASOTHO BOY. Can you feel the wind in his face?

Mantai, as always, dead serious. She seems to have modelled a grave? I
will get her to explain tomorrow..

Graffiti Art Project

Here are just a few for the final Art pieces that the students created early in the program.

U.S. Project #1 Graffiti Art
With this lesson my students will be able to demonstrate new skills and knowledge by…
1) Effectively identifying different graffiti styles.
2) Implementing learned styles used in graffiti art, and apply it to their own work.
3) How to express their identity through their graffiti tag design.



Our next step is for the students to finally make contact through Google Documents and Presentations. The school felt this would be a safe way for the students to freely communicate as they will now begin planning and designing projects together. Patrick and I will continue to up date this blog site as to the students progress and learning experiences.