Volunteering

Most Wednesday mornings now I'm volunteering in the art room of the day program of Penn Mar, an educational, vocational, and residential program for disabled adults. It is much like SHAPE on Saint Helena, except...bigger. And minus a banana grove among other sub-tropical things but mostly...the same.

The art room is a large, well lit space with big tables, a countertop with sink and a walk-in closet of ever changing supplies, mostly donated.

To help the full-time mentors, I've agreed to find and prep projects for two groups of 4-10 students each when I'm there. (Pinterest is my friend :-) Group sizes change as there is an importance placed on outings - which I think  is great - and any given day a number of people are out and about in the community going to the library, YMCA, shopping, lunch and so on.

At first I just really wanted to get to know people and let them get to know me. Now 6 months in, I have a better gauge of different people's abilities and weaknesses. So I've put some art concepts and words out there. "Monochrome" was a big hit even if it didn't end up being monochrome because who in the world would only want ONE color and black and white when you can have them ALL? (Some people made true monochromatic paintings that were fantastic...and of which I forgot to take photos.)

This blazing field of flowers is one of my favorite pieces produced so far. (I'm sure Van Gogh would have agreed.) I had suggested students use crayons for stems then dip their fingers in paint to make dots for flowers but John preferred to blend. And like most great art, his breaking of the rules makes this piece sing.

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Visiting spindleworks

I made a flying trip to one of my favorite places in the world at the beginning of the month. Maine never disappoints. We were fortunate to catch the leaves just starting to change color.

It was fortuitous that the most recent addition of ACC magazine with an article highlighting spindleworks - a progressive art center for disable adults in Brunswick arrived just a few weeks before the trip and I put it on the "places to stop" list.

spindle works shop

Although we got there too late in the day to meet with any artists,  the director was kind enough to give me a tour. I was so inspired but the quality and the volume of the work being produced. The have painting, sculpture, ceramic and weaving studios. They have a dark room, have started film/multi media production and even had their first fashion show this year. Its a truly impressive place.

paint studio

I hope to make an adventurous winter trip (winter in Maine?) in the next couple of months so my husband and I can spend a full day or two at spindleworks.  I feel certain there is a lot we can learn here to take with us on our next trip to volunteer with SHAPE in Saint Helena and I'm looking forward to meeting artists while they're working.

To learn more about how spindle works started (surprisingly it was with weaving) and how they work today, be sure to read this article on Disparate Minds.

weaving studio

We usually take at least one field trip towards the end of the school year, in truth, to save my sanity as we push through these last few weeks. Of course the kids gets something out of it too so its a "win-win".

This is the first time we've ever used the hand held "personal tour  guide" things. 

I'm glad our Baltimore Museum of Art trip had to be re-scheduled because of snow because the day we ended up there was gloriously spring-y and we ate our packed lunches in the sculpture garden amid a sea of daffodils. Ah yes, this was just the kind of day I needed!

I have always loved the mosaics of Antioch and the slanting spring light makes for the perfect experience in this gallery.

 

Leave more up to chance

I don't like everything planned out. In some areas of my life I have to plan - a lot. So by the time I get to the studio, frankly, these days, I don't feel like ticking off a checklist. 

I've been messing about with this method of working. Its relaxing. It feels a lot like how I played when I was a child - more concerned with the process than the outcome. (I posted about earrings I made this way a couple weeks ago.)

I start with a big marbled sheet of clay in colors that I like, or colors that I'd like to watch combine, and make repeated passes through the mill. 

This is how I start the beads for my Reef bracelets/necklace so I'm not going to end up with waste either way. I roll the sheet through, if the shapes created by chance are interesting, I cut them out using patterns and add additional abstract texture. Scraps are cut into disk beads for the Reef pieces. I doubt this makes me sound like a very good business person...but it is relaxing.

No two pieces end up a like. It is, perhaps, the antithesis of caning. 

My SALE and Mail offer is going on until the end of the month - details here!