Greetings! For the past year plus we’ve all been working in a very unusual way. This situation has brought out the most creative ideas from people, especially artists and makers, who are accustomed to solving problems. One of the myriad benefits of working in the arts, with one’s hands and mind, is the ability to invent new ways of being in the world.
Not too many of us saw this pandemic coming but fortunately we have some cutting edge technology that has allowed us to remain active and focused in the best way possible. It may have taken some of us a bit longer to get up and running but with the advent of Zoom and FaceTime, etc, we were not down for too long.
Customarily I work in the public schools of NYC as a ceramic teaching artist through the 92Y. I also teach daytime adult ceramic classes the the 92Y. My students, both adult and children, were able to continue to express themselves, albeit it not with clay but developing ideas to use when we were able to get back in the studio. We drew, painted, sculpted and planned out designs. We used cardboard, foil, baker’s clay, food, collage, etc. Anything we could get our hands on.
Some of the projects introduced and made by the students included using Baker’s Clay. (aka play dough). Flour was at a premium early on and not everyone was able find some. Some of my younger students worried that such a frivolous use of this commodity would be considered a waste. We spoke about the benefits of creating art possibly outweighing the sense that the flour was being wasted. In addition to the Baker’s Clay recipe that was shared I also shared my friend, Gail’s superb Butter Cookie recipe.
Therefore we could sculpt and eat the results after documenting them photographically and “turning them in” to show they had made a project!
After being vaccinated I am now able to go back to the classrooms with young students and we are planning a garden in the yard at the school.
Here are some examples of student’s work both during the lockdown and presently:
