Our second critique happened this week. Even though students were given an extra week at least three didn't have anything to show and one student didn't come at all. The students seem so blase about not having their work as well, no excuse made or anything...just, "oh I haven't done it." Wow things are easy for students these days, these are seniors too!!! Good luck in the real world telling your boss Oh I didn't do it. I have a hard time relating to this because I was never that kind of student. The class has a good balance of those who care, those who try, and those who are wasting their money and energy...making it a great learning curve for me. The critique went well for the most part. Kathy wanted me to run it...which she told me right before class. I was a little mentally unprepared for that. It worked out for the best with her leading it and me interjecting a bit more and asking the students some questions as well. Maybe for the next one I will be ready to lead it. The forum for critique is excellent, I think. It feels relaxed, leads to good discussion, commenting, with criticism that isn't too harsh.
Experiment with sculptural print. I am intrigued by the shadow from the pasta, the embossment pressing into the paper vs. the lines exploding out of the paper, and the more hidden element of the screenprinted white noodle lines. I am trying to convey energy without color....The lighting and photo could be better of course.....
I want to print this in neon so it will have an electricity feel to it. This one is about motion and the vibrating rhythms that make the world go round.
TA Week 10
Things were interesting this week in the lab. We were suppose to have a crit and only two students had finished their projects! I guess people took all of Spring Break off!!! The students must be way behind since they were suppose to have completed project 3 and be half way done with the 4th. We moved the crit to next week....It is understandable to have done this, since there are many technical difficulties involved with the process. Still...I didn't see too many of them around the lab working, hummmm. typical undergrad slacking. they better have some amazing prints next week! Instead we did a health and safety presentation, which could have been dry but Kathy's speed reading was entertaining!
Print Conference
As close to the arch as I got....there was no sight seeing on this trip, only printmaking!!! The conference was mainly at Washington University, which has a wonderful art department and sooo much space to work in, it was unreal! Events were held in the evening around the city, which I give the art scene there 2 thumbs up, so much going on!!! It was especially awesome to see so many local print shops and galleries supporting the print.
Local Letterpress Shop with amazing posters and cards.
Edible silkscreening in tortillas!!!
Work by street artist Swoon, who also gave an inspiring talk at the conference.
Pulp painting demo, what I want to do this summer.
TA week..8?
Losing count of the weeks! Today was actually our first critique of the semester. The first project was building the screens and the second project was doing the reduction method of screenprinting. I was impressed with the flow of the critique. It did not seem too long, which is amazing because they always seem too long. There was interesting input from almost the entire class, another amazing plus. Kathy has the students decide which piece to talk about first, her rule is that the artist waits to speak about the work until students have had time to comment and wonder about the piece. She also asks questions relative to the work for people to respond and to keep the conversation flowing. Then the student puts in their opinion/explanation and then that student picks the next piece to discuss. I have done critiques set up in this way where the students pick what to discuss. I think it is successful because if you are at the bottom at some point, the next project you will work much harder for success and a completed piece. It is kind of passive aggressive competition. I also had a great discussion after class about grading, her attendance policies, ect. I think Kathy is a wonderful mentor for me, I really enjoy her style of teaching and would want to have a similar approach and classroom atmosphere.
MId semester thoughts
I have enjoyed the guest professors coming to seminar class. It is great to hear an outside perspective and improves our discussions most of the time. Now that we have all had our first round in this critique style..... maybe we could change it up to include a written critique in the coming weeks, along with our normal discussion. The next round we could try another style....I think this would mix things up some and could help everyone.
In regards to my project, I have had a rush of ideas!!!!! With Danielle's advice to focus on a concept, I am going to further investigate making the plates from spaghetti.
Spaghetti Considerations:
The noodles come alive after they are boiled, they have a story to tell.
*cooked vs. uncooked......geometric vs. organic
*study of line, relation to etch-a-sketches
*pasta widths.....line weight
*Italy, experience of living in Florence
*embossment
*monoprinting and ink viscosity
*cursive wiriting
*Keith Harring
*Cermaic Tiles
*String Theory
*Brain Coral
*Throwing cooked pasta at plate
Other thoughts............
Icicle Freedom.
Come over inside read between the lines
punch the porcupine.
Wallow in the willow, polygon.
Where fantasy breath
reaches beyond time.
When the dew turns violet
Multiply half the hour,
Will all be revealed?
Mars wonders breathlessly around.
Gathering acetic molasses ashes while
burnished alloys follow frequencies unknown.
Drip apart with invisible movements.
Iota fragment fingerprint retains voltage.
Melted Shapes Reveal Grass Colored Dirt.
TA week 6
This week was another demo, this time reviewing the photo process...which is what every student can't wait to do. We also reviewed tons of prints from past students and discussed methods of mixing the photo process with reduction methods. I enjoyed looking at the examples and seeing the variety of imagery and expression screen printing offers. I am eager to see the students finished projects and their critique in two weeks. I will be doing the next demo in a few weeks, which will be great practice, I am not the best at speaking in front of lots of people.
New Prints
CThese images are not the best quality. I will post the poems and titles later. I am balancing the non-sensical improvisation writing styles with carefully crafted plates and it is a fun way of working. I have been writing a title, making a plate, and then writing more after the plate is made, it makes for interesing play on words and imagery. I am having a good time with this.
Octagon spaghetti, madness consumes.
Octagon spaghetti, madness consumes.
TA thoughts week 5
Today was a work day in class and it was pretty quite around the studio. I am trying to learn everyones name and get to know them more. The print shop is a fun place to hang out, I have always loved the social part of it. I am building confidence in answering questions, sometimes I have a slight panic feeling that I told them the wrong answer. I have already learned SO many little details this semester from monitoring the lab and interning in Kathy's class.
Plates
Collagraph plate made of cooked and uncooked spaghetti 
Considering a composition...
Test Print
TA thoughts week 4
We continued preparing the screens this week which included applying water tape to cover the stapled areas and coating the wooden frame with polyurethane to keep water from absorbing into the wood so they will dry quicker and not warp. Kathy also did the first printing demo of the semester. Everyone had one chance to practice with the squeegee. This demo seemed fast to me, but most of learning is through trial and error. I was thinking about how repetition is a large part of teaching, Kathy has this class back to back so I could see how doing a demo and the explanation can be sooo redundant, maybe this could be the reason for breezing through the demo. She said some days are worse than others, which is like anything you have to do. Also she mentioned changing the classes you teach every few years keeps things fresh and on your toes in certain disciplines, especially something so technical like printmaking. This class is quite different than my undergrad experience with screen printing, mainly because we started printing in the first week and made temporary "quick" stencils out of tape, paper, ect. just to get the feel for it. I find it strange that the first assignment isn't due until midterm. I am also unsure of the value of having students build these silkscreens, it takes up so much time in a class that is already only 1.5 credit hours. It is of course nice that students get to take the screen they make with them, but how many ever use it again?
Planning and Printing
Planning...
no silkscreen class this week!
This storm was seen from outer space!
TA thoughts of Week 1 and 2
I am interning with Kathy McGhee, my advisor from last semester, in the silkscreening class. The first week was an average first day of class where we introduced ourselves, read the syllabus, looked at slides, and assigned students screens. It is funny how most classes, no matter what they are about, begin at the same slow pace and follow these same guidelines. Students sometimes intentionally skip the first class, knowing it is kind of a wasted day. However reading through the syllabus and discussing materials with students is a must because the majority will lose the syllabus right away and be confused.
This week's class was the polar opposite, expanding energy that is. We jumped right into the first project, building a silkscreen in the woodshop. This seemed chaotic at first, especially because Kathy was rushing, everyone seemed to be rushing. It is a huge task to get twelve students cutting wood on one machine at a time, so the rush was necessary. I had never made a screen myself, so I was making one as well. I was in the role of a student, half guessing I was doing things correctly and trying to answer all the questions I was asked. I stayed calm, took my time, and helped the students before working on my own screen. Even though it was hectic the class managed to finish half of the project. Kathy has done this assignment so many times she has the timing, tools, and teaching, down perfectly...what a good mentor to have! I was amazed at the success of the students putting together a tedious project in three hours.
