Year of the Dragon

year of the dragon

has me thinking about

section of mural I painted on hallway wall outside my classroom

detail of mural outside my classroom

mythical winged creatures

roaming the countryside

(or the hallways and filing cabinets)

have they all disappeared

 or did they leave progeny

wings and talons

breathing fire and smoke

villainous marauders

or benevolent protectors

this fellow has been living on my filing cabinet for several years

he was brought to life

in marker and gel pen

 on a napkin

when the napkin is opened

you can see ghost images

emerging in the remaining corners

I'm thinking it may be time

for a transformation

maybe from paper to fabric

perhaps as a ghost of himself

with only traces of his original color

 emerging from the fibers...

Here & Now

spontaneous

serendipitous

ephemeral

creativity

Art II

fun

with collage

Digital Storytelling

My Appalachian Arts & Culture students complete a research project of some sort in lieu of the Final Exam required by our local system. Each year I try to incorporate some sort of technology component in the project. Past projects have included audio, video, PowerPoint, etc. This year my students were asked to create a project that incorporated visuals and narration; they could also elect to include music. As always, appropriate documentation of any resources used was mandatory. Overall I was pleased with their work. Several of them were personally relevant to the student, focusing on topics related to their own or their family's history.  Some of them have issues with the relationship between the volume of the narration and the background music; those will need a bit of editing before being presented to the public. I have chosen three to upload to my blog. These videos were created using PhotoStory 3, a freeware that can be downloaded onto your PC. It is quite simple to use.

The first video documents the disappearance of a local community when TVA built Fontana Dam. As a result of the creation of Fontana Lake, the student's ancestors were dislocated and forced to move their home. The photos in this video come from the student's family.

Student Project--Natural Dyes

Senior Projects went on display this AM

I mentored one of my art students, Jordan

who chose to investigate natural dyes

Jordan's work is meticulous

and her time management makes me envious

we begun work in the summer

producing dye samples

she made color sample cards for each dye bath

her display included varigated indigo dipped yarn

and also included the basket she wove with walnut dyed reed

as well as a thrifted linen dress and muslin shibori scarf she dyed with indigo

other assorted products of her experimetation
include naturally dyed silk hankies,
and for contrast some dyed with Kool-Aid
with everything resting on an indigo shibori cloth
Jordan was such a pleasure to work with

and this project has been educational for both of us...

I learned quite a lot myself.

Magic Feathers Flying Away to Jude

our magic feathers are ready to fly off to jude...



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Location:School

Office Door

my office door

all images done by me except my name in Cherokee syllabury done by a former student

an evolving collection

demonstrations

instructing

inspiring

teaching

its what my job is about

its why my job is fun

Progress Report--Magic Feathers

busy working on feathers

applique and embroidery

needles in and out of fabric

sometimes into fingers as well

learning as they go

experience is the best teacher

One Down for Magic Feathers

finished my first feather Friday while the kids worked...



....closer detail...



...second feather in progress...brighter...different but similar...

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Ideas MadeVisible

today the kids were thinking in paper, marker, colored pencil...

watching thoughts become tangible is fascinating stuff....

some think very literally.....

some examine relationships....

others tell stories...

while a few examine their culture symbolically...

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Shibori Stitching into the Walnut Vat

pulled up the stitching today

and tied it tight

and into the walnut vat they go

now we wait

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Location:School

Bang-Up Project

We have a new project in the works with my Appalachian Arts students...quilted leaf-pounding wallhangings. Cotton muslin was mordanted with alum and hung to dry overnight before being pressed.

 

A walk around campus yielded a variety of leaf specimens...wild grape, sycamore, dandelion, willow, walnut...some I knew would do well, but others were experiments. We layered a newspaper pad, white paper, muslin, leaves, and waxed paper (bottom to top).

And then the fun, and the noise, began. This was their favorite part. But, thirteen hammers going in one room needed frequent time outs. Or maybe I just needed them.

The waxed paper let them see where they needed to pound. It was also possible to see which parts of the leaf hadn't been hammered because as it is pounded the leaf sticks to the wax paper and changes color

Sometimes you just have to take a peak at what is going on in there. Wow, there really is a leaf print on the cloth!

When it is finished there are little bits of leaf left on the fabric. Not to worry, after it dries they flake right off. If patience and care is used a very clear image of the leaf is made. Past success with grape leaves was easily repeated.

 

Walnut is such a good dye plant we felt it was a good candidate for pounding. We weren't disappointed.

Some dye books include references for dandelion root. We discovered that the leaves work pretty well to. After the poundings cure for a few days we will rinse, dry and heat set them. They will become center panels for quilted wall hangings.

The next part of this project involves creating some shibori fabrics using walnut and indigo, and overdyeing some stash fabric as well to use for patchwork borders around the leaf pounded panels.

Some of the students have done very basic stitching before......

But, for most of them this is their first time with needle and thread. It all looks so simple, but even stitching can be illusive. It's good that running stitches are easily removed. And then you just try again until you get it right. Just like life.

And then all goes on hold for pep rallies and football Fridays......

Class photo

Here is the least silly photo of the class with their baskets. Cameras bring out their clown nature!

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Over one under one...

Appalachian Arts well underway...still dyeing and this time using local black walnuts to color our basket weaving materials. We made small baskets, about four inches square, just the perfect size for candies. This was a first basket for all the kids. It was a bit of a challenge for me as I am battling carpal tunnel at the moment, but we managed nicely. Below is a sample of the first baskets completed. The remainder should be finished today. The baskets are resting on some of our indigo shibori dyed cotton. A good week so far....

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School, in Natural Color

Again this year I am mentoring a student's Senior Exit Project. Jordan, the young lady I am working with, is studying Natural Dyes. The week before school started we met in the classroom with a friend and fellow crafter, Cassie Dixon, to begin working on the physical product component of her project. Using hot plates and camping stoves, we did several dye pots, including cochineal, brazilwood, logwood, marigold, walnut, broom sedge, turmeric, annetto, osage orange, and indigo. She treated wool yarn samples from our homespun with various mordants before dyeing to see the effects they produced on color. Vinegar and ammonia after baths were also investigated. Jordan also dyed cotton, linen and silk in one of the dye baths to see the difference in how the fibers take the dye.

At the end of the first two days she had a nice collection of dye samples to include in her product. Jordan was excited with the results she got, and Cassie and I had a fun day working with a student who was both enthusiastic and eager to learn. I think we learned as well.

This week, Jordan helped me teach indigo dyeing to her classmates in my Appalachian Arts & Crafts class. Working in the courtyard that adjoins the room so we didn't ruin the newly waxed floors, we worked most of two class periods. Some students brought in cotton t-shirts to dye and others used cotton muslin I had on hand in the classroom. They used traditional tie dyeing techniques to create resist areas in their fabric. 

"Cool" and "Awesome" reactions to the magic of indigo oxidizing from green to blue were such fun. Jordan did a good job explaining the process to the remainder of the class; peer teaching is wonderful! 

Everything dried overnight, and the kids were really proud of their results (one student was absent for the photo).

This week Jordan is continuing to experiment with dyestuffs. She currently has coreopsis and goldenrod pots ready for fibers. On Friday we also put in some more walnuts brought in from another students trees, and on Monday we will be making a bloodroot dyebath as well. These will be used to dye reed for baskets.

Needless to say this is my favorite class.

I get to teach and learn alongside my kids.

School just doesn't get much better than this.