NEWSFLASH from the Art Studios!
To cap off the end of the first trimester, Upper School ceramics students completed an ambitious pottery project involving traditional decorating and firing techniques inspired by the work of Magdalene Odundo. Clay pieces were burnished with terra sigillata and given an iron wash before being fired in saggars in an outdoor pit firing kiln which the students built by hand. Using bricks, wood pieces, and sawdust students assembled the pit, inserted their pieces, and lit the interior on fire before covering the top to preserve the high temperature and to produce smoke. The kiln burned for 24 hours before the final artworks were removed.
In other Arts Block news, Mr. Knoll’s Drawing students received a special visit from artist Valaire Van Slyck last week. The Detroit native paints urban scenes using auto-motive paints, acrylic, confetti, and glitter among other mixed media. Students were treated to individual conversations and critiques from Valaire as they worked on their graphic novel projects.
Teaching artists Ben Evans and Max Spitzer have stepped in to offer new media and experiences for our K-6 students! Kindergarten through Fourth Grade students are working with Mr. Evans this winter for an in-depth trimester of pinching, pounding, and hand-building with clay in the Ceramics Studio. Meanwhile, Mr. Spitzer takes charge of the Fifth and Sixth Grade classes as they delve into a term packed with drawing and painting projects. Great things are bound to emerge with this dynamic duo at the helm!
Students become cowboys and cowgirls as part of BCD’s contribution to the Berkshire Museum’s 2015 Festival of Trees. Fully embracing the theme “Westward Ho, Ho, Ho” in conjunction with the museum’s current exhibits, “Greatest Photographs of the American West” and “Go West“, Lower and Middle School students posed for photos which were then cut and pasted into authentic images of old west characters. Real and fictional, from Annie Oakley to Clint Eastwood, students embodied sharp shooters, outlaws, deputies, and lawmen. The images were printed in sepia tone, mounted on burlap, and hung on the tree with handwritten quotes from these characters along with other rustic, copper decorations. Click HERE to read more about BCD’s tree and the Festival of Trees in the Berkshire Eagle!
