Leaf Tray Project

I did not realize what a relatively large commitment it would be to do a clay project as my first art docent project of the year.  I thought... an hour in the classroom, a bit of time with the kiln when I could fit it in, done and done.

Then I went to meetings, and the full picture of what I'd gotten myself into came into sharp view.

First there was the training on how to work with clay (for those of us who hadn't done it in a while)
Next there was the writing of the lesson plan, because the docent program is so new that lessons for clay projects are not all written yet.
3rd -  another meeting on how to use the kiln and clay roller at the school.
4: Reserve an afternoon to roll out the clay slabs
5: Teach the lesson (including goofing, stumbling over my notes, looking up at the class and saying 'Yes, I speak well in front of crowds' and giving a double thumb's up before continuing)
 We pressed leaves into the clay slabs for texture, then cut the slabs to the shape of the styrofoam trays (unused - donated by the local grocery store's butcher section) press the clay into the tray for shape, round off the edges, cut out leaves from leftover clay and add them to the tray wherever you would like to... using texture tools to create pattern.

6:Make a couple of sample trays, so that we have an example and extra trays just in case something explodes in the kiln.
7: Wait 2 weeks for the clay to dry COMPLETELY
8: load the kiln for the bisque firing, and cross your fingers that you don't drop a student's project and nothing explodes in the kiln
9: Unload the kiln (potentially returning to the school several times to check and see if it has cooled enough to unload)

10: Glaze the projects with the class
11: Find a safe place to keep the trays and wait for the glaze to dry

12: glaze-fire the projects in the kiln, and cross your fingers that you don't drop a student's project, fuse projects to each other, the kiln walls, or the kiln shelves, and nothing in the kiln explodes.

13: Unload the kiln (this time stopping by the school to prop the lid open so it will cool faster)

14: Deliver projects back to the class in time for them to bring the trays home for Christmas

Done and Done.

What I found the most interesting was the variety of ways in which the kids added leaves to their platters.  Some were extremely symmetrical in their layouts, others went abstract.  The glazing was also a show of creative license where some covered the entire platter in one color while others chose to put color in very specific places.  Every platter was entirely unique and lovely and the kids really enjoyed their art time, which was wonderful to see.

If you're wondering why I haven't blogged in a while, this is partially to blame.  Well worth the effort I think, but lesson learned... next year the clay project will start in January when I'm not bombarded with all my Fall activities and holiday hoopla.

Halloween Highlights and Holiday Hopes

I have become so used to racing around to meetings or events or for work errands that I'm currently sitting at my desk, checking and re-checking my calendar, wondering why it is I'm here and not out there somewhere.

Clearly I'm forgetting a meeting or an important mail run or something.

My calendar disagrees... aside from the regular Thursday reminders, my day is simply a generic work day.  (It says something when sitting with an accounting program in front of you feels like a relaxing day)

The big school fundraiser went over pretty well, aside from Mother Nature deciding to dump waterfalls on us during the only portion that was scheduled to be outside (and ONLY during the time we were supposed to be outside)  Our photo booth ran steady from our early start time right up until the end - people seemed to really like the way we set it up.  Here is G in her Vampire costume at school.

This was the first time I shot with my soft box attached to the flash - I'm happy with how nice and even the lighting ended up (far better than a generic flash-on-camera blast) though I still need to work out the best set-up for photographing wiggly kids, as I discovered that trailing curtain sync mode does *not* stop motion on kindergartners hopped up on sugar. 

This Halloween was our quietest yet.  Between the home improvement projects and the work I did for the fundraiser, it took a bit of juggling to find time to carve pumpkins.  I finally just shoved the paint brushes aside, put on "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and got to work.

I went with a LOTR theme myself (is that any surprise?)

The EYE is always watching!

The carving was actually not difficult, and it ended up being very relaxing (though it took longer than one Halloween special to finish it)  I used our wood block carving tools to outline the eye and the pupil, then just kept digging veins out, criss-crossing and making some deeper and more defined.  Next I took the plastic pumpkin scraping spoon and raked it across the "white" of the eye to pop off what was left of the pumpkin skin, leaving the bits in the center so that it would be darker once it was lit up.  I painted the pupil black with acrylic paint so that it would be absolutely black, then I scraped the inside of the pumpkin thinner to make it brighter when lit.  This year I lit them with strands of battery operated white lights stuffed into a glass jar (no fire hazard that way, and more evenly lit) but those lights didn't even last the whole night so I don't recommend it.

This was the first year G wanted to try full face make-up for Halloween.  Once she was all done I just had to set up the backdrop and get a good picture.

I *love* the effect of the mask.

I dressed as Meditrina, Roman Goddess of Wine... hence the wine glass.

I attempted to put my hair into ringlets the way I always see it done in movies, but it seems that 20 years of being away from a curling iron made my skills a little rusty.

My days are slowly winding down as the month goes on.  The school fundraiser and all subsequent meetings are now done.  The art contest at the school is nearly complete - just a couple more hours dedicated to that next week and I can mark that off my list.  My only ongoing obligation to the school is to be the art docent for G's class.  This will involve trainings here and there, and a once-a-month appearance in front of the kiddos where I'll have to talk out loud and sound like I know what I'm doing.  (On top of the public speaking issue, we are also starting out with a clay project as our first lesson of the year.  Ambitious, right? Perhaps stupidly ambitious?)

Next week is a big one for me - art lesson and family birthday dinner in the beginning of the week, turn in art contest entries in the middle of the week, host G's friend birthday party at the end of the week.

I am grateful for the 3 day weekend... perhaps with the extra non-work day I may be able to pull myself together for one more big hulabaloo before the holidays strike.

My weekend starts tonight with a trip to Glazer's for their closing ceremony of their Holga portrait contest.  I have a lot of competition, so while my fingers are crossed... in reality I'm just looking forward to mingling with other photographers and picking up my copy of "Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity"

Faces in the trees

Glazers annual Holga Contest has come around again. 

This year they've changed things up a bit, narrowing down the contest to only one category, one entry per person.  This worries me a bit... I hope that scaling back this year's 9th annual Holga contest doesn't mean we won't see a 10th next year.  When I went to drop off my entry today, though, I noticed a massive display of various toy cameras (dianas, lomo, fuji, holgas... some with flashes, some with Polaroid backs)  so I'm hoping their passion for film at the store will continue to fuel this fun contest.

So the category this year is "Portrait" - not really my forte in the realm of shooting with my Holga, (most of my people-pictures are full length from a distance) but I did have this one shot I'm particularly fond of... wood carvings which were set on display on a banana leaf tree on the beach in Jamaica.

"Faces of Jamaica"

I matted my print on a basic black mat and dropped it off this afternoon.  I have no idea what kind of competition I'm up against this year, but my fingers are crossed.

Trailing...

Washington Trails Association is having their annual photography contest, and while I did not get up to the Olympics to hike this season (where I'd intended to attempt some spectacular landscapes for just such a contest occasion) our camping trips to Blake Island offered me some opportunities to haul out some limited gear and see what I could do.

The rules of the WTA contest are pretty strict - only one photo per category, must be shot on a Washington Trail - so my entry this year is limited to two shots.

Under the category "Flora/Fauna" I have the Fawn:

 

This baby deer could be found in the field adjacent to the hiking trail pretty much every morning.  Mom would drop him/her off and meander around near the campground while the little bugger munched away, largely ignoring the hikers passing not 30 feet away.  This was one in a series of shots I took using my "approach wildlife slowly" technique.  Once I spot a creature, I zoom in and do the best framing I can from where I'm at, meter the scene and get a few shots.  From there, I approach slowly, one step at a time, to try to improve the framing/cropping/angle as best I can without disturbing the animal - both to not bother the animal, and to not scare it away and ruin the shot for the people behind me.  This fawn was remarkably unconcerned with just about anything I did, and I was able to sit on the ground and scoot a few feet at a time, coming within 10 feet of it before I decided I might be pushing my luck.

(Side note:  when I sat with my camera in my lap, watching the fawn eat, I noticed quite a few hikers breezed right past me.  Any time I had my camera up to my face, however, they would pause to see what I was shooting, and only then notice the brave fawn standing in the middle of a wide open field.  You can miss some pretty amazing things if all you're doing is looking at the ground directly in front of your feet.)

Under the category "whimsical" I have entered this:

G on the Trail.  All in all I was generally unhappy with my inner-forest trail shots (they all looked so flat and lifeless) but this, at the entrance to the interpretive trail by Tillicum Village, was nicely lit.  G ran over to the informative post and said "Look!  I'm the little trail guy!" so we took a few minutes to try to pose her just like the sign.  Someone stuck a blue hat sticker and mustache on the little dude in the sign, and while we couldn't find a hat for G, at least the color happened to match her skirt.

I have little idea of my chances of being published with these for this contest, but they were fun to shoot and you never know unless you try.

Camping Blake

Things that I learned while boat camping on Blake Island last weekend...

Herons enjoy hanging out in marinas, and are somewhat not bothered by people walking by.

It is a chore to ferry the camping gear to shore, but you can't beat the view.

Our gear can fit in smaller campsites if we turn the tent backwards and leave the screened-in space folded down.

If you are going to camp in full sun, don't forget sunscreen.

Camping by the open water means there are little to no mosquitoes... but no matter how warm the day is, everything becomes damp overnight.

The lack of mosquitoes is entirely worth the dampness.

If you're camping in the summer sun, pack a buff or baseball hat, soak it in cold water and stick it on your head for instant air conditioning.

Morning fog makes coffee taste better.

Contrary to my phobia of water, I seriously enjoy rowing a small boat over calm surfaces.

Camping on a small island means no cars, but that does not necessarily equate to a peaceful campground on a Saturday night.

If a guy is wearing a lobster hat on his head and drinking his 5th beer in a half hour, just ignore him.  It's not your fault his attempt at joking no longer makes sense.

I can actually sleep even when my tent butts up against the next door neighbors as long as I have earplugs.

Foam earplugs are worth ten thousand times their weight in gold.

Camping on a small island means no bears, so you don't have to worry about your gear being torn apart.

Camping in a state park filled with raccoons means you do need to invest in good rubbermaid and bungee cords.

If you turn your back on the picnic table after sundown - even for a second - your leftovers will be stolen.

Raccoons apparently do not enjoy the taste of cell phones sitting on the picnic table next to the leftovers.

Bring bleach cleaner or handi-wipes... even if you pack the food away, you'll still wake up to little raccoon paw prints on your table.

Starfish like the same kind of bait that crabs do.

Crab tastes best when it is immediately fresh.

If you leave a bottle of red wine in a rubbermaid container in the sun, it will warm to the point where wine seeps out around the cork.

Drinking too much of the non-ruined red wine will make you feel dehydrated in the middle of the night, which really sucks when the nearest water involves a walk through raccoon infested campgrounds with a flashlight that burns out halfway there.

My daughter is gaining on me in height.

Take your food out of it's original packaging, put it all in ziploc bags, and pack it that way (double bag for meat in the cooler) - it reduces the amount of space it takes up in your containers, and reduces the amount of trash you have at the campsite.

If you decide to use coin operated showers, bring something to pad your feet... the mats in the showers are exceedingly painful to stand on after 3 minutes.

Don't forget a thermos travel mug for coffee, because a regular cup cools too quickly and doesn't fit in the camp chair cup holders.

If I don't have a mirror, I have no idea how badly I'm sunburned, so I go ahead and allow pictures to be taken of me.

Yes, as a matter of fact it is entirely worth it to haul 20+ pounds of camera gear on the boat.

Seagulls apparently do not like bald eagles.  Bald eagles apparently don't give a shit.

If you go to the bathroom, bring your camera... you never know who you'll come across on your journey.

Keep your camera set to the current lighting conditions, on the off chance that you catch a native fishing.

When you hear a lot of bird calls, look up... there is a reason for the noise.

Seeing large birds of prey flying still makes my heart skip a beat.

If a dream wakes you in the middle of the night on a full moon, get up and look outside - you might just see something that takes your breath away.