Jewelry I students have been hard at work on their sawn pendant this week. Each student developed a personal design, glued the image to metal, and then used a jeweler's saw to cut around the shape. It seems simple enough, but the saw blades are very fragile, and students need to master loading (getting the teeth in the right direction and at the right tension), body position (soft grip and wrist, room to move), and technique (straight up and down, waxed blade, slow pivoting of metal, light pressure). The next step for students is to file the saw marks off the edges and add a bevel. Ask your child about what they are making, and about the Plain, Twist and Texture Bands that they recently turned in. Here are some recent student samples:
Ceramics I students just finished profiling a contemporary ceramic artist. Students investigated the artists background, collecting biographical information, explained how they create their work after exploring the artist's techniques in magazines articles, pictures and videos, and then chose one piece by the artist to critique. The student's websites are titled with the start of their E.O. email (last name first initial year of graduation), then .weebly.com. For instance for me, it would be bunnellh96.weebly.com. You can see the assignment and support materials the student received at http://bunnellonodundo.weebly.com/, and check out your child's website. You can email me at [email protected] if you have any trouble figuring out the url. Here's a student sample: http://geisserte17.weebly.com/
Ceramics II students are making great strides with their 8" or bust project. After a class discussion, we chose to amend the typical project so that students could individualize the project to her interest while still meeting the skills that need to be developed. The criteria for this project are to throw a cylinder that is at least 8" tall, and to combine 3 or more parts to create finished teapots, pitchers or vases. Students also found and shared a pottery tutorial video, and compiled all images of their work to date on Pinterest and their Weebly Blog in preparation for their Mid-Term reflection this week. You can find the mid term assignment here. Here are some current shots of what students have been making: