Bradley Beach Elementary

Bradley Elementary School in Bradley Beach NJ is the location of my latest A.I.E. residency. It is a  beautiful little school located on the Jersey shore, just south of Asbury Park. This area was heavily damaged by hurricane Sandy, but seems to be in full rebound mode. I am working with art teacher Jennifer DiZefalo, and a core group of 8th grade students to create clay pots modeled after classic Pre Columbian/ Mayan pottery. As a young art student, I often visited the University Museum in Philadelphia. I loved spending the day studying the ancient pottery from Greece and Rome. In some ways, looking at the ancient artifacts in the museum, is what shaped my decision to become a ceramic artist. It is so exciting to be able to share my love of traditional handbuilding techniques with the students at Bradley Beach.

Along with the Mayan pottery, Bradley Beach is also working to host an Empty Bowl event. I have been working with other grades in the school to create handmade bowls that will be sold at the event which will be held in the spring. The students are very excited about this event, and are really enjoying the opportunity to work with clay, some for the first time.

Peace Garden

I had the wonderful opportunity of working with the Noyes Museum and several school and community groups around Atlantic City to create this beautiful stained glass mosaic.

The piece is titled "Peace Garden" and was initiated to create a work of art that brought together students from Texas Ave Elementary School, AC High School, The Covenent House for homeless youth, Absagami High, and Champions of Youth, a girls and boys club. Each group worked on a separate panel. Here it is, installed, at the Arts Garage in Atlantic City NJ

A Bowl Of My Own

It was a hard choice with so many beautiful bowls to choose from, but here is the bowl I chose for myself. I love how it has a small heart at the bottom.

Empty Bowl Event at Clearview High School

The big night has arrived and all the bowls are displayed for purchase. The students did a wonderful job. They have created so many beautiful hand made bowls.

Students at Clearview will hold several events throughout the rest of the school year. The goal is to sell them all and be able to give the Gloucester County Food Bank a sizeable check to purchase food for those who are in need.

Glazing

Students at Clearview High School, along with the help of their teacher Sandra Koberlein, work hard at glazing the beautiful handcrafted bowls for the Empty Bowl event, which will be held in May, at Clearview High School in Mullica Hilll NJ.

The Bowl Making at Clearview Continues

Week 17 and 18 of the Clearview Residency finds us still hard at work making bowls for the Empty Bowl Event.  Students made bowls from slabs and templates. Next week we will be taking a field trip to The Clay Studio in Philadelphia PA for a tour of the studio and galleries, and to watch a demonstration of wheel thrown pottery.

Clearview High School A.I.E. Residency Empty Bowls

This is the first completed kiln load of glazed handbuilt bowls. I think they turned really beautiful, and the students were really delighted to see the end result. One hundred and thirty more bowls to glaze!

Seed of Life

Geometry is the knowledge of the eternally existent.  Pythagoras

Mighty is geometry, joined with art, resistless . Euripides

Two of the quotes I have been pondering as I continue to work on my series" Nature and Geometry"

Friends School Mullica Hill

Friends Mural Expands

Over the past several years I have been working with students and staff at Friends School Mullica Hill. We have been creating tiles that reflect the Quaker testimonies: Simplicity Peace Integrity Community Equality and Stewardship. Thanks for the hard work of the class of 2012, 2013 and 2017, along with art teacher Diane Driessen and Steve Austin who installed the new panels. Thanks also to parents of the class of 2013,

who donated the money for installation. Thanks as well to members of Woodstown Friends Meeting who helped to create the "Community" panel. This mural was truly a community effort! Look for Equality and Stewardship later in 2014.