As we roll into October, the students at TraillWorks have been doing amazing work in just a few short weeks since the start of the Fall session. Although we are three weeks in, my lessons are structured for flexibility and open enrollment throughout the session. I am currently offering a Saturday morning teen group, a Thursday afternoon 5 -7 year old group, and am planning to start a Tuesday morning adult group (perfect for moms / dads who have some flexibility after school drop-off and want to devote time to art making. The pieces below were created by a six year old student in only two one-hour sessions. At TraillWorks, due to small class sizes, I specialize in offering very individualized attention so a lot can be accomplished. The student spent the first week working on several blind contour drawings of a model horse and llama set up for observation. She decided to draw the furry penguin during her next session where we focused on gesture drawings in conté crayon. She was able to achieve drawing on a large scale; these took up full sheets of paper. Her first contour drawings were only about the size of a fist. Lastly, she began visual brainstorming with thumbnail sketches, which are small quick studies to work out the composition of an artwork. While it might be hard to tell what she has drawn, they are shorthand drawings that she and I understand. She will use these to help her create a larger drawing incorporating the penguin, and utilizing the drawing skills she's learned thus far. Below, longtime student, Emily, a senior at Sparta High School, finished her self portrait that she began earlier in the year, destined for her portfolio. This was a labor of love, one that involved time, hard work, perseverance and creativity. I think the finished piece speaks for itself and I know that she was more than pleased with the end result. Bravo Emily! If you or someone you know is interested in a nurturing, intimate environment where you can grow and learn, please get in touch or share! I'd love to speak with you about your personal goals and interests to see if we might be a good fit. Email me at lessons@traillworks.com with your interest or questions.
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When I first read over the list of project options for my son's pre-kindergarten summer project, I started having palpitations. No way could he do all of this, I thought! After calming myself down, and deciding to let him make a choice, he selected the "write a story project". Writing a story is a new endeavor, though making a book is not. Last year when his brother was born, we created a simple pamphlet brag book, sewn with ribbon, to showcase photos of him with his new brother. While I guided and gave directions and demonstrations, he did a lot of the work himself. So, after deciding to write a story, I suggested that he could do the same. He in turn said he wanted to make a real book. I replied, "a real book? Show me what you mean." I pulled out a great resource I've used since I learned bookmaking in my freshmen year 2-D design class at Syracuse University, Cover to Cover by Shareen LaPlantz, and flipped through examples of books. He found the codex page and was set. I thought like mother like son, he's trying to make a big project more complicated. So, in early August I reread the codex steps and we began with the basics: folding signature pages. I happen to have a lot of bookmaking supplies on hand including: book board (very thick chipboard), glues, papers, a bone folder, tapestry needles, and wax-coated thread. He folded and grouped the signatures with me, punches holes in the signatures for the thread, sewed the pattern to attach the pages in the signatures and hold the signatures together, selected the paper, helped cut and glued the cover papers and end papers. Finally once all was dry, he set out to illustrate the cover and some of the interior pages after I wrote out his story, "Mr. Freeze Captures Batman". All told, we spent about an hour each day we worked and probably devoted about three or four days for the actual production of the book, plus the additional days spent to illustrate. He's very proud of his accomplishments, and while he couldn't have created this book completely independently, he did learn how to make a book and did a majority of the hands-on work himself. So, thank you Gregory School for encouraging us to work on this project over the summer; it was time well-spent and will be a strong memory for both of us, and maybe my students will start bookmaking in lessons! There was an article published by the Huffington Post recently comparing the before and after drawings by students and artists. The article strove to depict what happens to art after devoted practice is put into the work. The results were compelling enough for me to share with you some of the before and afters of my own students. While I don't have exactly the same images to show the before and after, you can certainly see a growth in the work from a student's early pieces to their later pieces. There is real value to artistic practice; devoting time in class and out of class to improving both technique and conceptual development. These two elements are what I've always strived to develop in my students. It is important that an artist understand and gain a technical ability in a variety of media, giving them a strong foundation from which to work, as well as creating focus, or a direction in terms of the subject matter. What comes as a result of these lessons, beyond the technical ability is a confidence and ease that generally wasn't there before. Most students begin lacking confidence, comparing themselves to others, and skeptical of their own capabilities. They leave me, in most cases, with a sense of artistic self-awareness and eagerness to continue, whether in art school, as a hobby, or professionally. If you'd like to gain any of these traits and are looking for a mentor to guide your artistic pursuits, my fall lessons and workshops are enrolling now in my Studio on the 3rd Floor. I have openings for small group and privates lessons, as well as a workshop, called Painting in the Burbs, for adults. Learn more at traillworks.com/art-lessons--workshops.html. Adult student Pat completed the first painting at another studio, then repainted it with my guidance at TraillWorks. We worked on mixing colors, anatomical structure and mass in the redo. This painting was a study from a photo she took of a scene from Downton Abbey, on her TV screen - hence some of the distortion in the figures, which she greatly improved in the second version. Teen student Emily's work, at the start of lessons in 2011, and then around 2013. The first piece was completed from observation and reference photos in my studio using colored pencils and watercolor. She has developed a much more sophisticated use of color and shadows, and range of values in the apron (drapery study) that she drew in pastel two years later. Child student Noa's work in 2008 next to his work in 2011. He was around the age of 6 when he began and probably around 9 when he drew my dog. Of course, child development plays a role here, but consider also that as children near adolescence their art-making drops off if not supported and nurtured. |
Jennie Traill SchaefferDeemed the Kitchen God's Artist by NJ Savvy Living for my sainted appliances, I'm now known more for my vibrant, meditational paintings of chairs set surprisingly in landscapes. Since relocating to NC from NJ, mothering my two sons, and caring for our rescue pup, Cider, took the lead. Now, that my Durham home studio is renovated it's open again for virtual art coaching and the resumption of my personal art and commissions. The work I make is inspired by my joy of teaching, exploring nature, and traveling. On The Teaching Artist Blog, I share my approach to teaching and educate my readers about my creative process. Join my VIPs for First DibsWORKSHOPSArchives
January 2024
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