Pinched Pair of Meditation Bowls, white earthenware with terra sigillata, oxides and glaze line, largest 4" x 5" x 5.5"
For more details, check my site, in the left border, available inventory (Meditation Bowls)
Meditation Bowl Pair posing on a rock in my garden...
Michael Richardson came to visit us at CCES for a second time! Once again he came to share his gifts, knowledge and exquisite puppets but this time it was with all 3 divisions of our school. At the Middle School level he met with my 5th grade students and introduced then to the origins of puppetry with a focus on Indonesian puppets and the unique way they are performed by a single person. We also talked about movement and about how the skeleton helps us move in a particular way.
Students were then asked to use parts of 3 real animals to create an imaginary animal, draw it in pencil first and then trace it on tracing paper with all moving parts separated off to the side. This was transferred to heavy watercolor paper, outlined with black Sharpie, cut out, hole punched and reassembled as a moving creature. The last step was using very watery effects with water color so as not to cover up the detail of the Sharpie.
You will see that the results are stunning as well as delightful! Seeing the resulting project should help you understand why I love teaching this age student and why I adore working with visiting artists Michael Richardson. The whole experience was creativity at its most stimulating. Visit facebook to see how amazing he is as an artist, performer, teacher and person.
.https://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-String-Wayang-Theatre/128992150471954?sk=info
one of Michael's puppets made the traditional way in Indonesia with water buffalo belly skin
bones from all 3 division science departments to help the cause
Erika, me and Jen
Elizabeth and me
Life is a Spiral -http://www.mintmuseum.org/happenings/396/artist-s-talk-alice-ballard
The topic for my talk, Life is a Spiral, was supported by a warm and wonderful group of family members, old friends and new friends, all spiraling back to the Mint Museum to help me tell my story and remind us all how extraordinary life is! This morning, Cheryl Palmer, Curator of Education at the Mint and close friend for some 35 years emailed and commented on how amazing it was to look out into an audience filled with so many unexpected family, old and new friends! She said about the experience, "I hope it felt like a giant hug". What a lovely way to put it! It was like we were all embraced by the spiral of the experience and the feeling was mighty special.
I need to extend a huge thank you to my son Ryan Munn who was instrumental in helping with technology I needed to put the talk together and then did all the fine tuning at the end to make sure the images were at their best. Having Ryan, Jen and Erica in the front row of the audience rooting me on was great. Having Ryan share the podium with me at the end to talk about how the "Bud" and "Bulb" came to be part of the Mint's permanent collection was the absolute perfect way to create another type of closure for both of us as we invited everyone to visit these two pieces in "The Allure of Flowers" exhibition currently at the Mint.
Support for the Power Point aspect of the talk was also made possible by Karen Polstra at CCES, where I teach Middle School art 2 days a week. Many other folks who are friends and colleagues were also a support because they were aware of the emotional content of this talk and stood behind me like cheerleaders. Lucky me to have all that support!
At brunch before the talk, I was telling everyone about all the help and moral support I had received in order to put my first Power Point presentation together. I said I couldn't help but think about the saying that "it takes a village to raise a child." In fact, it felt like I had entire village of family and friends cheering me on and making my talk possible!
Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart. Alice
SEE UPCOMING EVENTS ON MY SQUARESPACE SITE FOR MORE DETAILS AND FUTURE SHOWS AND WORKSHOPS
Hope you will enjoy these pictures from the Master Class at the Mint Museum Uptown, Charlotte, NC in conjunction with the "Allure of Flowers" exhibition. This was a fabulous group and it was a fun and productive workshop as you can see.
I would like to thank the Mint for supporting this wonderful opportunity. In addition, HUGE thanks goes to Rita Shumaker, organizer of the workshop who took care of our every need. Special thanks goes to the participants who jumped in with open minds ready to take a chance and who exuded fun, humor and positive energy. You would have thought we had know one another for years instead of a day! Thanks too for all those younger generation folks who work at the Mint for taking time to drop by to say hello and see what we were doing.
Driving down I-85 on my return home, it was lovely reliving the experience of this Master Class at the Mint...
The Tweed Museum, part of the University of Minnesota, in Duluth, MN recently purchased Large Tulip Bulb for their permanent collection. It will go on display in the fall of 2014. Joan Slack, at the Tweed was a pleasure to work with as she led me through the process with great suggestions on the best way to ship such a large and fragile ceramic piece to a distant destination. I am honored to have this particular piece in their permanent collection. In the fall they plan to send and image of work installed in its new home. I will plan to share it when it arrives. I will also be happy to share what I learned about shipping a large ceramic piece half way across the country.
Large Tulip Bulb, white earthenware and terra sigillata
I hope you will consider supporting Penland School of Crafts by attending their Annual Benefit Auction this summer on August 8th and 9th, 2014. I will forever be supportive of Penland for what I have gained from both classes I have taken and classes I have taught. Penland's philosophy of supporting creativity in such a special way has affected my life as a person and as an artist. The Penland experience has also had a profound effect on the way I teach. To help others have the opportunity to attend a class at Penland, I try to lend my support each year by donating a piece or piece's of work to the Annual Benefit Auction. Below you will find the piece I am donating to this year's auction. Don't miss this amazing and fun opportunity to spend time at a splendid place with fascinating and creative folks. You will also have the chance to see and purchase works of art donated by outstanding artists who donate the fruits of their labor to support a place they love.
Click here for more information on this and other Upcoming Events
Petal Pot Trio, white earthenware with terra sigillata, oxides and a liner glaze, the largest is 4.5 x 5.5 x 6 inches
Petal Pot Trio
4 Vessels for 4 Seasons will take place from June 16-20, 2014 at The Bascom in the splendor and beauty of Highlands, NC. This is a new offering that will be an opportunity to learn some of the main principles of the philosophy and art of Ikebana arranging. This will be followed by the creation of containers that are suited to both the principles and available plant materials for each of the four seasons. The goal is to create four vessels in clay and to have at least one vessel, both bisque and glaze fired, for the last class. We will then put what we learned into action with an Ikebana arrangement made from plant material that we will collect from the surrounding area. We will also plan to visit the local Botanical Garden for inspiration All vessels will be made using various methods of hand building. Some extruded forms will be made ahead of time to get the process started quickly.
In preparation for this class, I have put together a board on Pinterest called Ikebana. This includes Zen moss gardens, the art of bonsai, etc. but mostly it is filled with exciting containers and arrangements that I hope will inspire you to start thinking about the kind(s) of containers you might want to make.
This class is open to all levels.
Tuition is $425 for Bascom Members, $460 for non-members
The Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts, 323 Franklin Road - Highlands, nC, 28741, 828-526-4949, www.thebascom.org
Bud XXXIII 1983 (Mint Museum Collection)
In connection with "Allure of Flowers: Botanical Motifs in Craft, Design and Fashion."The Mint Museum has also asked me to give a talk about my work. It will be at 3:00 on Sunday, April 6, 2014 at the Mint Museum of Art Uptown. It is an honor to be asked to speak and I am looking forward to sharing my perspective about how my work fits into the theme of the show. That Sunday, I hope to see many of you who are long time friends from my days in Charlotte and many new friends as well.
Click here for more information on this and other Upcoming Events
sooooo, the journey begins...
I can hardly believe it but this is my first post on my new BLOG!!!!!!!! Try to imagine my excitement as a "child of the 60's" who is an artist with no formal technology training and finally is reaching the point where I can now post my own blog! I have my bright, technology savy, patient and loving son Ryan Ballard Munn to thank for his help and training. We are still working together on this endeavor because I still have my "training wheels" on but I am feeling the same excitement I did when I received my first 2 wheeler with training wheels for my birthday at about age 5. Next in line for credit for helping behind the scenes has been my wonderful, understanding daughter-in-law Jen who had to work miracles to keep our two grandchildren, Lily age almost 5 and Charlie, going on 2, entertained while we worked at night late or behind closed doors. Let me add a special thank you to my lovely husband Roger Dalrymple who kept our two 4 legged "kids", Jaz and Rosie so I could go to Charlotte to work with Ryan. Thank you Ryan, Jen, Lily, Charlie, Roger, Jaz and Rosie! I could not have done this without you.
I would also like to thank Jenny Mendes who inspired me and gave me the courage to create a blog. Though she does not know it, following her personal, beautiful and informative blog this past year has helped me decide whether or not to do a blog. Following her blog has also helped me to decide what I would like to share and what I would be comfortable sharing. So thank you Jenny for being the inspiration you weren't even aware of! I also appreciate my friends who supported the idea of me starting a blog.
This entry will represent those first "baby steps". I hope to approach my choice of material with much the same wonder a baby must have when it steps out into a new world because it has now learned to use its legs. I can only imagine of course but I am thinking a baby must see before it the potential of an infinite number of paths and directions to take. It cannot make an intellectual decision at this point so it must follow its instincts and intuition. Having observed my son when he was a baby and now my 2 grandchildren, they seemed to move toward and first reach out for things that are familiar. Then they become more independent and more adventurous and begin reaching out to those unknown things that attract them! I hope to approach this blog in much the same way...
In this first entry I invite you to check out moments in my journey as shared through my blog. Alice
