Ms. Candice Hale Student Teaches in the Art Department this Semester

The Art Department is pleased to welcome Ms. Candice Hale on board this semester as she fulfills her student teaching requirement for Malone University.  Ms. Hale currently is working with senior high art students.  She'll switch to the elementary and junior high art classes in mid-October.   I asked her to introduce herself to the Lake Center Christian School community through this blog.

Ms. Hale and Advanced Art Student discuss reduction print process

"Hello students and parents!  While I have met the students already, I just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself to you.  My name is Ms. Hale, and I am a senior at Malone University studying Art Education.  Student teaching at LCCS is my final step of completing my degree and having a classroom of my own.  I am a showing artist, having been in five shows this last year, including a large solo exhibit at Malone University.  My medium of choice is watercolor, but I am experienced in all the various mediums.  I enjoy painting portraits of my family and still life’s of flowers the most.  I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the students at LCCS and excited to see what I can teach them, but I am more excited to see what I can learn from them!"

Lizards and the Art of Reduction Printmaking

Prints drape from the drying rack, while brayers, cutters, ink, and jigs are neatly stacked on the back counter ready for use.  Advanced Art jumped into the first fall project interpreting "My Morning Routine." We're doing four-color reduction prints with 12x12" safety cut blocks.  If you're wondering what a reduction print is, Wikipedia explains it as a "multi-colored print in which the separate colors are printed from the same block at different stages."  

Portrait of Licky Licky, courtesy of my student

Although everyone has the same theme, subject matter has ranged from pets to pancakes and  sweaters to Starbucks.  One student even brought in the subject for her print, a pet lizard affectionately dubbed "Licky Licky".  The lizard was momentarily left under my watchful eye quietly resting on a washcloth so my student could grab something from the other side of the room.  To avoid the possibility of a runaway lizard, I don't think I even blinked until my student returned to her desk.  To be fair, though, I don't think Licky Licky took her eyes off of me either.  

Artsense Mini-term Toronto 2014

Latte Art by Alex

The art of the pour

AGO workshop - Pen and Ink

Sketching at the AGO

So, here’s the wrap-up:

Toronto. Two mini-term groups in one tour bus. Four DVD’s of animated films.  Twelve Lake Center’s Artsense Mini-term students poised to take Canada’s largest city by storm experiencing barista training, art workshops, museum tours, beautiful vistas of Toronto, theater, Medieval Times and Niagara Falls. 

Incidental things we learned along the way:

 From the Canadian Barista Academy:  Espresso has the potential to smell like anything from gym socks to oatmeal cookies depending on one’s skill level in pulling a shot of quality coffee beans. It’s all a matter of training the nose.

 From the AGO: If your group gets separated in an art museum, and you find yourself in a closed section, do follow Mrs Brott and EXIT the door despite confusing directions and cacophonous alarms. The cost of reuniting with your group?  Priceless.

 From U.S. Customs: How do you know you’re a U.S. Citizen?  That’s a trick question pulled out by border guards.  Feel free to ask one of the students - they certainly know the answer now.


Some of the real things we learned along the way:

We got to talk about God, and how he can meet and exceed our expectations if we only fill our cups to the brim with Him.  At Famous People Players Dinner Theater, we saw that people with special needs could live independent lives through the avenue of theatre and culinary art.  We learned about currency exchange rates, loonies, toonies, the history of coffee, and Canadian artists. Last but not least, we experienced growing new friendships as well as deepening  established connections. 

It was worth every minute.

They Just Lettered in Visual Art!

"Girl" by Kaitlin1173 (Gold Key)

"Haitian Girl" by Abigail4446 (Silver Key and Cash Prize)

A panel of visual art judges wades through almost four thousand student art works to choose about 550 pieces for the annual Northeast Central Ohio Scholastic Art Competition every year.  So, like art teachers across the region submitting student work for consideration, we hold our collective breaths and see if our kids’ work made the cut.  This year I was thrilled that four of our students were recognized by the competition, and three have their work included in the Scholastic Art Show on exhibit at Kent State Stark campus through February 6.  

One happy art teacher!

 Undaunted by this past Saturday’s weather conditions, a crowd of about 500 gathered to recognize these students in an awards ceremony where each artist received either a gold or silver key for their art work.  In addition, several works were chosen to receive special recognition and awards sponsored by local organizations and businesses.  To my delight, Abigail's work, “Haitian Girl” was honored with a cash prize from Flower Factory  as well as a silver key.

Please join me in congratulating these students for the excellence in visual arts!

"Hephaestus" by Alex11869 (Silver Key)

"Persephone" by Jennifer4008 (Honorable Mention)

Tile Wall Mural: A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words

Bob Yost and our new tile wall mural

Dedicated on Saturday, August 17, 2013 in memory of former LCCS principal and lifelong learner, Kymberlea Calco, who went home to be with the Lord on February 1, 2012.

Tile Wall Mural: A Glimpse

"Lake Center Christian School assists Christian families and their churches in equipping students for lifelong learning and service to Christ.  Lake Center Christian School offers an accredited Preschool - 12 education, which is centered in Christ."

An advance peek at one of the tiles

Our mission statement pops up on all sorts of official correspondence, advertising and even our web page.  I should know it by heart, having taught here for 16 years, but sadly I don't.  Never having been all that great at memorization, I'm much more likely to remember something if I can actually see it.  When the chance came to pitch an idea for an installation art work on the foyer wall, it seemed like a great opportunity to interpret our mission statement using the language of visual art.

The big ideas upon which the composition rests, "lifelong learning", and  "service to Christ", drive the mural's design.  After discussion with a number of  people, visiting ceramic artist, Bob Yost, drafted an initial concept for a finished work centered around an empty space shaped in the form of a cross.  All 23 tile panels work together to describe our school community, faith, and what lifelong learning and servanthood look like.

I love the fact that the mural's visual impact engages the viewer in new things to see over a period of time due to the rich layering of meaning and design.  Since I don't want to deny you the joy of your own discoveries, my explanations will stay in draft form on my drawing table.  In any event, even if I don't know the mission statement verbatim, the meat of it is in my head because I can now see it on the wall.

Come to the mural dedication on Saturday, August 17th at 12:15 in the main school foyer during our "Family Fun Day" celebration to see it for yourself!

Tile Wall Mural: The Work of Many Hands

What does one do with a big bare wall that greets visitors at our entrance?  During the winter and spring of last school year, visiting ceramic artist, Bob Yost, worked with hundreds of LCCS students to address that question.  Conceiving a ceramic work that would embody the school’s mission statement, Mr. Yost could be seen frequently ferrying crates of clay slabs to and from the art room eventually emerging with the pieces parts that would comprise the finished work.

Mr. Yost demonstrates to young students how to create texture in their clay

Working the stamps with Mr. Yost

It was always a welcome change of pace when we set aside our regular art project in order to pick up some clay and work on the tile wall mural. Little ones created “energy” by tapping their fingers into a soft clay surface resulting in beautiful pattern variations for background tiles.  Older students as well as adults used letter stamps pressed into slabs to spell out bible verses.  These worked as  stand -alone tiles as well as a textural element.  High school art students took on the task of forming three-dimensional shapes in addition to executing representational imagery.  

Stamping in text

Last winter a friend shared a song with me called  “Why it Matters” by Sara Groves.  Whenever I listen to it, I'm reminded that beauty matters because it’s a reflection of God’s creative character.  Many hands in our school community, orchestrated by a talented visiting artist, joined together to make something of lasting visual impact because beauty matters.

Next week: A glimpse at the finished work