Showing posts with label Chris Barrett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Barrett. Show all posts

Thursday, February 28, 2013

The Magic of the Trunk

It's been awhile since I taught a class in metal clay, but today that changed.  It was a small intro class..... only two but sometimes those are the nicest ones.


"Hey!  Are you taking my picture?
(That's my friend Helen with the surprised face.)


Both of them were a little hesitant about their skills but as you can see by their finished pieces they didn't need to worry at all.


Helen made earrings and a charm to be finished as an anklet.


Jennifer started with a basic charm, surrounded it with a coil and added three cubic zirconia as an embellishment.


During the creation process it is often common for students to  dislike their pieces.   I've seen this from my high school students.  Holly Gage warns her students that pieces go through an "ugly" stage and not to judge the piece too quickly. 

I think some of this comes from knowing every little flaw and the struggle to make the piece look like their mental vision.   It influences how the piece is perceived.  I use to tell my high school students to put their work away for awhile and not look at it for several days. 

Helen said she had a painting teacher who told them if they didn't like their paintings,  put it in a trunk and leave it for a few days.  She called this "The Magic of the Trunk."  More often than not, it looks much different after you haven't seen it for a few days.