Welcome to the wild adventure of the often overlooked or forgotten history of crafts. It is my hope that you put aside any past dismissal you may have been taught about crafts and that you will open your hearts to this eclectic group of makers and dreamers.
I look forward to getting to know each of you.
I just realized that if you had not read the syllabus to the end you would not know this is where you need to introduce yourself to the class. I know some of you have been in class together before but not all of you have been with me and I want to know you.
ReplyDeleteYou know me and I know you. But you don't know about me, nor I you. That said, let me give you a brief background, artistically, speaking. I have been interested in art since HS. I gradated from the the University of Houston, after a brief stint in the service, with a BFA in Art, Graphic Design, specifically. I have a lot of experience in design and illustration as well as fine art. My preferred medium, currently, is pastels, charcoal and graphite. I have worked in other media such as acrylic, oils, watercolor, ink and martin dyes. I am also highly skilled in technical airbrush illustration. This comes about from employment with various oil field equipment manufacturers in and around the Houston, Texas area. In 2000, I changed career paths and went into the building trades rising to the level of "master carpenter", which is a honorary title, at best. Upon retirement, I began building furniture and decided to combine my artistic ability of design and apply it to my furniture building, instead of just making someone else's from plans. Hopefully this blog will offer me some insight that I can learn from and share something I have learned with others.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the class. I think you will find our journey opening even new avenues for your talents.
ReplyDeleteHello!! My name is Melissa Hidalgo and I currently teach Art I and Art II Photography at Little Elm High School. For as long as I can remember I've been interested in photography as an art form. I never took art in high school but it was the high school art teacher that saw my photography and suggested that I went to school to pursue it since he could tell that it was my passion. I took his advice and fell even more in love with photography and art itself. I switched from being a photo major to art education because I wanted to help kids pursue their passion as well. I graduated from the University of North Texas. Photography is still my main medium but I love to just draw in graphite or ink. I hope to learn more about crafts. I'm actually quite interested in starting a craft. I admire textiles, embroidery, weaving, woodworking...if I were to start one tomorrow it would be weaving. I remember being introduced to it in Elementary art class and loved it. I have some students that are interested in crafts which is another reason I found this class to be interesting to take. I'd pass my knowledge down to them.
ReplyDeleteAs your final project you are to make a craft...does not have to be successful so go for it...start with a simple frame but weave!
ReplyDeleteHi my name is Viershanie Latham and I'm earning a master's in interdisciplinary studies with a focus in kinesiology, art, and human development. I am going to school to become a pediatrician but I've always had a love for art. Now I know that it's weird that I want to pursue art and be a doctor at the same time but I've been creative my whole life. In highschool I took advanced art courses and entered many competitions but unfortunately was told by my advisor when I got into college that it would be extremely difficult to do art biology and athletics so I put that on hold until now. I've always combined my science and arts and crafts skills when I had project fairs and experiments to complete. My favorite mediums to use are pencils and watercolor pencils yet I've been learning to draw with alcohol based markers recently. I love drawing portraits and have done some crafts before but I'm very interested in learning more about crafts and maybe this course will inspire me to expand into starting in crafts more myself!
ReplyDeleteThat's rad that you're pursuing your passion Vie. I'm sure your creative/artistic side will continue to be an asset. My brother told me that the taxidermy class he took in junior high was more useful to him as a dentist than any class he took in dental school. Yes, I come from a podunk town where they teach taxidermy to junior high kids. So you never know what artistic skill (if you can count taxidermy as art) is going to come in handy.
DeleteWelcome to the class. I think continuing to do art will contribute to your work as a pediatrician. And it will be a great way to turn your mind off/or around.
ReplyDeleteHello Everyone! My Name is Keisha Casiano. This is my second semester of the MFA program and I am enjoy every second of it! I am fairly new this whole thing. I graduated from UNT with a Bachelor’s in Visual Arts and a minor in Education. I am in my 3rd year of teaching. My first year was at a middle school and my last year (never again!). My last two years I have been at two different elementary schools. I am currently working at Club Hill Elementary for Garland ISD. Since high school, my background has been in sculpture and ceramics. This past year, I have been doing commission murals around the DFW area. I used to never really be a painter until now. I believe that an arts and craft helps artists learn how to be more creative and most importantly to think outside the box. I hope to be inspired by new methods and artist to help give me a new direction with my own personal art.
ReplyDeleteGreat to have you in the program and in this class
ReplyDeleteHello all! My name is Candie Printz and I teach high school art in El Paso, Texas. I have heard wonderful things about this class from other students and I am really looking forward to this. I feel that I haven't had very much exposure to this area, yet have been fascinated by it. I wish I knew more about textiles, I love folk art, I am heavily involved in ceramics and sculpture now. I have taught high school art for 13 years and love working with the students. I am focused on environmental issue as of late and how my students and I can take that into consideration when doing art.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the class. I think, I hope you will love the early history of clay this book represents and I believe you will learn to see textiles in a new way
ReplyDeleteSorry to join the party late...I'm still working out with Financial Aid if I'll even be able to take any classes this semester! UGH!!!
ReplyDeleteAnywhoo...I'm Katy Cook and I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I teach K-5 art in a suburban school district and have about 650 students that I see each week. This is my 4th semester here at Texas Tech and so far, I've really enjoyed all of the classes. I'm excited about this class to see how the craft movement develop and grew. Right now, I'm really into Acrylic Pouring. That being said, photography is really where my passion lies.
Hi friends. I’m Zack. I spent last year as a Print Fellow at the Helen Devitt Jones Print Studio (over at CASP, in Lubbock) where I taught a bunch of printmaking workshops and classes (woodcut, letterpress, and screenprint) to humans of all ages and backgrounds. I like to make posters. I love music, and have been making some posters for bands/gigs and other things that are in my brainmind. My current view of crafts is one of two things right now: on one hand, I have somewhat of a reverence for craft because of the people (mostly women) in my life who have shown me what it means to put their heart and soul into their craft; on the other hand, what comes to mind is hot-gluing a bunch of crap together and writing cute sayings in squiggly handwriting and posting it on instagram. I hope this class will help me broaden, deepen, and enlarge my understanding of craft/studio craft.
ReplyDeleteDo not worry Zack..I think you change your mind slightly
ReplyDelete