Happy New Year 2010!

DUCKS GO TO THE ROSEBOWL!!!

                 me with some of my students yesterday... rooting for our team!

Day of Game, December 3rd, 2009.  THE BIG BAD CIVIL WAR GAME...who are you rooting for? The UO Ducks or The Oregon State Beavers? It was 36 degrees at Autzen stadium in Eugene last night when the Ducks and Beavers faced each other for the honor of going to the Rosebowl on New Year's Day (to play the Ohio State Buckeyes). It was a tight game and I thought for awhile that the Beaver's would take the win. Either way I was going to be proud that an Oregon team would go to Pasadena! Kenzie was at the game, (so was one of my very tired students who said he got home at 2am)
Now our home team, Canby, is in the semi-finals for the state high school playoffs! They play tonight at PGE Park in NW Portland, against Sheldon HS. West Salem beat the West Linn Lions (also MY team!) last week, so West Salem is playing (the university of) Jesuit first, then Canby plays Sheldon. COULD BE EXCITING to see Canby go to the FINALS!!!! It's fun to be excited about football.

Homemade Popcorn

Just want to rave about the distinct flavor difference between home popped corn and microwave popcorn!
Not only is popping your own corn CHEAP, the flavor and texture is superior.
Yes, microwave is fast and easy and doesn't require much cleanup, but now that I've switched back to my own
popping I'm no longer interested in the microwave stuff.
Once you go natural there's no turning back!

an apology to remember

Yesterday one of my students and I were waiting in the hallway outside my room during a 'passing time'. She seized the moment and made a sincere apology to me for how she acted (out) as a freshman in my Art I class (two years ago...believe me, she and her three/four friends were very rude and disruptive to the class).

I felt her apology was heartfelt and genuine. I told her that I appreciated her telling me this and that it made my day.

I believe that some of the acting out that freshmen do is a matter of maturity. I think in this group's case it was increased exponentially, reaching a tipping point, a critical mass due to their strength in numbers, goading each other on and their not caring what the other students thought of them. Deep down I suspect they did care, but were not going to admit it. I dreaded that class every day because I couldn't get a handle on their obnoxious behavior and 'win them over'. (Maybe I shouldn't have cared so much about the 'winning them over' part).

One particular day I decided I needed some intervention. I emailed the powers that be about the disruption they were making, not certain if help would come, but just wanting the behavior marked 'for the record'. Lo and behold the administrator of discipline came into the room shortly after my email was sent, asked who the perpetrators were and pulled them all out of class. As soon as the four were gone the class spontaneously erupted into applause. I'm sure they could hear the applause as the outside door swung shut behind them.

Life went on, classes continued and the behavior calmed down a little, though never enough for me to let down my guard. It takes alot of extra, unnecessary energy to monitor potential disruptive behavior. That's the one part of teaching that is a drag! (I'm not going to lie!)

Mrs. G's Art Room

A closer view of the bulletin board behind my desk...for TOMMY!!!

My wonderful space! Tommy wanted to see the whole wall behind my desk, so I took this photo and then decided to photograph the entire room, storage and all. I wish I had some windows to the outside world, as the sun never rises or sets in here. I can't tell if it's sunny or rainy outside, or if leaves are blowing or snow is falling. I'm amazed at the STUFF I've accumulated in 3-4 years! YIKES!!


another view from my desk


two walls we painted to add some contrast to the room


critique corner


view from my desk


along one wall


the fiber arts storage room


the kiln room

the office

Old bowls from my childhood

Did you grow up with these bowls in your kitchen? After nearly 37 years of being married and on my own I found myself hankering to have these bowls in my own kitchen.

I found three (yellow, red, green) this week at an antique/Christmas/wedding gown bazaar in Beaverton. I think I got a pretty good deal (they were individually priced) at $36 for three. I'm bidding on the small blue bowl on ebay as I write this, AND another COMPLETE set as well. I plan to give one of the sets away to one of my three daughters, (whoever yells 'dibs' first!)

The yellow bowl was for mixing up boxed cake mixes (yellow cake, chocolate cake, white cake, angel food cake), big batches of potato salad (potatoes, boiled eggs, chopped onion, mayo, mustard, salt, pepper and the secret ingredient: celery seed). The green bowl was for lime jello with grated carrots and pineapple, the red bowl was for cherry jello with fruit cocktail, and a lovely kidney bean/boiled egg/celery salad my mom made on hot summer days. Sometimes the red bowl was for whipping cream in small quantities, but for large, splashy quantities we used the yellow bowl. The blue bowl was used for sauces and leftovers.

Well I better go check how my bids are faring!

Student work from Spring 2009

Batik

Space Dyed wool yarn beanie

Batik

Mt Hood embroidery 8" x 10"

Silk painting



A ceramic homage piece

School's Out for the Summer!

I am still at my desk today, this last 'teacher' workday, enjoying organizing my room and supplies before the summer begins. I felt like taking a break from that task to write some thoughts about my 5th year of teaching.

Teaching art in a high school has been my dream job since I was 18 years old. When I entered the profession (rather later in life) I have to admit I had a few niggling doubts as to whether it was still my passion after many years. I'm happy to say that it IS! I thank God, the Creator of the Universe, everyday for allowing me to realize this dream. I have the best career in the world. My commute is a lovely 9 mile drive along the Willamette River, and only 3-4 stoplights to deal with.
I have a classroom with storage rooms that can hide all the supplies we use (although the classroom gets fairly cluttered on a regular basis)and I am free to make it home. I am teaching a Fiber Arts class that I designed (and kids are still signing up in droves for) as well as classes in clay and fundamental art skills.

I always love having a foreign exchange student in my class and this year I got Sophie, from France, during the second semester. She told me yesterday that this was her favorite class, which of course, made my day. What is remarkable about her is that she survived a horrific shooting event in downtown Portland this winter in which two girls were killed. Sophie took a bullet to her leg (it went in one side of her thigh and out the other I believe) and on the warm days I would see the purplish grape sized mark on the back of her leg and think how grateful I am that she is still here. She never spoke of the incident, and always came to class ready to work in a thoughtful and creative manner. She made a clock with a human face and hands that burst through the center and told me it represented the idea 'do we control time or does time control us?'.

I had another student from Iran (but not an exchange student) who taught me a few Farsi words and phrases. She was quite shy about speaking English but communicated very well nonetheless. Having been the 'second language learner' when I lived in Germany during my 9th and 10th grade years I know what it is like to try to communicate in a new language at school.

Ok, time to go back to organizing!

Wednesday Post

Today we drove 2 hours southeast to Stuttgart, where Roland is currently deployed. It was snowing when we left Schneckenhausen, but the roads quickly turned to wet spray as we got into lower elevations. Jocelyn drove admirably among the trucks from many nations: Italy, France, Bulgaria, Czech Republic.

We drove through my old hometown of Hochdorf bei Ludwigsburg on our way, getting off the freeway at Marbach (Schiller's hometown, apparently) and going through Poppenweiler before descending into Hochdorf (also known as Remsteck?) I spotted our old abode immediately and Jocelyn pulled into the driveway. I hopped out and ran around to the front of the house, snapping photos in the rain. The old Metzgerei across the street is now a pub. I walked across the bridge over the stream, up to the next street and turned right. I walked up to where I could take a photo of the church on the right. The only thing that hadn't changed in 40 years was the farmhouse where I witnessed a hog killing and sausage making.

Tuesday Post

We awoke to some dark clouds in the southern sky, and glimpses of golden sun to the northeast. I scurried around the house, rolled up the rolladens (the outside window shades) and pushed the curtains open, unlatched the big windows and took photos out of nearly every window in the house!

Not sure I got alot of sleep last night, I seemed to toss and turn most of the night.
We are slowly getting ready for the day and plan to visit the town center of Kaiserslautern today, and especially the H&M store. We like that store for its current fashion and great sale prices. Not everything is to my style, but I usually find something inexpensive and unusual. I hope we can find a wurst kiosk for lunch. Can't wait for a roasted wurst sticking out of a fresh broetchen, with some tasty mustard! Might even indulge in some greasy pomme frites with curry dip.

Later....our trip to Kaiserslautern was fairly successful. We stopped in a cute boutique store on our way to H&M. I found a scarf I liked, so did Kenzie. Jocelyn tried on a few cute clothes and got a sweet checkered blouse for summer. The clerks were unusually sweet, courteous and trusting. Next stop was McDonalds, so the kids could fill up a bit and not be cranky later. Going to McDonalds in any European town is a cultural experience because we can so easily compare what we know (of our hometown Mickey D's) to what we see. I noticed that there were NO trash bins! Instead the trays of leftover paper and food were stacked insided a rolling cart that had rails. Each 'rail' held two trays. Well, the cart was not only filled with trays full of trash, the trays had multipied precariously on top of the cart, and onto the eating area bar that faced the street.

We ordered our food and luckily found a place for us all to sit together, right in the entryway where we could watch the hordes of high school students pile in, gather, then leave in droves once they determined they wouldn't get served quickly.
They looked, for the most part, like some of my own high school students with tight jeans, converse sneakers, fur trimmed hoodie jackets, dark eyeliner, highlighted hair.

Kenzie wasn't overly fond of her burger, the meat tasted different (she kind of expected that it would). I ordered a new 'snack' offered, the ciabatta sandwich, for 1,79 euro. It had plenty of lettuce, mayo and tomato, with a sort of veggie burger style piece of meat. We drank the Coca Light, and Lift (a carbonated Apple flavored coke).

H&M was next. I tried on a few items, but didn't find anything I couldn't live without. I did get something for Maiya, Layla, Kylie and Kenzie.

I noticed that the number of shoppers was increasing the later it got. People were shopping everywhere. We walked back to the car park a slightly different way (Jocie realized we'd taken the long way the first time) and paid the 6,20 euro fee. Here is a photo of the gang in the parking lot before we headed out to shop.

First Morning with Wesley, Tommy, Anna and Jocie

After 21 hours of travel (from 6am Saturday PST, to 11am Sunday (Germany time) I arrived safely in Frankfurt. Clearing customs, getting my bag and exiting took only 10 minutes, Jocie and kids were waiting eagerly outside the frosted sliding doors in the Frankfurt airport. The airport was amazingly quiet, not crowded. We quickly got to the van and left for Schneckenhausen, about an hour's drive. The sky was lightly overcast, and spring has not yet sprung except for a few crocus here and there. Jocie had packed a lunch (she's always prepared) so we ate sandwiches, chips and fruit as we drove down the A63 towards Schneckenhausen.

I was determined to stay awake till 7pm, and not give in to jetlag!

Gifts were given, tea was made and stories told. Anna decided to 'accept' me with her new ritual of pushing. We pushed back and forth for awhile (see photos on facebook). I took a shower and changed into fresh comfy clothes, napped on the couch in the living room while the kids watched a dvd (I knew if I descended into the cozy bed in the guestroom downstairs I'd likely fall asleep indefinitely). After an hour of snoozing we all took the 'Llama Walk' (the llamas have been long gone, but the name remains). The boys took their bicycles, Anna rode the stroller and sometimes kicked the green ball (she will be a good soccer player!) along the farm roads. Many more people were out walking, riding bikes and yes, driving their little Honda civics along the route. It's Sunday, of course that's the day that people get out and take walks with their families!

We ate leftovers for dinner, and I went to bed at 7pm. I woke up at 11:30 when Kenzie came to bed, but not to sleep! We both read our 'Twilight' books till 3am! I'm just starting the series, and she finished book four. I called Dave at midnight and we chatted for 1/2 hour. It was good to connect and catch up on the past 30 hours of our lives. He and David are going to eastern Oregon today, staying in a friend's mobile home on property near Bend. They will explore the Newbury crater and the John Day fossil beds for a few days.

I got up at 9am, it is now 11:30am and we are trying to get Kenzie to get out of bed! She gave in to her jetlag and slept from 4pm Saturday till noon on Sunday, silly girl! Fighting the urge to sleep off jetlag is the only way to get onboard with the new time zone, as difficult as that is. Now I need to hop in the shower.
My ears are still sensitive from the pressure of the flights. Not exactly 'ringing' but feeling highly sensitive to the kid's shrieks and cries. Anna just went down for a nap and things are quieter in the house.

off again to Deutschland

It's pretty exciting to travel, and going to Germany 5 times in the past 27 months is something I'm grateful for! This trip will be the shortest, only a Sunday-Sunday, during my Spring Break. Kenzie is going too, but she leaves tomorrow, and returns the day after I get back. We got some good deals on flights with Delta. Mine cost $271 after mileage was applied (a newish system limits the # of miles to apply) and Kenz had a $100 voucher that would expire April 8, her flight cost $540 or so.

We will spend a couple of days in Stuttgart, where Roland is deployed for 4 months. It's a 2 1/2 hour drive from Schneckenhausen. I'll be able to visit the village I lived in during my 10th grade year, Hochdorf bei Ludwigsburg! I would ride the military bus to school on base in Stuttgart (home of the Stallions!). I looked online to see what news/location I could find, only to discover that the high school closed in 1992. Oh well.

Other than poking around Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg I'm content to walk the Llama Walk (our name for it) to Horterhof and back. I hope to give Christine (who lives in Horterhof) a book about loss, she lost her husband a year ago. She is an English woman that we met on our walk last summer. She was wearing a lacy black dress, earrings, necklace and black ribbons in her blond hair, and she was trimming the hedge with hedgeclippers all dressed in her mourning clothes. We spoke in German for 1/2 minute when she suddenly asked me where I was from. Then we switched to English!
I hope to say hello to her on this trip.

Recent Pottery Work

Small cup, ceramic made from Trail Mix, Cone 6, slip decoration, iron oxide wash, clear glaze, (terracotta glaze inside) February 2009 Made at Georgie's Ceramic and Clay Supply on NE Lombard, Portland, Oregon.

Small Vase, Trail Mix clay, slip decoration, iron oxide wash, glaze: to be determined! Cone 6 firing

Small cup, Trail Mix clay, slip decoration, iron oxide wash, clear glaze (white glaze interior)

I have been taking an 8 week Beginning Wheel Throwing class at Georgie's on Thursday nights from 6-8 pm. Because it is a bit of a drive, and traffic on I-5 north can be stalled, I've been leaving school at 3:30 and going directly up to Georgies, getting a head start on my work. I missed the second class due to a bad cold, and have only 2 more classes remaining. Last Thursday (Feb 12) was our last day to throw (boo hoo!). Next Thursday I'll have 5-6 pieces to glaze and 8 pieces to trim and add slip or handles to. On the last class we'll have a potluck, and glaze the remaining pieces (to be picked up later). I plan to take the intermediate class in this series, even though I can surely use a year's worth of simply throwing bowls and cylinder shapes everyday. I was 17 when I first tried throwing on the wheel, and 48 when I picked it up again, I never took a formal course until now. There is much to learn. I love throwing on the wheel, it's a kind of alternate yoga for me. I wonder how long my pieces will last, how many years they'll be in use after I'm long gone!

Polish Pottery

Here are the latest Polish Pottery aquisitions! I found these mugs (6, only 5 shown) at the Homegoods store in Valencia, California on New Year's Eve 2008. They were on sale for $4 each and match the larger style mug that Jocelyn sent Dave for his birthday!

We toured one of the Boleslawiecz (pronounced bowl luh swa vich) pottery factories this summer and watched the artists hand stamp and hand paint the designs on each piece. I asked how long it takes to train someone to do the patterns and was told '2-3 months'. If the piece is simply stamped it is not signed, but if the artist adds brushwork, then that artist signs the piece. The bisqueware is formed in molds, the clay is local, the glazes look similar to Duncan Cone 06 (that one would use in a 'paint your own' place here) but I'm pretty sure that the firing in Poland is to a higher temperature. The pieces are dunked in a clear glaze and the bottom 'foot' is wiped clean on a rolling band of astroturf (or something green that looks like astroturf), the fingerprint of the person dipping is wiped away with a flourish and the piece is loaded onto a cart, like a small rail car, that goes directly into the kiln.