Views from an Art Show

A couple of weeks ago, I subbed in my former art room, so that the art teacher could set up the annual art show in the gym.  In other words, this is NOT my students' work, though the older elementary and secondary students were once my former students.  It has been three years (wow, that went quickly) since I retired. I thought maybe you'd like to see what was on display, even though they are no longer my students - perhaps you may see a project that was inspired by something you've posted or seen on a blog somewhere!

Below, a kindergarten project:

I took these photos in the gym at the end of the day, when the art teachers (my elementary replacement and the high school art teacher too) had almost everything hanging.  All of today's photos are work from the elementary art room, grades K-6.

 Above, grade 2, below, grade 4 tooling foil

 I guess one group of 4th grade students was given the choice of an alternate project at some point, and 3 kids selected to do this black glue and acrylic on burlap painting, below.  I really was intrigued by the idea, since I like playing with paint on textured surfaces, so I'll have store the idea for future reference!

These scratchboard vases below are grade 6.

 Woven pouches by grade 5.  We've all made these, haven't we? 

 Grade 4 Mexican bark

 Sharpie bugs on foil by grade 2

 Grade 5 tooling foil designs

Weavings by grade 3

 Grade 2 value studies in geometric shapes

 The display label says this 3rd grade project in the 2 photos below was inspired by Klee, but every time I look at these colorful pieces, I think of Kandinsky! 

 Just like last year, I think my favorites in the art show were these clay looms.  I only used air dry clay with my students, especially since clay is not my expertise or favorite.  But my replacement uses the 'real thing' and then ships them down to the high school art teacher, one floor down at the opposite end of the building, to be fired.  I suppose I should feel guilty I never did this?  But I don't, since we always made large papier-mache projects!  Anyhow, this year, she gave the students the option of giving their looms a 3-dimensional twist, as with the photo at the very top of this post.

 Finally, on a previous visit subbing, she had asked me to start a 'toothpaste batik' project with her students.  Yippee!  I love doing this!  This time, I saw that the students had completed the painting portion of the project, and now have to wash out the resist.  I'm curious to see the finished products.  I discouraged the use of yellow and didn't allow any tints when I did this project with my students, since they seemed not to 'hold' as well when washed out.  But maybe she'll have better success.

Meanwhile, I left behind my sample demonstration piece for the current teacher to show the next steps.  This time I found it completely painted (thoug hmaybe not with the colors I would have chosen!  I probably would have chosen black, reds, violets, and blues) and had been washed.  Here is the finished quickie sample.  I guess it is now a collaborative piece! The muslin it is painted on is beige, rather than white.  I think the beige could be interesting for autumn landscapes, perhaps, though I think I prefer the bright colors on true white.  One shape has been re-traced with a Sharpie marker in this sample.

I also found in her room a sample that I had made a couple of years ago and had searched for with no luck.  I had taken my other sample pieces with me, but I guess I had left this one for her and forgotten!  Here it is, below.

The Ugly Lamp - restoring a family heirloom, part 1

My grandfather, Harry Levine,was a Jewish Russian-born immigrant.  In his hometown of Vilna (then Russia, now Lithuania), he was trained as a woodcarver/furniture maker.  He came to NYC in his late teens, somewhere around 1912, plus or minus a couple of years.  (I've not yet been able to find him or my grandmother on any ship manifesto.)  In NYC, my grandfather studied at the Educational Arts Alliance, where his woodcarving skills became transformed into the talent of a sculptor.  I'm very proud that the wonderful Brooklyn Museum owns two pieces of his work.  They can be seen on permanent display in the Luce Center for Visible Storage in the museum.  I've written about him several times before on the blog, in particular here and here. 

Sadly, my grandfather died young, and my brothers and I never met him.  The legacy he left behind includes etchings, watercolors, carved busts, an intricately carved fiddle, and many wonderful pieces of furniture.  We each have pieces. For example, I have a beautiful hutch-cabinet, and a library-size table that I use as my dining room table, with carved lion heads on the ends.  One brother has the violin, another has a bust and an end table, and so on.  And then, there's the piece that nobody wanted, the ugly lamp...

The lamp has been the family joke for years.  We have no idea who spray-painted it gold, but it didn't help make it look better.  When our parents had both passed away, and we sorted out the remnants of their home, it was the one thing that nobody claimed.  One brother finally agreed to take it, and the lamp has been stored in his basement collecting dust for many years now. 

He and his wife recently bought a retirement home in Cape Cod, and have been cleaning out their former home and getting rid of stuff.  Periodically, a package will arrive in the mail.  Recently, the package included a lovely needlepoint that my mom had made.  It was rolled up, smelled like wood smoke, and was dirty.  I had it dry-cleaned, matted, and framed with glass, and this weekend we hung it on the wall at our Loon Lake cottage.  I remember my mom making this, and I know she'd be glad to know I have it safely now. 

Also in the package was... yup, you guessed it; the ugly lamp.  I agreed to take the lamp with the agreement that nobody would get upset with me for giving it some sort of funky renovation.  My plan is to make it whimsical and multicolored, possibly with colors like turquoise, yellow, and magenta, though that is just my current idea; I could change my mind tomorrow.  But I will not change what my grandfather carved.  In the base of the lamp there are three panels with engraved insignia.  The first panel has an intertwined H and an R, my grandmother Rae and grandfather Harry's first initials.

 The other panels have a Star of David (often called a Jewish Star) and a menorah.  Compared to my grandfather's usual intricate, detailed, sculptural carving, these crude engravings are rather odd.

The lamp, when I received it, was filthy from years of living in storage.    So I figured I'd start by scrubbing it off with some soapy water and a stiff brush.  And suddenly, I discovered there was other paint under the gold. 

 The more I scrubbed, and rinsed, the more of the gold paint came off, and the more red and black I discovered.  I think the red was painted over the black, though I'm not sure.

And then, as I continued scrubbing, the red and black paint (and some white that I presume is a primer) all started to come off too, exposing the bare wood underneath. 

 When I finally stopped scrubbing and rinsing today, this is how the lamp looked. 

 The paint almost completely came off the top of the  lamp, but not around the curves. 

Now that it's drying out, I'm trying to decide how to next proceed.  Can I just spray a coat of primer on the whole thing once it is dry?  Or now that so much paint  has come off, do I have to get off every stitch of the paint, that I wasn't originally planning to remove at all?  (I absolutely HATE doing paint removal.)  I have no idea what kind of paint is on the lamp.  If you, my readers, have done any  similar renovation/restoration projects, I'd love your advice on techniques and materials.  In the meantime, this is how the lamp looks as it is drying out. I'll be posting 'part 2' when the project is complete!