Material Mystery

"There’s mystery in materials. There’s something about making. When we draw, we discover. When we sew and sculpt, we slow down. When we scissor and paste, paint and assemble, we consider possibilities, make mistakes, and revise."
from Mystery in Materials by Jeffrey Overstreet, Image Journal, May 26,2011


"What we want in a nice meal is the same thing we want in art or a great conversation. Something with layers, something that took some time."
Heather Sellers, Page After Page

To read Mystery In Materials by Jeffrey Overstreet, click here.

Reading Jeffrey Overstreet's piece, recently featured in Image Journal, reminded me that my 'job' is, in every sense of the word, amazing. Mine is the privilege (and mystery-filled opportunity) of teaching High School students about materials. We live in a world surrounded by materials not of our making. I tell my students, "God creates, man rearranges." And, as Heather Sellers beautifully said, we want art that "took some time."

Here is how Madeline Keller approached these thoughts, step-by-step:

Step 1
Madeline filled four bottles with colored water,
arranged and photographed them

Step 2
Madeline painted the composition in watercolor

Step 3
A cyanotype was produced from the original photograph

Step 4
Madeline pulled a 4-color photo silkscreen from the original photo 


Recent Work
from the Art Room 

Watercolor

Austin Carpenter

Watercolor

Austin Carpenter

Captain Kirk

Acrylic on Canvas

Gabriella Baer

Tree of Life

Serigraph on Wood

Mechal Harward

My Tattoo

Serigraph

Christina Culp

A parting thought-

"The weakest ink is better than the strongest memory."

Chinese Proverb

Another parting thought