Caryl's Art Happenings: 2009

Thursday, December 17, 2009

The goal is to glaze and fire what makes it through the first fire.

The mask making project in Baltimore has been challenging on several levels. The flu has made the attendance of the students spotty and the teacher was out for a week. The clay over dried in that time and most of the pieces cracked. The ones that did not crack, broke on the way from the shelf to the kiln.
We fired what survived on Wednesday......haven't heard from the teacher yet! The goal is to glaze and fire what makes it through the first fire.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Baltimore Ceramic Mask Making Residency

This is definately an exciting opportunity. I am working with an awesome art teacher and students to create "self portrait" masks. I have 4 days with the students, day 1 we worked with clay to cast faces, day two we shared a cool presentation on mask history and current uses from all over the world. We then created unique surface designs for our masks. Here are some pics from the first two of four workshops.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

VIVA Mission Cultural Center! My first Day of the Dead

The Mission Cultural Center in San Fransisco CA is the place where I was first exposed to the Day of the Dead.
http://www.missionculturalcenter.org/

I was invited in 1986 to participate in an exhibition that was called "Rooms for the Dead". Each of 25 artists were invited to create an artwork inspired by the traditional Dia de los Muertos alters.
I see on their website that this has become a tradition at the center.
http://www.missionculturalcenter.org/call-to-artists.html

Fact about Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead Dia de Muertos
Common Misconceptions About

The Day of the Dead Celebration

by May Herz

It is not the Mexican version of Halloween. Mexicans have celebrated the Day of the Dead since the year 1800 B.C.

It is not scary or morbid. There are no images of dead people, ghosts, witches, or the devil.

It is not a cult. This ritual has nothing to do with cults. It is a Catholic Christian ritual intermixed with folk culture. Going to mass is an essential aspect of this celebration.

It doesn’t honor death, but our dead relatives. We welcome the opportunity to reflect upon our lives, our heritage, our ancestors and the meaning and purpose of our own existence.

Altars or ofrendas are not for worshiping but for offering our love and remembering our departed family members.

It is not a sad ritual. It’s a day of happiness because we will be remembering our loved ones. Although when in the graveyard, people assume an introspective attitude.

It is about Love not Fear.
It is not a “strange” ritual. It is very similar to going to a grave and leaving flowers or stuffed animals, lighting a candle to remember the deceased.

It is not a careless or fearless confrontation of death.
It is a moment to reflect upon one’s life and the cycle of life and death.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

blick's commitment to being green

While shopping on Dick Blick's site this evening I came across a page called "blick's commitment to being green" I had to laugh! Take a look at the last shipment of supplies that I received from them!