She brought home some amazing art. JumpstART guarantees a minimum of three completed pieces from each class. In printmaking, that's just what she was able to complete. First, she did a still life that was etched onto plexiglas.
Next, they worked with copper plates which were coated with wax. The etching was done into the wax, and the copper plate was then put in a chemical bath. The plate used for printing resulted from the chemicals eating into the exposed copper. Her first effort with this method was, in fact, her favorite: a facsimile of Stonehenge.
She tried a different technique with the cityscape, and wasn't as pleased.
Sculpture was the more exciting - and demanding - class. She made a metal sculpture using a laborious "lost wax" technique. It started with a wax image that was encased in plaster, then put in an oven for two days to harden the plaster and melt away the wax. Next, molten aluminum was poured into the plaster cast and allowed to cool and harden. The plaster cast was broken away to reveal the metal figure, which was then smoothed and filed into its final form. Pretty intense!
Power tools were next. We now have a huge abstract wooden piece in our family room. Its intricate design is the result of meticulous measuring and careful use of table saw, jigsaw, and brad nailer. Bendable wood strips ("wiggle wood"!), wood glue, and fabric attached with spray adhesive completed this design. Xeda keeps sniffing around, and stepping over and through the graceful curves. I expect her to eventually jump onto the top, but she hasn't yet.
"Found art" sculpture was the next order of business. Sarah gathered some kitchen supplies and took apart an old typewriter and came up with three small pieces. Gotta keep these out of Xeda's reach - she'll eat the ribbon, for sure!
Their last sculpture project was a collaborative work; the class designed and built a pair of inflatables that flanked the entrance to the gallery housing the post-JumpstART exhibit.
Somehow, we ended up with both of these pieces at our house. Watch out, with two box fans and some extension cords, they could end up anywhere!
The JumpstART program kept their students incredibly busy, even when they weren't in class. There were Open Studios to put in extra time on class projects, workshops on dance, acting, photography, screenwriting, and lectures on various art-related topics, as well.
One activity allowed the students to create fashions from recycled materials - like, perhaps, pop-tart wrappers? Sarah was her group's model, and participated in the Recycled Fashion Show at the end of the session.
The Fourth of July took the program participants to the beach, where they had a sand sculpture contest. Sarah's group sculpted a walrus that garnered them third place.
Sarah had a great roommate, made some new friends, and certainly has lots of memories to go along with her new-found skills.
Something tells me she's glad to be home, though. She and Emily are already being silly together. Ah, sisterly bonding...
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