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teaching clay/addition

updated fri 2 mar 12

 

mel jacobson on thu 1 mar 12


one more thing...and this is a real one.
the more activity that goes on in a studio the
more it `increases`.

when i made pots with my kids, and had work and ideas
going on, and good stuff flowing..the kids would double
their effort.
if i got lazy, the kids got lazy. `hey look at what mel
is doing`. `what you doing mel?` `oh, i am going to
make forty plates today.` wowow.
(most often those pieces would go right back into the
school pug mill. i did not do production work at
school...but, the kids got to see me do it.)
`hey mel, that really looks easy. i think i will make
ten plates.` (think of the college program that
requires 5 complete pieces for grading, for a semester.
my kids would make 5 complete every day. i had a rule.
you could not make over 400 pieces in a semester...kids
would crowd that number.

a well oiled, working studio is good for everyone.
it is infectious. when there are simple does and don't's
and a spirit of working together for a common goal....
things get good fast...but, the bottom line is always
`freedom and letting the student be in charge
of their own work. and they learn by the example
of more mature students.` that will always work.
but, a program like that is never going to work for
a lazy teacher.
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/
clayart page below:
http://www.visi.com/~melpots/clayart.html