Alisa Liskin Clausen on thu 13 jun 02
Dear Clayart,
The past two weeks I have joined a group of teachers out at a farm =
called Kvistg=E5rd. There are three studios there, one for=20
painting, one for ceramics and one for glass. The school is supported =
by the county. It is a place where teachers and psycologists
work together with a group of young adults. Most of these young people =
have had a tough time, mostly because being a child had
not guarenteed them a childhood. They have very little to no self =
esteem and the school works with them over a period of 6 months
to 2 years, to build them up towards a happy adulthood and a functioning =
lifestyle.
Kvistgard asked me to teach some workshops for the daily students. I =
thought about what could ignite and hold interest.
Raku.
It worked, worked so well, that I feel so much for pride these young =
people and how solid they felt the days we worked together.
We built up work for Raku, anyway they wanted to work. All handbuilt. =
We started with pinching, did coils, and some moved on
to stiff slab work. They all really liked Steve's toothbrush lutting =
technique! I had Steven's book to pass around plus a really basic Raku
hobby book. From the hobby book, they could get ideas for simple =
stencils to build work from and decorative ideas. Steven's book showed
them what to expect when we fired.
Along side our clay work, one of the teachers and some of the students =
built a wood firing raku kiln next to the studio. The students=20
took turns day by day, either building the kiln or studio work. =20
This was one of best experiences I have had working with a group of =
people. The exciting process and immediate results are really something
to blow a great swoosh of enthusiasm and self worth into these young =
adults. In addition, they dealt very reasonably with the losses.=20
Enthusiasm, positive reinforcement and praise. They earned it. Great =
days out there and I look forward to continued work with them.
regards from Alisa in Denmark
Marcia Selsor on thu 13 jun 02
> Dear Alisa,
Your description was great. I always felt teaching ceramics was a means of building self-esteem.
You had a busy day posting you rich information. Thanks for that!
Best regards,
Marcia
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