Residency- Children’s Residential Treatment Center with Carmen Elate- 1.5 Hours
My Monday at the Treatment Center got cancelled because Carmen wasn’t going to be around and the classes are very short so she thought it would just be more worthwhile to just come in on that Thursday. Thursday was Valentines Day so I planned in advance to make the students little valentines using a new printing technique that I am learning: intaglio.
The kids were super excited when they got the valentines and I used this print to explain how this form of printmaking works. I have been in between a lot of subjects that I want to do my lesson on because even though I am an illustrator, I dabble in a lot of mediums. I have been doing a bit of research on how to do printmaking without sharp tools or fancy presses. The students have access to sharp tools but I would honestly rather keep that out of the equation since the classroom isn’t made for print making anyway. When I told Carmen about this she gave me a small book that she had about unconventional printmaking that I am going to read and maybe come up with a way to use one of these methods in my lesson.
We spent the most of the class just hanging around and making valentines with fun tape and paper. I am using the time that I have there to get to know the students and connect with them so that I can find the best way to teach them appropriately. One of the students I talked to really wants to go to MCAD when they leave the treatment center and I thought that was pretty neat and they showed me a bit of their sketchbook. I took some pictures of the valentines that we made together.
We had a great time with glitter if you couldn’t tell. Carmen has lots of random supplies and me and another student worked together to make valentines for her family who was coming to visit the next day.
A few of the students were finishing up their novels that they wrote for a novel writing challenge that happened in November. A lot of them were really invested in finishing their stories and now Carmen is going to print the books through a website. The only issue is that the website doesn’t allow them to put the cover that they want on the book so it is my job this week to make a template for the students to put their cover of choice on the printed version of their novel.
I am excited to get there next week and see what else they are up to! As a bonus, I saw a turkey very close to the center out in the snow and took a picture!
