Meaning

Piece Number One

Every year is different. Every year is the same. School starts in August. It's like stepping onto a moving record turntable. When I was little, we went to an amusement park that actually had a giant turntable. About thirty kids would sit on it. They would start it up slowly. You would have to hang on, like grim death, or be thrown into a padded wall. The problem: Was centrifugal force stronger than you? The last person still on the wheel was the winner. Well, that's the school year. It's insanely busy. There isn't a day during the week, when I'm not working. There isn't a day when I'm not thinking about how to deal with certain situations. It's overwhelming, particularly at specific times of the year, like conference or report card times. In many ways, it's like pausing to get a sip of water, but from a firehose. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. But, then June happens. Everything comes to an abrupt halt. The turntable has been turned off, and the lid closed. There are no more connections or conversations. I live alone, so I immediately become quickly isolated. On years when I participate in Open Studios, my days have a rhythm and a schedule. But, then there are other days when I become a complete loafer, and accomplish next to nothing. Before I had a kiln, I was an obsessive reader, and house decorator. When I visit stores, or friends, I talk non-stop. I'm chatty and gregarious, which are disturbing qualities for an avowed introvert. Usually, I haven't talked to anyone in days. It's easy to get depressed and fatigued. Then, the turntable starts up again at the end of August. And, it gets going full blast with setting up the classroom, and meeting students and parents.

This piece has lots of circles. There are records and sawblades. There is a globe that spins, showing the passage of time. It's lined, to show motion or speed. The child's chair and the doll head connect to work with children. There are also spools, washers, connectors, and a tornado-like funnel.

Piece Number Two

Working with children is a nurturing profession. I have no children, but I protect and educate the children of others. Each child is in my care for seven hours each day, five days a week. It's my job to teach all of the subject content areas. But, it's also my job to teach caring, self-control, friendship, kindness, social skills, and more. Some children see me more during the year, than they see their parents. I know each child. I read their journals, I listen as they tell me about a mom dying from cancer, or about their parents getting a divorce. They take risks for me, they tell me funny stories or jokes, they share who they are to the core, they do what I ask, they try their best, they are brave and daring. Our school and the classrooms are places of safety, or so we hope. Birds are protectors of their young. I once had a gorgeous hummingbird nest in my magnolia tree. The female bird would distract me, to protect her young. She divebombed me repeatedly. She and her mate raised the babies until they flew off, and were gone one day. I feel lucky to be a protector. This will be my 21st year in the classroom. The students leave, at the end of the year. The relationship lasts though. 

I used a found nest that my teacher brought into class. I made three nests out of clay. And, I wove two baskets using leaves, jute, branches, and raffia. The cabinet is a found object.

Piece Number Three

At one time, I started a "happy jar". I filled it with notes from students, parents, friends, and family. It had a narrow top, and so in order to read any of the notes, I would have had to break the jar. But, I really liked the jar, still do. So, I've never smashed the glass. But, glancing at it, is a sort of shorthand for gratitude. I look at it, and I'm aware of the blessing of connection. Our teacher donated these cool jars to our found object resource tables. I took them home, and created some stoppers out of clay. The designs were made with some found object Hungarian wallpaper rollers that I scored at the flea market back in June. I pressed the rollers across some clay, fired it, and then used that as a mold for wet clay. The stoppers are firing in the kiln right now. I'm hoping to use these as smaller "happy jars".

This class has been great. I learned a lot about tools, hardware, gluing, and attaching. I learned to think about "why" I'm making something. Mostly, as with all classes, I learned about myself. And, about my drive to create objects.