I loved to draw

I enjoyed art class in junior high and high school.  I started to explore my love of art as a kid. I asked my mom if I could take a class. I took a ceramics class in town. My mom would pick me up and drop me off.   Nikki Eicker was a local ceramic artist who taught classes.  She was young, about 30, with a family.  I remember thinking that her husband was so handsome.  Nikki taught classes from her studio two days a week.  Her husband had converted their garage into a work shop and art studio. She even had an oven called a kiln to heat the clay body to temperatures ranging from 1800–2400°F (1000–1300°C), depending on the type of clay we were using.  There are different types of clays such as Earthenware on the lower end of the spectrum, and stone wares on the upper. The firing process gives permanency to our work; without it, the beautiful ceramic bowl you just made will turn back into mud as soon as water touches it. There were five of us in the class; the other four students were older woman.  I was just 13. But I enjoyed learned and being creative.   She had many molds in her studio. Some of the other advanced students made greenware molds themselves.  Greenware is the term given to clay objects when they have been shaped but have not yet been bisque fired, which converts them from clay to ceramic. Greenware may be in any of the stages of drying: wet, damp, soft leather-hard, leather-hard, stiff leather-hard, dry, and bone dry.  Greenware is very fragile, and must be very carefully loaded into the kiln for its first firing.
She taught color and painting techniques.  My favorite was learning to add shadow and highlight to my work. It really made the piece come to life. She was very patient after all I was only a kid.   I made several projects including a set of owls that I gave to my mother.  My mother liked owls and collected them.  She enjoyed my art. I enjoyed the classes and being able to do something on my own.  I didn’t get many opportunities to do things alone. It was always a group activity with my other siblings. 

I drew this while at work.  TCF

 I continued my art classes in high school. I loved to draw and learn art techniques. I took two years of art instruction.    I had a great teacher, Mrs. Beebe.  She was older woman who loved the southwest culture and enjoyed wearing turquoise jewelry.  She was like a grandmother to all her students. She really enjoyed teaching art.  She taught many different mediums including carving linoleum tiles, watercolor, pencil, pastels, and collage /paper art.   My two favorite mediums are pen & ink and charcoal pencils. I spent my sophomore and junior years in Mrs. Beebe’s class.  I was able to complete several projects.  Many of the techniques I learned I still think about when I draw today.  I even submitted some of my class projects into the local art show.  I won first place for an ink drawing I did.  And the small scale miniature house I create received honorable mention.  My true love was drawing landscapes and trees.  I loved the range of light and shadow that you could create with a charcoal pencil drawing.  I still remember Mrs. Beebe’s voice every time I draw a tree. She would remind me to consider the squirrels; Is my tree pretty enough for the squirrels to climb?  And the space where to branches intersect need to be rounded so the squirrel needs a place to sit.  

Maybe I should take another art class.