Cherie Smith, Altered Book

The strong reaction I had to the process of creating the altered book took me by surprise. I was a little off balance from the beginning. I also had a strong reaction to using the old images and photographs I had brought with me. Even during the final discussion I resisted the impulse to say that my altered book told a story. I only realized in the quiet of my home that every image that ended up in my altered book was a picture of someone who directly influenced my choice to start a master's program and further my education. So my book is telling a story...it is remembering the guides who have led me down this path thus far.

Cherie Smith, Translation to Teaching

There were several ideas that I think would translate well into the museum setting. Primarily I use projects that tie into the overall theme of the tour I am leading. I liked the one page book project as it would work well with several themes that we use. One of the tours is about finding line, shapes and animals on the tour. Then I could use that imagery to have the children create a wax resist drawing of animals we had discussed or found during the tour. After folding the paper and creating the one page book we could talk again about the lines and shapes that make up the original image as well as the story behind it.

Project Book

The project book was theory put into practice for me. Working my ideas out in the book let me put into action many of the exercises and reflect on the various discussions that had taken place. I was surprised by how much clearer it made my ideas seem to me...especially since I tend to go off on tangents when I am working with an new idea. The project book will become an obvious (now) solution to the problems I face when starting a project. Not to mention it ended up being an idea I would be interested in developing further in the future.

Peer Response

Nicole Kirkpartrick's use of lines for her project book was a great concept. The images she was able to create in her book really made the project concept come alive for me. The discussion that followed about the different ways you could play off the concept was in-depth and interesting. I especially liked the idea of switching the material and creating the rope in ceramic and post in a rope material. I think further exploring the use of lines and posts would lead to very relevant sculpture that would be interesting to experience.

Cherie Smith, prompt list

Digging for gold
Nose knows (apparently I was in a nose frame of mind)
Drama queen
Singing a different tune (or thinking about my daughter)
Pigment of your fascination...love this one
All the bits and pieces...the one I went with
Backhanded compliment
Nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof
No holds barred
Here today, gone tomorrow

Cherie Smith, Donut Drawings

I really enjoyed several of the drawing exercises I took part in this week. Picking a favorite was difficult...however...the 1 minute or "donut drawings" are the sketches that I decided to select. I like the ease of obtaining the supplies, the engaging visual cue and the time constraints that forced my eye to start choosing relevant lines to draw. Yes, I did complain (ok, whine) while I was in the middle of drawing. but I will be using this exercise in the future...primarily for myself.

Found Art

These are objects that I have seen for years. Each time I visit my grandparents farm.

Cherie Smith, Color Associations

This project was an interesting stretch for me. I have a tendency to want all my drawings to be "perfect" when I only had approx. one minute to think of something the color on the card reminded me about and then sketch it...perfect and slow was not an option.