Some background about myself in regards to art and working with my hands, and a little personal context sprinkled throughout. I’ve been making art since I can remember. It’s been something that I’ve been naturally drawn to and my hands have just taken to on their own.
Elementary School
In elementary school, I have my first memories of ceramics and art as a form of expression. A native American art teacher named Jim Price was my first Obi Wan. He played a major role in steering me towards the arts. We were exposed to all sorts of fun techniques from clay to paper mache sculpture, water color (markers) to bead necklace assembly, Jim always had something fun for us to do. We (my older brother and eventually my little sister too) would go to his classroom afterschool, I think my parents worked something out with Jim so that he could watch us afterschool while they finished work. We didn’t know any better and just thought it was a fun thing to do after school was out. We made pinch pots, colored in coloring books until we were picked up.
Then, one day, I receive a letter in the mail saying I was selected to audition for a magnet arts program. I think Jim was the one to send it but I decided to go Into the music program. Why? I dont know. So I completed elementary school in the music program learning to read music and play various intruments.
Middle School
Middle school saw me enter into the magnet art program. In the 3 years that I participated in that program, we learned everything that a first year college art student learns and more. We were exposed to a buffet table of techniques, art history, color theory, the art criticism process, and mediums a plenty.
Print making, ink drawing, silver print and film photography, painting, ceramics, water color, charcoal, color pencil; you name it, we tried it. It was a boot camp for what awaited in high school and college. It was here that I made my first turtle. I am very grateful for what I learned I those 3 years and use a lot of that knowledge to this day.
High School
High school was an entirely different beast. First year we briefly covered the 3 previous years worth of education picked up in middle school and applied it to more complex projects. Color theory became applied palette mixing, we were assigned tasks based on a technique which challenged the established skillset with vague instructions. This forced us to not just regurgitate methodology, but consider how it’s exercised to fit a particular assignment. Case In point, a project called 50 words. The teacher gave us all a sheet with 50 words written on it. The assignment was to create a composition in pencil with all 50 words included in the piece.
I wish I still had the list but I’m guessing you can gather some of them from the picture above.
Second year in high school allowed us a little more flexibility to expand our interests. We could chose to go to a photo class, a ceramics class, or remain in general fine art class for the magnet program. I chose ceramics simply because I had fun with it before. In doing so, a path was chosen that would ultimately see me become the first person in my family with an American college degree. I excelled in ceramics. I’m very good with my hands. Of course, I still took general art courses but ceramics became my focus.
I became obsessed with making things out of clay. The ceramic teacher, a man sharing a name with famous pirate Bill Kidd, would become the Yoda to my artistic pursuit and trained me the best way he knew how, “just watch me do it, then you do it”. So I watched, tried, failed, watched again, tried again, and failed again until I finally got the hang of it.
Third year we were given the choice to continue general art or slide into a focus. I chose ceramics again, this time to have the art curriculum purely within the ceramic studio. Because of this, 2 of the 6 classes in my schedule were ceramics so I had the opportunity to play with clay every day. This is where skill development took place. I spent the whole year fine tuning what I knew and picking up as many tricks as possible from Yoda.
Fourth year, as a senior, I was faced with a unique scenario. The summer before senior year, I had the opportunity to work on a play for the Miami Children’s Theater helping to create the set for “Seussical the Musical”. It just so happened that my ceramics teacher and the school’s magnet theater teacher were married. She got wind that I had some experience working on sets and convinced me to join the magnet theater program. I was one of a handful of magnet students in the history of the school to have been enrolled as a dual magnet student. One ceramics class, one theater class. I worked the school’s sets that year for “The Diary of Anne Frank” and some simple traveling set pieces for “Godspell”.
I still kept up with my ceramic discipline all while taking a crash course in technical theater and set design. This would wind up paying off with a job offer from a production company, small, but significant in my eyes. The most important decision in my life at this point was the crossroads that I was approaching when this offer happened.
The Stage of Life
Shakespeare inspired name, hearts so big, it is difficult to quantify. James and Marty came to see the “The Diary of Anne Frank” that last year of high school. There is a whole story as to why the owners of a stage production company would go see a high school play, but it’s not entirely relevant to the story. Point is, they were impressed. They wanted to meet the crew after the opening night which consisted of the lighting tech and very good friend of mine from childhood, and myself as the stage hand responsible for the set. There were other crew members but they were interested in lights and set. They offered us a gig putting a small production together and we both agreed. Damn girl, we go way back! Hope NYC is treating you well. Merde! We built and lit various sets and events with Stage of Life Productions. It wouldn’t be the last time I did theater work but it was the most fun I’ve had doing it. This was one path in the crossroads that made itself available to me when the next road opened up.
Path to College
I was ignorant about college and both the theater and ceramics teachers encouraged application to any and every school. I initially started applying as a technical theater interest but I did not have a strong enough background to generate any buzz from recruiters. It was still early on in the school year so, with the help of Bill Yoda Kidd, I put together a ceramics portfolio. Yoda must have seen something that caused him to go above the norm. He set up a one on one interview with a recruiter from the top ceramics college in the country, just for me. All eggs in one basket, the recruiter agreed to meet and interview. I had no idea what I was doing. I just spoke to her as if it were a standard critique. She encouraged me to apply to The Kansas City Art Institute, a four year college of art and design. She told me that if I applied, the coveted full tuition scholarship was in the bag. So I applied, One day, in the spring of 2007, I received a call from the recruiter and the scholarship board. I was going to college in the fall, on the house. My parents had no idea what I was up to. They assumed I would go into the work force right out of high school because we had no money for college, we barely had money to keep a roof over our heads. I approached my mom one night after school and told her that I wanted to go to college, and that I applied, and that I got into a prestigious school for what I wanted to study. Watching her face turn sad knowing that she was about to dissapoint me by telling me no, we can’t afford it about killed me. Before she could get a word out, I told her “You dont have to pay a cent for it, I leave in August.”. I have never seen my mom cry the way she did that night, and have not since then. I would be the first to jump from the nest.
Summer Before College
Up to this point in my life, I had never worked a regular job. It was always something odd. Car washes, construction and remodeling, children’s event worker, catering worker, stage manager and construction, and now a jet engine parts cleaner. It was simple work that anyone can be trained do. I did that for the summer and picked up some experience and source material that would come in useful later on, both in college and life after.
College at KCAI
This needs it own page. It will take me some time to get that done.
Oicata Ceramics 