The Summer of Installation: Intervention

Summers in high school were spent renovating houses with my grandfather. I loved being his apprentice even though he often challenged me with tasks I was unsure I could handle. Whenever a problem seemed too difficult for me, he would encourage me to enjoy the process. I have adopted this as my own mantra for challenging situations. If I take the time to enjoy the process then I know I have learned something, I have worked through a problem, I have made a difficult time a little more pleasurable. This mantra also takes the pressure off of an end product. Does it really matter that I made a masterpiece, as long as I enjoyed the journey to make it?

As a teacher, I naturally want to show others how to enjoy the process. I have a particular style of printing on clay that I think is a very fun process. It is also a process that is very versatile. I wanted to give others the chance to explore this method, and where better to do that than outdoors?! I recently began exploring printing on nature and wanted to share this with others. It is like putting your own temporary tattoo on the world, without worrying about permanent damage to property or land. My nature prints fit well onto weathered old trees where the bark has peeled back. It is as if the print was always under the bark, waiting to be revealed.

Even more interesting was the gradual decay of the print as rain and heat washed and blistered the slip, creating new textures and depth.

I envision this as a class project. I would allow students the opportunity to create, print, and document their own prints in nature.