Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The Teacher Will Always Be a Student

It really is hard to explain the beauty of watching someone else learn. I seriously wish we had a constant lightbulb over our heads so when we had a terrific moment of understanding the light would pop on. But that may just be a little silly.

I think one of the many reasons I love teaching kids, is I can randomly start talking in hashtags and not only do they not get annoyed but they think its funny. Someone drops something on the ground- "hashtag whoops!" Either they give me a nice pity laugh or they actually think it's funny. Either way I honestly don't care.

It is also hard to explain the beauty in teaching someone a skill. When teaching, you gain a whole new level of humility, your talents and skills are tested based on how well someone else does. When they are confused, it's your fault. This is the constant fear and anxiety I was feeling throughout my first experience teaching art. On top of that, when you are so passionate and in love with art you want more than anything for them to love it as much as you do. The first day of camp I really should have invested in a paper bag because I was freaking out. I had twelve kids' artistic integrity in the palm of my hands. Their artistic fate was up to me. Yes, yes I do realize that is extremely dramatic and completely untrue. But not completely, it was my job to inspire these kids and let them leave feeling accomplished.


These last 6 months I have been planning and organizing an art camp for 6th-9th graders and it was judgement time. I had twelve campers signed up. I created the idea for this camp three years ago and I had put on a similar camp. I called it CPR for the arts. I realize that is kind of a lame title but it does have significant meaning to me. Over the last 10 years schools have slowly been cutting art programs and really not showing the importance of having an artistic education. Kids also have this strange idea that you have to be naturally talented at art in order to pursue it. So I felt that attention to the arts needed  a mouth to mouth resuscitation. I want kids to see the beauty in art. I want them to express themselves without focusing on "who's the best." However, I am debating changing the name because I get quite a bit of strange looks.

In order to put on an event like this, I couldn't imagine doing this alone. If you've seen Anchorman, when Ron Burgandy yells "news team assemble"- I kind of found people in a similar way, without a conch shell or a magnificent suit. It was more of an "artists assemble" so basically nothing like Anchorman...anyway.

Basically I assembled an excellent team of artists and came up with five activities for us to do through out the week: tie-dye, watercolor painting, knitting, and mixed media collages. I wanted to do a variety of mediums and each artist I had helping were extremely talented in these areas. I had my high school art teacher, Julie Thomas and my two art friends Sarah Power and Brianna Schreiner. All three of these women are immensely talented and we have watched each other grow as artists through the years.

(Sarah posing for the girls to sketch)                                                      (Bri going over painting)


Now, the planning was only one step. The kids coming and participating was a whole other ball game. For some unfortunate reason, we had no boys. We called it our he-man-man-hater-club, like from The Little Rascals but the girl version. We thought it was very funny. But I had a lovely group of girls.

Just a fair warning, I am about to get all mushy.

It was so amazing to watch these girls interact with one another and create art. They all had their own style and amazing imagination. After the first day of craziness settled down, we all molded into place. We got a steady routine and really started to connect with one another. I can't even express the feeling I got when we taught them a new skill and watched how they applied it on their own. It was truly irreplaceable.

One day, we did a critique of each others work. Most people hate critique. It is often not a self-esteem booster but every artist has to know not everyone will like your work. I honestly was in shock after the critique, these girls gave a dignified college level critique. They were critical in a constructive manner. There was a 10 year old who did a better job critiquing than some of the kids in my college art classes.




I know it sounds all cliche and beautiful but it was so hard. I wanted the girls to have a rewarding experience from this camp and the pressure was really on for me. Let me just tell you, NEVER try to teach 12 girls how to knit by yourself. It is somewhat like trying to teach a fish to fly. Basically, you have to teach each girl one-on-one and then continually being called over to help while you are teaching the next girl. That, I will say was my downfall during the camp. But, I am pleased to say, they all learned to knit by the end of the week. One girls headband kept getting smaller and smaller so she asked if she could turn it into a volcano...well yah sounds super. In the art biz, we call those happy accidents.

On the last day, there was an art show for family and friends to see all of their beautiful work. It was a great moment to see all of the beautiful work they created. All of the girls sat behind their work and talked about it as people walked by. Oh man! Tearing up!

I honestly could go on forever about how wonderful of an experience this was for me. But no one wants to read all of that...so I won't. But I really think the moral of the story is that these girls probably taught me more this week than they realize. I learned to be patient, I learned to keep a paper bag in my purse in case of hyperventilation, I learned to be inspiring, to be tough, to laugh, to smile, to teach, and always to be learning. We can always learn from other even when we are the ones teaching.

Here are some pictures from my little adventure:










Saturday, June 29, 2013

Pinky up Y'all

Strawberry Mousse Cake




Now, I don't want to get all cheesy and romantic about baking a cake but really now, when the flower hits all of that soupy gross eggy concoction it really turns into something beautiful. It gets thick and full giving it the potential of being a successful cake. Does that mean it will be successful? No. No it does not. That's just my own two cents.

Have you ever made a strawberry mousse cake? Yah, me either. And yes ... I realize I just asked a question and answered it for you like Dora the Explorer.

As of lately and when I say lately I mean like over the last few years (when many girls, old ladies, and moms discovered Pinterest) I became an addicted pinner. Hi, I am Hannah and I am a pinoholic. Anyway, I have discovered many recipes. A lot of them are misleading and mean and the pictures are completely unrealistic. Yet I continue to bake from it. I came across the strawberry mousse cake (credit to http://www.beccas-baking-blog.com/2013/06/strawberry-mousse-cake.html)

It looked absolutely fancy and elegant. Two things which I am not. And I tend to overcompensate with my baking.

You know how they say people who are good at gardening have a green thumb? Well I am perfectly adequate at baking so what does that make me? A red thumb for the hot fires of the oven? No.  Just no. That was dumb. Plus I don't deserve a colorful thumb till I am more than just adequate. Ok but don't you hate those people who are just naturally good at things? I can honestly say I am NOT a natural baker. It's taking me many batches of salty cookies that were more similar to biscuits. What was a recipe anyway? It took me many years to realize what exactly a recipe did. And what exactly flour and baking soda contribute to a recipe.

Now, back on track. For this cake I had to make a white chocolate collar for the cake. I've never made a collar before. I know baking is considered an art but I am not taking this cake for a walk around the block. The general idea of the collar is to hold in the mousse before it fully chills.


As for the mousse, I have already mentioned I am not a fancy person so, no, I have never made mousse. It honestly scares the crap out of me and I am writing this as I impatiently wait for this cake to chill overnight. So for all I know this might be a humbling failure post. We shall see...

The cake part was easy. That's all I have to say about that. I am hoping you read that in a Forest Gump accent. If not it's ok. I make myself laugh more than I make others laugh.

Ahhhh!! It turned out SO much better than I thought. I am feelin' pretty dang fancy. Pinky up y'all and lets eat us some mousse cake. 



Cake Instructions:

(Also, European recipes are annoying...)
   1 large egg
   Caster sugar - 2oz
   Unsalted butter - 2oz
   Self raising flour - 2oz
   1 tsp vanilla extract 
1.            Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line one 15cm/6inch round cake tin.
2.            Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until fluffy and pale.
3.            Separate the egg and whisk the yolk and vanilla together in a jug and add to the butter mix a little at a time, folding it in to add air to the mixture.
4.            Sift in the flour and fold that in also.
5.            Whisk the egg whites into soft peaks and then fold those into the batter until you cannot see any white in the mixture.
6.            Spoon into the cake tin and smooth evenly.  Make a dip in the centre of the mixture with a spoon so the cake bakes flat.
7.            Bake for 25-30 minutes, until risen and springy and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
8.            Allow to cool in its tin before removing and plating it. 

Chocolate Collar Instructions:
   60g/2oz white chocolate chips
   20g/0.7g strawberry chocolate buttons
1.            Melt the chocolate in two heatproof bowls over saucepans of gently simmering water.
2.            Meanwhile, use a piece of string or a measuring tape to measure the circumference of the cake (should be about 48cm/19inches).
3.            Cut out a strip of greaseproof paper which is 1cm/0.5inches longer than the length you measured and 7.5cm/3inches tall.
4.            Use pastry brushes to coat the paper with the chocolate, creating thick stripes with the white chocolate and thin ones with the strawberry, trying to space them evenly.  Be sure to make the coating as thick as possible and use all the chocolate.  Paint right to the edge of one short side and both long sides.  Leave 1cm/0.5inches uncoated on the other short side.
5.            Allow to firm up slightly, so that the chocolate has thickened and is no longer runny.
6.            Carefully place the strip around the cake.  Make sure the base of the strip touches the plate and the two short ends match up.  Press against the cake to make sure there are no gaps between it and the chocolate collar or the filling will escape.
7.            Chill in the fridge. 
Chocolate Mousse Instructions: 

   125g/4.5oz strawberries, plus 7 for decorating
   1 tbsp lemon juice
   115g/4oz white chocolate chips
   1/2 tbsp gelatin
   25ml/1fl.oz warm water
   225ml/8fl.oz double cream
   15g/0.5oz icing sugar 
   Pink food colouring (optional)
1.            Cut the tops off the strawberries and then blend into a purée in a food processor or using a stick blender.
2.            Pass the purée through a fine meshed sieve into a clean bowl to remove any excess pulp and seeds.
3.            Add the lemon juice and mix in.
4.            Melt the chocolate chips in a large, heatproof bowl placed over a pan of lightly simmering water.  Set aside.
5.            Add the gelatin to the 1 fl oz water and leave for a few minutes.
6.            Put 65ml/2fl.oz into a saucepan with the icing sugar and sit over a gentle heat until it is warm.
7.            Add the gelatin and stir continuously over the low heat for 5 minutes so the gelatin dissolves.  DO NOT LET IT BOIL.
8.            Pour the cream/gelatin mix into the white chocolate and beat until it is smooth.
9.            Add the purée and mix in.  At this stage you can add a couple of drops of pink colouring if you wish to brighten up the colour.
10.        Whip the remaining cream into soft peaks and then fold into the chocolate mix until incorporated.
11.        Pour on top of the cake.  If you want, drop five drops of food colouring at random points on the mousse and use a toothpick/skewer to swirl them into a pattern.
12.        Return to the fridge and leave to set for about 3 hours.
13.        Carefully remove the greaseproof paper from the chocolate collar.  It should come away easily if the chocolate is thick enough.
14.        Cut the tops off the remaining strawberries.  Place six of them around the outside of the cake.  Cut the last one into six pieces lengthwise and arrange into a star pattern in the centre of the cake.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

#NoFilter


I’m in love with the fact that there is a knitting vogue and a mystery novel dedicated to knitting. I absolutely adore that in Harry Potter, they reference knitting more than three times. The old lady with the knitting tattoo is absolutely my hero. And of course I only wish my town had a knitathon like they had in Gilmore Girls. 

This summer I will be hosting a knitting club with some senior citizens and I am completely stoked. Old ladies at church always swarm around me when I knit, dumbfounded that a teenager is knitting. I love it. 




A very expressive type of art that I learned at an art camp is altered books. You take an old book that the library was planning to recycle and draw in it and kind of make it like an artistic journal. One of my teachers called it "art masturbation" because it is completely for you. Not the most eloquent way of putting it but glitter is also considered "the herpes" of arts supplies because it will never go away. Needless to say there is no filter when it comes to art. We tell it like it is. 
(I collaged drawings and doodles I had done in class, along with cut outs of this vintage wallpaper)

(I drew the tree in the book and used cut outs from the vintage wallpaper, along with spray painting over lace for the background.)

 
(I spray painted over lace on the left side and left the pictures of the old cowboys. The book I used was an old western history book. On the right I used old pictures from when I was little laid on top of red tissue paper.)