How do we learn to make ceramics? We can easily identify our skills, but how do we quantify our knowledge? Skill and knowledge are two entirely different entities with differing vocabularies, yet they are intimately entwined.
Several years ago, I became intrigued with Art Forms in Nature, a book of drawings by Ernst Haeckel (1834-^9) depicting microscopic creatures such as radiolarians (a type of marine Protozoa), foraminifera, and diatoms.
Kristen Kieffer demonstrating for the New Hampshire Potters Guild at Winnacunnet High School in September 2007.
The primary reason I began teaching was to supplement my art-making income. But I continue to teach because sharing what I love doing is gratifying, and the support and energy are reciprocal.
A short poem by Jack Troy.
"I love teaching; I consider it part of my creative work. But after ten years in a less-than-satisfying position as adjunct professor at a local art school, I needed to do it differently. So in the fall of 2002, I started Red Dirt Seminar; I imagined part-graduate school, part-business-of-art incubator."