Fall 2014 Semester Complete

I finished my Fall 2014 semester on Thursday, December 11, 2014 and it was a very rewarding experience for me.  It was a lot of work!  I had almost twice as much course work to complete since I am in Graduate school at UNM.

I love my program in Art Education!  The professors and instructors are very helpful and I believe they have a sincere interest in the students in the Art Education department.  I have been teaching in my profession, clay sculpture since 1985 and I have always wanted to get my Master of Arts with a Teaching Licensure in Art Education.  I waited many years to pursue my goal and I am finally completing my MA degree at UNM.

It will be another year and half before I finish my Graduate program or maybe even longer. I am realizing I need painting and drawing classes plus maybe a photography class too.  I haven't taken those studio classes since the late 1980's and I know I need to brush up on my skills, especially if I am going to teach art education.  My teaching emphasis will be in clay sculpture and pottery but I want to be able to have the skills in all areas as well.

I had to complete 14 clay projects in my Studio Art in Schools: Clay class, however, I am very proud of my Raku fired Hopi Woman and my Raku fired Wedding Vase.  These are those pieces I made this past semester:

Raku Fired Hopi Woman

Raku Fired Wedding Vase

Classes at UNM begin next semester on January 12, 2015 and I will be taking another full-time schedule of classes.  I will only have a month to catch up on all of my unfinished business, so I will busy during my break.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  My son Joseph John Schwebach will be graduating from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Denver, Colorado on December 20, 2014 receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

My Master of Arts in Art Education with a Teaching Licensure Program

Hello Fellow Readers,

I am pursuing a Master of Arts in Art Education with a Teaching Licensure program at the University of New Mexico.  I have taken some time off from my teaching and lecturing, where I have taught with the Senior Arts program in New Mexico, University and Museum programs throughout the United States, after-school programs, and other schools throughout New Mexico and Colorado.

I was accepted into the Graduate program at UNM this summer and I took my first class in Pueblo Pottery, taught by professor Clarence Cruz from San Juan Pueblo, also known as Ohkay Owingeh.  I truly enjoyed the class!  We mined our clay from the Penasco mountains in northern New Mexico, cleaned and prepared our clay, and made our pottery out of the most beautiful red micaceous clay. The summer class was very quick as it was offered for only two months and we did a lot within those two months.  I made three major pieces of pottery along with small pinch pots.  I will post my pottery I made on the blog.

I am working on my first full-time semester at UNM in my Graduate program and I am loving my coursework, although it is a very difficult semester.  I haven't taken full-time coursework since the 1980's and it is completely overwhelming, but I love it.  This is my passion and I have always wanted to get my Masters in Art but I was waiting for my son's (who are all in college) to finish their degrees.  They will be finishing soon and also continuing onto Graduate school, too.

The classes I am taking this semester are:

Art Criticism and Aesthetics for Teachers
Studio Art in Schools:  Clay
Studio Art in Schools:  Digital Arts
Studio Art in Schools:  Drawing, Painting, Collage

These are all Art Education classes and I truly enjoy every class I am taking whole-heartedly.

These pictures are the pottery I made this summer in the Pueblo Pottery class.  They were all made with red micaceous clay and painted with traditional pigments.