Maria Martinez

READ THE INFORMATION BELOW ABOUT MARIA MARTINEZ - AND RESPOND TO TWO OF THE FOLLOWING PROMPTS BY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19th AT 6:00 PM.

MAKE SURE YOUR NAME IS IN YOUR RESPONSE.

PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOUR RESPONSES ARE EACH AT LEAST 5 SENTENCES LONG AND ANSWER ALL THE BULLET-POINT QUESTIONS TO RECEIVE FULL CREDIT!

REMEMBER - THIS IS A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT - DO NOT USE TEXT LANGUAGE!! 

  "Few craft artists, Native American or otherwise, can claim worldwide fame and appreciation, but these accompanied the life of potter Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo. Through her hard work and generous sharing of her techniques, Maria reintroduced the art of pottery making to her people, providing them with a means of artistic expression and for retaining some aspects of the pueblo way of life.

San Ildefonso Pueblo is a quiet community located 20 miles northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Inhabited since A.D. 1300, the pueblo saw many changes that resulted in a rich culture, in which ancient traditions mix with Spanish festivals and Anglo conveniences. Life in the Tewa-speaking village on the Pajarito Plateau is filled with love for one's neighbor and respect for the God-given gifts of the earth. Into this community, at a time of great transition from isolation to increased contact with other peoples, Maria Antonia Montoya was born, probably in the year 1887. For nearly one hundred years, until her death in 1980, Maria lived in the pueblo, eager to greet visitors and to share her craft with those who would like to watch and listen.

Maria's fascination with pottery-making started at a young age, when she would watch her aunt making pots, after her chores were done. Although many women in the pueblo knew how to make pottery, by Maria's time it was no longer a necessary part of daily life. Inexpensive Spanish tinware and Anglo enamelware had replaced traditional containers and cooking pots. In many ways, the art of pottery making was facing extinction. Fortunately, Maria's interest and willingness to experiment with techniques prevented this from occurring.

Not long after her marriage to Julian Martinez, Maria was asked to replicate some pre-historic pottery styles that had been discovered in an archaeological excavation of an ancient pueblo site near San Ildefonso. These excavations of 1908 and 1909, led by Dr. Edgar Lee Hewett (who was also the director of the Museum of New Mexico), produced examples of many pre-historic pottery techniques. Dr. Hewett asked Maria, who already had a reputation in the pueblo for being an excellent pottery-maker, if she could make full-scale examples for the museum of the polychrome ware. It was then that Maria and her husband, Julian (who painted the designs on the pottery after Maria shaped them), began an artistic collaboration that would last throughout their lives together. Part of their success came from their innovations in the style of black-on-black ware. Maria and Julian invented a technique that would allow for areas of the pottery to have a matte finish and other areas to be a glossy jet black. Through experimentation that began in 1919, they created a style that would become world famous.

Part of the unique-ness of San Ildefonso pottery is the clay that is used, which comes from their reservation. Dried clay and volcanic ash are collected yearly from selected locations throughout the reservation, and later combined with water in small batches. The clay from each pueblo has its own mineral composition, allowing for rich differences in texture and color. The watery clay slip that is used on the black wares, for example, has a rich iron content that turns black when fired in a particular way...

Black wares become so in the firing process. This labor-intensive task is done after many pots have been made, to maximize efficiency. Wood and dried cow manure are piled around an iron grill, upon which the pottery has been carefully stacked. The pile is lit and left to burn for a specified amount of time, until the fire has reached its maximum heat. At this time the fire is smothered with ash or fresh manure, producing a smoke-filled reducing atmosphere that turns the pots black. Variations in the process can produce pottery with black areas and red areas, which are also popular.

For many years, Maria and Julian produced their pottery together amid raising a family and carrying out traditional duties for the pueblo. Their children were taught the importance of the craft, and they participated in various ways. Many other family members and people from San Ildefonso continue to make pottery, carrying on the tradition so openly shared by Maria."From http://www.mariapottery.com/

For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Martinez

PROMPT #1

• Look around at professions along with accompanying techniques/tools that people use daily – now imagine that they suddenly became obsolete.
• If you had to choose one profession that you would like to keep alive for future generations – what would it be?
• Why would you choose that profession?
• In 100 years, what do you think people would think of your choice?
• Now look back in time - what profession would you like to bring back? Why?

PROMPT #2

• Look at the San Ildefonso pottery to the right.
• Imagine you were going to create your own piece of pottery using these techniques.
• What shape would your piece of pottery have? Be specific – size, shape of base, body, neck and rim.
• What type of images would you carve into the pottery?
• What areas would you make glossy black?
• What areas would you make matte (non-glossy) black?

PROMPT #3

• Maria and Julian Martinez freely shared their discoveries about creating their beautiful black ware.  Part of this is related to their culture – based upon the importance of community and that what benefits one person benefits the community.
• If you had discovered (or rediscovered) a beautiful and unique technique – that was also technically difficult - that you used in your artwork to worldwide acclaim, would you be inclined to share the technique/process freely?
• Why or why not? 

PROMPT #4

• Imagine that you are a potter who creates pottery similar to San Ildefonso pottery in shape and color, however, you have decided to decorate it with contemporary signs and symbols.
• What type of symbols/signs would you carve into the sides of your pottery? 
• Why would you choose these signs/symbols? Are they personal symbols (with specific meaning for you) or are they more globally understood symbols? 

 

Henry Moore

READ THE INFORMATION ABOUT HENRY MOORE’S SCULPTURE AND RESPOND TO TWO OF THE FOLLOWING PROMPTS BY

MAKE SURE YOUR RESPONSES ARE AT LEAST 5 SENTENCES AND ANSWER ALL OF THE BULLET-POINT QUESTIONS TO RECEIVE FULL CREDIT!!

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU WRITE YOUR NAME IN YOUR RESPONSE!!

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS IS A HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT – NO TEXT-LANGUAGE!

ABSTRACT ART  "...art unconcerned with the literal depiction of things from the visible world" is Abstract Art - this type of artwork can, however, refer to an object or image which has been distilled from the real world, or indeed, another work of art. Artwork that reshapes the natural world for expressive purposes is called abstract"

Abstract Art = dramatically simplified or stylized.

adapted from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstraction#Abstraction_in_art

HENRY MOORE (1898 - 1986 - English Sculptor) became well-known for his larger-scale abstract cast bronze and carved marble sculptures. Substantially supported by the British art establishment, Moore helped to introduce a particular form of modernism to the United Kingdom.

Moore is best known for his abstract monumental bronzes which can be seen in many places around the world as public works of art. The subjects are usually abstractions of the human figure, typically mother-and-child or reclining figures. Apart from a flirtation with family groups in the 1950s, the subject is nearly always a woman.

Characteristically, Moore's figures are pierced, or contain hollow places. Many interpret the undulating form of his reclining figures as references to the landscape and hills of Yorkshire where Moore was born."

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Moore


Prompt 1:

Read the information about Henry Moore and look at his artwork. If you were to create a piece of abstract figurative sculpture, how would you address the following questions?

• Would you use one or more figures?
• What would you try and communicate?
• What kind of texture would you use?
• Would you use color? Why or why not?
• How would you position your figure?
• Would your figure be recognizably male or female or would it be a generic human figure?

Prompt 2:
Henry Moore created abstract figure sculptures based on variations of a reclining female figure and a family group - creating several variations on a theme is called a series. If you were going to choose a theme or subject upon which you would create a series of abstract sculptures:

• What theme or subject would you choose?
• Why did you choose this theme or subject?
• Where would your sculptures be located? Indoors? Outdoors?
• What material would you use - clay, stone, metal, wood? Why?

Prompt 3:

Henry Moore keeps his figures anonymous so that the viewers can see the deeper meaning in the sculptures as opposed to seeing individuals. In this manner, the viewers are able to focus on the larger issues – emotions created by the body language of the figures.

• Choose one of Henry Moore's sculptures (write down the title of the sculpture)
• Describe how he uses body language and positioning to convey emotional meaning
• If more than one figure is in the sculpture, how does Moore create a relationship between them?
• What are the emotions he is trying to communicate?

Prompt 4:

The most important and lasting influence on Moore's work...was the world of nature. “The human figure,” he later wrote, “is what interests me most deeply, but I have found principles of form and rhythm from the study of natural objects, such as pebbles, rocks, bones, trees, plants. In his mature works, beginning with Reclining Figure (1936, City Art Gallery, Wakefield, England), Moore employed swelling shapes, undulating extensions, and rounded indentations that mirror natural forms." from http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761553790/henry_moore.html

• Choose one piece of Henry Moore's sculpture - write down the title and briefly describe the sculpture.
• How does Moore's sculpture reflect his views about nature?
• From his sculpture, what do you think the landscape of Moore's native Yorkshire, England looked like?
• If you were going to create a figurative sculpture that was influenced by your favorite type of landscape, what would it look like and why?