Episode 814

- In this edition of Arteffects, a healing art studio.

(calm music) - [Katie] For me, teaching is na I'm in my element.

- [Beth] Visualizing poetry.

- I always describe the exhibit as an opportunity to walk with me as a poet, as a practitioner, as an artist, and as an entrepre - [Beth] Transforming a medical device into a work of art.

- I can't help them in a medical I can't help them, you know, every day on a personal level.

But I figure if I can use my talent to help this way that really makes me happy.

- [Beth] And a local artist combines glass and flame to shape unique works of art.

- Art to me is adherence to a fo - It's all ahead on this edition of Arteffects.

(lively music) - [Narrator] Funding for Arteffects is made possible by, Sandy Raffealli with Bill Pearce Meg and Dillard Myers, Heidemarie Rochlin, in memory of Sue McDowell, and by the annual contributions of PBS Reno members.

- Hello, I'm Beth MacMillan and welcome to Arteffects.

Art is well known to be a way fo to channel their creativity but it's also a way to nurture and heal your soul.

That is the thought process behind Copper Cat Studio in Spar Let's learn how the instructors of this healing art studio provide a large variety of works to help you discover your inner (lively music) - So, just a reminder, we're going to start out with powder.

Four parts powder, one part wate - For me, teaching is natural.

I'm in my element teaching, whether it's a mosaics or yoga.

Something like this always makes me nervous.

If I'm put in a one of those sit where you have to say, my name is Katie, I own Copper C that always makes me nervous, but put me in front of a room full of mosaic students or in front of a class for yoga and I'm in my element.

- It will stain the sides of your wood if you're using wood but it won't stick to the sides of your wood.

If you've been to a craft fair in the last 10 years, you've seen my mosaics.

They're the ones with the words and the phrases and everybody knows those mosaic But my main focus is facilitating the workshops just because right now they're s that we're just packing the sche Copper Cat Studio is a artist wo (lively music) We also have a gift shop and gal that represents about 25 different local artists.

We sell mosaic supplies.

We also sell stained glass suppl We sell fused glass supplies.

Mainly it's a workshop space.

So I not only teach mosaic class but I have probably 10 or 12 different artists who come in and teach their medi Donna, who is an artist here who has a studio within the stud she teaches glass fusion and mix We also have everything from wire wrapping to jewelry making, silk painting, water marbling, gouache painting, gourd art, basket making, soap m needle felting, wet felting, (Katie laughs) lots.

Usually we have about 20 workshops a month.

And so I teach three or four mosaic workshops.

And then every Wednesday we have what's called open studio.

And then we have anywhere from 10, 15, or so other workshops with other artists.

(calm music) So another class we have to offer is the Dutch pour, and it's just a method of pouring different colors of acry and then manipulating it.

And students just love it.

It's very dynamic, very bright, and colorful, and it's a quick thing and it's something that you can do at home.

Another class that we offer and we do two or three a month of is glass fusion.

It's very technical and you have to have specific tools you have to have the kiln.

So that's a good example of a cl where students come here and they're probably not gonna continue on at home with it unless they they purchase a kiln Why we call ourselves a healing is because art is very therapeut After the last few years of COVI that really came into play because people wanted a safe place to come and create, come and get away from the craziness of life.

We've got a lot of people who are recently retired who are just looking to, you know, try new things.

We've got a lot of healthcare wo We've got a lot of school teache who come here to get away from stressful jobs.

What I run into a lot as an inst people who have that one art teacher in their childhood who said, that's not art.

Sky shouldn't be green, it has t You know, very specific things and that sticks with you forever And just trying to kind of unwind that narrative that they've been telling themse And I think that that's what's p for us as instructors, is to see people just kind of let that anxiety about what they think is art unravel a little bit and start to enjoy it.

And actually like, oh, I'm good (Katie laughs) I don't know, I think when someb nurture their creative side they leave here feeling a little bit lighter and that's a ripple effect into our community.

- Check out Copper Cat's upcoming workshops at CopperCatStudio.com.

Walking With Words is a collaborative exhibition in which humanity, community, in and diversity are celebrated.

Graphic design students from the University of Dayton got together to visualize the poetry of artist Sierra Leone.

We head to Dayton, Ohio for the (calm music) - [Narrator] Walk with me through a city within a city.

Walls holding a cornucopia of he Passageways and corridors filled with antique joy and treasured wisdom.

- The Hub is really designed to an immersive, experiential learning platform for students as well as a space for startups to really develop and grow.

The Hub is a joint venture between the University of Dayton and Dayton's Entrepreneur Center And it really creates this unique blend of active businesse who are there every day working and students coming in to take class on a daily basis and making those connections.

We want the Hub to be a space for everybody.

So the idea of a community artist in residence really seemed like a natural fit - Sierra Leone is the first artist in residence for the Hub.

And so we were talking to Sierra about doing a piece for us for the opening.

Sierra's work also speaks directly to the city of Dayton.

A lot of her poems, all of the things that she does really talks about space and pla but also can speak to the vision of what we hope the space to bec not just where we are now but where we see the space growi - My vision was to write the commission poem, but the vision that was a much greater vision was the commission of a body of was to work with students, was to form alliances and spaces that I had never been in.

- Luckily Sierra is that first artist in residence.

She has also had experience on her own working in education settings.

And so we thought that that woul a great opportunity for her to c and kind of work directly with the students on the things that they're learning in class but also just her life experience as an artist.

- The first charge for the stude was to create a 24 by 36 poster.

There's a lot more at stake when you are visualizing someone someone's like inner feelings and life's work.

- This whole process for me has felt very vulnerable.

I think anytime a poet is going to put themselves on displ you are so vulnerable.

You are saying to the world, I'm healed enough for you to look at me fully, completely, and to judge that.

(lively music) - I gave the students the whole body of work over a weekend and I said you're gonna read all and then Sierra will come in and tell you the background stor and then do a spoken word reading of that chosen poem.

So I feel like that connection for them with her and then getting all that background information it's just great resource for the 'cause they're thinking about image making, they're thinking about inflectio When did you audibly hear her ge When did she get softer?

When did she feel abrupt?

When could you see a punctuation or a shift in the line break?

So typographically speaking the whole time they're trying to think about, is that bold?

Does a color come to mind?

And then they had the larger ins as group projects.

So they had to learn what it was like to design independently but as a whole, because your work is gonna affect everyone else's work when you're exhibiting it togeth And then what it's like to have to come together under the same pressures and now design this whole new th with this material that's gigant that's more environmental.

She also had a whole another layer with QR codes.

So if you were walking up to the you could hear her deliver it and do her spoken word of the po And I think it just gave it a whole different dimension of e walking with words.

It's like, oh, how do we move the body through?

How can you use type and languag to move someone through a space?

Extracting those moments, being playful with it in this space was really exciting.

- You think of poetry, you think you think of page, you think of something that's ve but this overall exhibit really heightens that to a new level of adding in audio, adding in visual.

You can sense it and you can tou in ways that you don't typically think about when you think about poetry.

- I want you to imagine giving s a Word document and this is what you get in retu I always describe the exhibit as an opportunity to walk with me as a poet, as a practitioner, as an artist, and as an entrepre It's my perspective, it's my lived experiences and voice.

So it is a piece of me, every single step of the way.

- I think the additional beauty of the exhibit is that it's not just in the Hub It flows beyond the walls and it impacts the rest of the Dayton community.

- Walk with me.

Walk with my words.

Walk as a Spirit of a Flyer.

And from that space you leave.

And if you wanna visit the Levit and continue to walk with the wo they can stop by the library and take in how we've gathered our gathering space as a community.

And from that space, you're traveling over to the Wright-Dunbar district and the Greater West Dayton Incu And from that space, we close the exhibit right in a beautiful space where the art ends, but it begins again with Baba Bi And so for me, it is a walk with A walk with my lived experiences - Learn more at MsSierraLeoneTheWriter.com.

And now it's time for this week's art quiz.

The world's oldest mosaic was uncovered by archeologists in 2012 in Yozgat, Turkey.

This mosaic is 10 by 23 feet and comprised of 3,147 stones.

Just how old is this mosaic thou Is the answer, A, 1,000 years old, B, 1,900 years old, C, 2,300 years old, or D, 3,500 years old?

And the answer is D, 3,500 years After being born, some babies need a helmet to correct the shape of their he To make the process easier for the child and the parents, Florida-based artist Kelli Sorg transforms this medical device into an artwork.

In doing so, each helmet becomes a source of much happiness.

(calm music) - This cutie pie is our son Darw He's six months old.

Right now, he likes chicken and and music is his new big thing.

Good job bubby.

You a rockstar, you're my rockst When my wife and I found out that Darwin had to wear the helm it was actually a sense of relie We believed that maybe we were doing something wrong.

You know, as first time parents we didn't know.

And then when we were able to talk to the physician they were able to tell us that, you know, the flatness on its head was caused in utero and that actually gave us even m saying that we didn't do anythin So we were actually quite happy and excited that there was something that we could do to help them out.

- The official term is cranial remolding orthosis.

A lot of people will call them star bands, or helmets, but realistically they're orthos It's kind of like braces for you and they're used for reshaping baby's heads.

Babies wear helmets for 23 hours It's one hour off for bathing and cleaning.

And depending on the severity and the age of the child we'll determine how long it take for the remodeling to happen.

It could be between four and six A lot of times it's faster, especially when they're complian and wearing it full-time.

When they're not compliant, not So I have cards of local artists and basically I just say here's if you wanna have your helmet pa We have artists who are happy to paint it for you.

(lively music) - My name's Kelli Sorg and I paint helmets for babies that need them for corrective issues with their And I enjoy bringing a little bit of sunshine to their helmet journeys.

I started painting helmets, I believe it was September of 20 and I painted over 70 helmets in that time.

I've always enjoyed art.

I knew for college I wanted to pursue that.

So I took graphic design and fin I got a degree in both.

They really helped me with the h because I can use my graphic des to make a digital proof for the to see ahead of time.

We can make changes to that easi while they're waiting for their helmet to be made.

And then once I pick up the helm I can use my fine arts skills to execute that and return it to them more quick So to paint one of these helmets non-toxic is my first priority.

When I first get it, it's got a very shiny coat on it so I need to sand that off.

Before that to make sure I get every little spot, I take a crayon, non-toxic crayo and I color over everything on t When I am sanding it with a little hand sander, I can make sure I haven't missed 'cause the paint will peel right if I don't have it as a rougher Then I can start painting.

I returned them within 24 hours so the child can get started wea as quickly as possible since it is a medical device.

- We went with the fighter pilot and we kind of designed it off of "Top Gun."

Kelli actually did a fantastic j sending us over proofs and ideas that she had her Instagram page.

So we were able to sit one night or actually two nights and go through and pick differen and pick different things and customize the helmet for what we liked, which was really fun for us.

- Parents who are happy looking at the helmet are more likely to keep the helmet on appropriately.

Compliance is through the roof whenever they're enjoying what they're looking at on their because let's face it, babies are fine in the helmets, parents are not.

So if the parents are happy, everybody's happy.

(calm music) - Being a new father and being a physician, I understood that the treatment actually involved compliance.

Painting the helmet was a very simple solution for me to swallow the pill of having my with the helmet for four months, to be very honest with you.

(Darwin laughs) When we got the helmet back from we were absolutely in love.

It looked even better than it di on the sketch-up and the designs - Yeah, yeah.

- Strangers now, they don't even see the helmet.

They all believe it's part of hi or whatever he is doing.

They see right through the helme The painting job worked.

It did exactly what it was suppo - I've always enjoyed using my art for children.

My son never had to wear a helme but as a mother I can understand and I have some empathy for pare who do have to go through that.

And I feel if there's something to help make that a little easie and just a little more joyful fo and that the people around them will be smiling at their child and seeing these really fun desi that makes me happy.

- As a new parent, you wanna do that you possibly can for your c This was something that we saw from the very beginning and we did everything in our pow to prevent the misshaped head.

We were awake until one, two o'clock in the morning, every 15 minutes moving his head, turning his head.

For us, this gave us our lives b and it was a solution for his fu Because if as new parents, we had an option of fixing something that could be fixed and we chose not to, it would be very difficult for m to be the dad that I want to be.

- I can't help them in a medical I can't help them, you know, every day on a persona But I figure if I can use my talent to help in this way, that really, that really makes m - See more from the artist at Facebook.com/MakeItSnappyArt.

Reno artist Nicole Seaton began her artistic journey as a jewelry maker.

But the search for the perfect centerpieces to her designs led her to the discovery that through a combination of flame and glass, she could use her own artistic a to make her very own jewelry com Now the self-taught flame maker creates one of a kind centerpiec for other jewelry designers to integrate into their work.

- My name is Nicole Seaton and I'm a glassblower and a lamp (lively music) Everything that I make is under five inches.

So you can fit my pieces in the palm of your hand, mostly jewelry.

And I work mostly with solid gla So the technical name for that kind of art is lamp working.

It's not very well known outside of the glassblowing, lamp working world.

So I tend to say I'm a glassblower or a flame worker.

(blow torch whooshing) All the movements in what I do in lamp working and glass blowin are very soft, very gradual.

There's no like really hard, you know, huffing and puffing and blowing the house down.

None of that, it's really soft.

You're blowing air into a tube so you're actually blowing air to form the glass.

And I use a mixture of oxygen and propane to melt the glass.

The flame comes from the oxygen and the propane mixing.

It's a dual-mixed torch.

So these two gases mix and I light them.

And that creates a strong enough flame to melt the glass.

I don't go by an exact temperatu but to get the glass to melt, I go by color and that color is somewhere between sherbert and hot pink.

And that's what I'm, that's right when the glass is molten and then I can take it out of th and form it, change it, stretch it just for a few second before putting it back in the fr I use glass tubes, I use glass rods, clear glass, and glass that comes in every different color of the rainbow and more.

The glass has different metal co or composition in it.

Some of the glass is called stri and that means it'll change colo when you mix it with fire.

Even I don't know what's gonna happen a lot of times.

There's a great amount of alchem that is involved with glass blow For example, I use a lot of sterling silver.

I flick off little flakes of sterling silver from a coin.

And silver on the outside of glass turns gold.

What got me into lamp working and glass blowing is I wanted to create the centerpieces for my designs.

And that's turned into over time designing pieces, centerpieces for other artists to integrate into their designs and that's mostly what I do now.

I'm really happy with what I'm d I don't wanna switch mediums too Art to me is adherence to a form and that means doing the same th over and over and over again.

Till one day you say, I think that's what I was after and that's an exciting day.

- To find more of Nicole's work, search for her at saatchiart.com And that wraps it up for this edition of Arteffects.

If you want to watch new Arteffects segments early, make sure you subscribe to the PBS Reno YouTube channel.

And don't forget to keep visiting pbsreno.org to watch complete episodes of Ar Until next week, I'm Beth MacMil Thanks for watching.

- [Narrator] Funding for Arteffects is made possible by, Sandy Raffealli with Bill Pearce Meg and Dillard Myers, Heidemarie Rochlin, in memory of Sue McDowell, and by the annual contributions of PBS Reno members.

(lively music) (lively music continues)