PHASE 1: Preparing Clay Hearts

Pounding, rolling, slabbing.  Cutting, smoothing, drying.  In late November 2012, the artists of the Enrichment Center began preparing clay hearts for a project to promote health and wellness in the New Year.

Sadly, most of us have lost someone we care about to a heart-related illness.  The New Year is the natural time for reflection and making changes for a better year.  Health and wellness generally top the list of areas where we focus those changes.  The artists and staff of the Enrichment Center, like everyone else, recognize the changes we could make to promote our own heart health.  We also recognize the therapeutic qualities of the arts, and thought it was about time to make our own collaboration with the local health community.

The artists worked throughout December to make hundreds of clay hearts for the Art for the Heart project.  Participants glazing their heart, will be encouraged to dedicate their heart to something meaningful– a loved one lost to heart disease, a personal commitment to change unhealthy habits, or some other goal that will improve their health and well-being.

The first batch of over 300 dried clay hearts was fired to bisque in the kiln this week, and are now ready for glazing.  Though clients used a general size template, each heart is different.  Since we have sooooo many, there should be no lack of choices– a heart for everyone.

PHASE 2:  COLLABORATE!

Putting the pieces together is difficult when your partnership doesn’t yet have partners.  We knew we wanted to work with Mercy Medical Center, but we didn’t have any contacts there.  Our good friends Monika Modest and Melissa Kelly-Ortega came to our rescue, providing awesome contacts.  Now we’re collaborating!

We wanted to work with American Heart Association, but they no longer have a local chapter.  It was important to keep the funds we raise local, so we’re working with our new partner– Mercy Medical Center– to identify a great organization to use our funds– promoting and advocating for healthy hearts, and supporting people making heart-healthy changes.  Now, on to the workshops!

Check out our flyer for dates and more info.

PHASE 3: “Glazing” is painting.

Technically, you’re painting a coating of silica-based fluid (glaze), which, when fired in the kiln, will fuse to the surface of the clay heart… now you know why we just refer to it as glazing.

When you spend as many hours as we do surrounded by art, making art, promoting art, talking about art, art becomes such a natural part of your speech and action, that you may forget the large number of people who may perceive art as being slightly foreign– a special skill, unique only to those gifted with a sense of creative genius.  Not so!!

When you ask people who feel that way to engage in artmaking, many of them may imagine that you are asking them to do something they aren’t qualified to do… like auto repair, networking the office computers, catering a wedding, or teaching high school math.

For this project, especially given the short time we have before it concludes, convincing people that they are fully qualified to participate has been important, and involved making a few assurances:

1. You don’t have to worry about your skills.  We will introduce you to the materials, how to use them, and be there to provide assistance and answer questions.

2. We’ve set it up so that it is only as complex as you want it to be.

3. It doesn’t matter how you paint the heart, as long as you paint the heart– whether you spend 2 hours perfecting every detail, or 2 minutes applying slapdash one-color coverage.

Answers to other questions people have had are:

1. The funds we collect will be going to the Mercy Foundation to be used in the Cardiac Rehab department, to help people with heart disease who do not have a way to pay for their rehab.
2. You should give yourself about 1 hour to select and glaze your heart.  Those who have come in expecting to do it in 30-45 minutes tend to run out of time.
3. The glaze goes on looking very chalky, but firing reveals the vibrant color and glossy texture.
4. Drop-ins are acceptable, but reservations are a good idea.  If you drop in, and there is no more space, you may have to wait.
5. We do not have a credit card machine. We accept cash and checks.
6. The cost is a $10 donation per heart.  We also have a few small hearts, which were designed to be glazed as a pair for $10, but which may be glazed individually for $5.

Fortunately, except in rare circumstances (usually involving a professional artist who is trying to become rich and famous, or doesn’t learn from his/her mistakes), there is no failure in art.  It is what it is.  Most artists will tell you that mistakes are gifts you give to yourself.  Making a mistake, you will either learn a valuable lesson—how not to do something, or you will learn something new—how to do something you didn’t intend to do… but will totally try again.

Glazing workshops:

FINAL PHASE: Installation of Exhibit.

Look at all of them! These were loaded and fired by our awesome Ceramic Instructor Kristine Hansen! She unloaded and boxed them to be ready for ribbon, storing, transporting and installing for the exhibit space.

With the completed hearts out of the kiln, it was time to prepare for installation of the exhibit.  Four steps were required to prepare:  1) Prepare the hearts for hanging, 2) visit the exhibition space, 3) purchase and prep the panels, and 4) transport everything to the site.

To prepare the hearts for hanging, we tied them with ribbon. While this was not a difficult task, tying over 150 hearts with ribbon is definitely tedious.  We decided to hang one half of the hearts in red ribbon, and the other in blue, so that when it was installed it would resemble the human heart.

We also had to visit the hospital to see the spaces available for the exhibit.  We thought of installing the exhibit on the patio, so it would the most visible. Unfortunately, as winter is transitioning to spring here in the California Central Valley, I could not bear the thought of wind knocking over one of the panels onto some unsuspecting person having a coffee break.  I suggested we opt for a safer, indoor space—a wall in an open hall, adjoining the lobby at the main entrance.

Speaking of the unsuspecting… I enlisted super-duper program supervisor Armando to go with me to buy the panels for the exhibit.  The panels were super-duper, as well… super-duper heavy!  Loading them for transport was no easy task, but we got them back to the Arts Center for painting and marking where the nails would go.

My knees were screaming from crawling all over the floor.  My thumb was throbbing from bashing it with the hammer.  But, seeing the finished exhibit was good for my heart.  Awesome work, everyone!!