Come one, come all! You are invited to join us on Tuesday, February 21st, from 5-7pm at the Studio H shop/classroom/barn to meet our students, hear about the Studio H program, and to check out the beautifully designed and executed mini-Cornhole boards produced by students. The boards (shown above), were inspired by the original drawings of knots done by students during their first week of Studio H. The designs were produced using hand-sketching techniques, Adobe Illustrator, our laser cutter, and of course, the hands of

After we had finished the Adobe Illustrator files of the cornhole board graphics and test-printed them on the laser cutter, our students were ready to go full-scale, real-deal. In order to produce the precise fields of color in paint on the boards, we used the laser cutter to slice a layer of painter’s tape which was placed on top of each board. By covering the boards with tape, and then slicing the designs’ lines out, we could peel back individual pieces of tape that corresponded

Last week, it was “off to the races” on our Mini-Cornhole boards, using the knot drawings to inspire graphics for the student-built wooden boards. Now that the graphics are complete (see Leanna’s above), we’ve been spending this week putting those designs into Adobe Illustrator, an industry tool that will allow us not only to accurately depict the graphics, but export the files to the laser cutter to slice the designs out of tape so that we can paint each board precisely. Illustrator is not an

Glen Raven, the innovative fabric and textile company based in Burlington, North Carolina, is a great example of creativity combined with industry. Today, two wonderful women from Glen Raven, Sue Rich (a Bertie County native and Bertie High School graduate!) and Paige Mullis, visited the studio to see what we were up to and speak to our students. While we’re immersed in our Mini-Cornhole board project, the connections were clear: graphic design, envisioning big ideas and making them real, and execution using industry-standard tools were

We received this wonderful piece of mail today, from an industrial designer from Southern California, who grew up just across the Bertie County line in Robersonville, NC. Enclosed were three donation checks, and a hand-written note that explained: This past Christmas my brothers, sisters, and I decided to make a charitable donation in place of gift exchanging. Because each of us wanted to donate to a different charity we had a dance-off competition to decide where the money would go. And I won! …I love

Similar to last year, we started developing basic woodshop and graphic design skills with the construction of an object everyone in Bertie County knows and loves: the Cornhole board. Cornhole is a beanbag toss game involving two opposing boards with holes in them, into which teams toss beanbags. Last year, we did full-size boards and auctioned them off to the community. This year, we are working with a few elementary school teachers to build mini-Cornhole boards that they can use in their classrooms to teach

After a few creativity-building lectures and exercises last week, we started on some basic skill-building in the woodshop. We did this same Shop Certification Project last year (detailed step-by-step account of the whole project here). The one-day project teaches safety, accuracy, layout, and basic woodshop protocol though the fabrication of a simple wooden object. The 2-piece object requires the use of a chop saw, table saw, drill press, band saw, sander, and router. Each student is given a rectangular piece of wood that they must

Gesture drawings In our classroom, we talk a lot about “how to see,” and “how to look.” As creative and critical thinkers, our students must learn not just to speed through places and experiences, but develop tools to more thoughtfully look at a situation, problem, space, or topic, and see both the details and the greater context. Adam, dissecting an image with point-line-plane To begin to exercise these “seeing” muscles, we did a series of lectures on Color Theory, Gestural Drawing, and Point-Line-Plane (the basics

Last year, the first day of Studio H consisted of dirt, coffee grounds, cow dung, and fire (we made DIY water filters). This year, Matt and I busted out ropes and recalled our days as girl (and boy) scouts, and embarked on a 2-day project we dubbed “Knot a problem.” One of our core pedagogies of Studio H is that the hand and the mind are intrinsically tied, and that we learn best by doing (duh!). The hand carries out the mind’s ideas, the mind

Writing assignment #1: “Where I lived and what I lived for” Self-reflection and projection for the year We asked students (as a beginning-of-year benchmark) to write a short response to the following cue: This weekend we want you to take some time to reflect on where you are right now and what your goals for this year look like. Tell us about who you are, what you like to do outside of school, what is most important to you and what you absolutely abhor. Think