The 6th-8th grade GT students attended a GT Seminar at ESC9 on 11/11/21 with other neighboring GT students around our area.
The seminar was sponsored by ESC9 & the Arts Council of Wichita Falls. The session was taught virtually by artist Laura Konecne.
Laura Konecne is a mixed media sculptor and jeweler working primarily in wood and metal. She currently works from her studio in Dubuque, IA. Her work has been shown at the Hawaii State Art Museum and the Honolulu Museum of Art Spalding House. She has received several acquisition awards from the Hawaii State Foundation for Culture and the Arts and has work in both public & private collections. Laura holds a BFA in sculpture from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
In this session, Laura discussed the process of being a professional artist and shared details and examples from her own work.
The students learned about caudiciforms such as the Baobab trees in Madagascar. The students then used newspaper & colored masking tape to design & create a sculpture with a caudex (fat, swollen, succulent base/trunk/root). The students' sculpture needed to have a caudex, branches, & leaves. The creations were very unique & creative.