Aalayna Green grabbed a colored pencil and deepened the shading on her artwork before the gallery opening at the Teen Art Camp last Thursday.
She finished the shading underneath one of the animal eyes of her seven-foot-long creation and put the pencil away.
“She had pictures of animal eyes and drew sketches,” said Claudia Keglovitz, Clarkston Junior High School art teacher. “She started out with sketches then added watercolor and did other stuff. She is a total animal lover.”
The four-day art camp gave teenagers going into grades 6-12 an opportunity to learn new artistic skills and express themselves.
“It is like it is every year ? it’s fantastic,” said Stephanie Burnham, a fourth year returner and a Clarkston High School senior in the fall. “You get so much freedom to do whatever you want and have all the supplies you need.”
While Burnham tried out different medias she concentrated on her favorite media ? collages.
“I think it really cool you can take art other people made and just fuse them all into one thing,” she said.
A new media she and other campers learned this year was screenprinting, a printing technique.
Bailey Smith, an assistant for the camp and recent graduate of Center for Creative Studies, taught the group how to do it. She not only learned how do to screenprinting but majored in printmaking at CCS.
“It was one of the most exciting things they did which had the most crowd pleaser appeal,” said Keglovitz, adding each camper designed something different for T-shirts, totes, or an entire clothing ensemble.
Emily Trombley agreed, showing off the tote bag she created a design on using the screenprinting technique.
She also enjoyed learning how to weave during the art camp.
“It was really fun,” she smiled. “I liked how all the different fabrics, strings and colors form together in it. It reminds me of a blanket.”
Trombley, also a returner, enjoyed learning more forms of art she hadn’t known of before.
“We did a lot of different things this year,” she said. “It wasn’t the same. It was good.”
While she learned new forms she also continued working in her favorite media – painting.
“I love to paint,” she said. “I paint in watercolor or acrylic. I do it a lot in my room on my own time.”
The camp had 28 artists this year and seven returners who worked on projects in drawing, painting, plaster sculptures, weaving and screenprinting through the heat.
“They were real troopers,” said Smith. “They worked really hard even though it was super hot.”
Keglovitz has noticed a trend in the campers – some siblings of other campers from the last 11 years.
“It is getting to be and has been an overlap of siblings year after year,” she added. “It is becoming a family and friend tradition. Returners bring friends with them.”
The camp ended with a gallery opening for friends and family. The gallery featured projects the artists worked on as well as any pieces they worked on at home.
The Teen Art Camp is offered through Clarkston Community Education. For more information about this camp and other programs offered, please visit www.clarkston.k12.mi.us/cec, 6558 Waldon Road or call 248-623-4326.