ART ATTACK: PRESCRIPTION FOR SUMMER FUN

Leah Ulrich of Cape Girardeau painted a still-life with acrylic paint on canvas.

Earthenware pots wait to be fired in the kiln.

Kim Clark of Cape Girardeau silk-screened a phoenix rising design on paper in the print processes class.

Morgan Ruppel pressed the moist, chocolate-colored clay between a folded piece of burlap, giving texture to it.

"I like how it goes when you touch it after you put it in the burlap," the 9-year-old Jackson girl said as she added the thinly pressed piece to the clay pot she was making.

Earlier, she made a clay snail. "I tried doing a horse and it was too hard."

She and 14 other youngsters in the class of 8- to 11-year-olds recently completed a two-week pottery course in which they made everything from clay animals to pots.

The children were among more than 180 from Cape Girardeau, Jackson and surrounding towns who participated in Art Attack, a series of one- and two-week summer classes offered by the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri.

The first classes began July 8. The last class ends Friday.

Classes were offered in sculpture, print processes, drawing and painting, pottery, basketry and fiber art for students, ranging in age from 6 to 17.

In Susan Gosche's pottery class, children spent three hours each weekday afternoon eagerly molding their Indian Red earthenware clay into works of art in a basement room of Memorial Hall at Southeast Missouri State University.

The first week was devoted to building techniques and the second to firing, glazing and staining the pottery.

In its natural state, the clay turns a burnt orange after firing.

"We want the kids to realize the beauty of the natural clay," said Gosche.

"You just have to be creative and don't mind getting your hands dirty," she said.

Gosche said there is little time for students to perfect pottery techniques in school.

In contrast, students in the summer class received plenty of hands-on experience.

"I just like making the pots because it is real fun," said Ida Shafaie, 8, of Cape Girardeau. "I just like playing with the clay."

David Hammond, 11, of Cape Girardeau enjoyed making petal pots, so named because each piece of clay looks like a flower petal.

"They are easier and they turn out better," said Hammond.

The students ignored the summer heat and the noisy sounds of construction crews renovating the first floor of Memorial Hall.

Across the street, two classes of students engaged in printmaking in the university's Art Building.

Seven students were busy creating prints in Brenda Seyer's class one afternoon.

Class size in all the Art Attack classes is limited to 15. Small class sizes allow for more one-on-one instruction, Seyer said.

Students in Seyer's class made art prints in a variety of ways, including silk screen and linoleum block printing.

"The students who come here are artistic and talented. They are fun to be with," said Seyer, who is in her seventh year of teaching in the summer arts program.

"Another thing these kids do is they clean up good," said Seyer, her clothes covered by a purple, ink-stained smock.

Kate Devaney, 10, of Cape Girardeau made a block print of a red-leotard gymnast doing a handstand.

"I am a gymnast. I love gymnastics," she said.

Amanda Boswell, 11, enjoys silk-screen printing. "It can be abstract. You can print on cloth, paper or anything," she observed.

Nearby, Scott Myers, 11, intently put together a collagraph, a texture print where materials are glued in layers and then ink and wet paper are used to make a print.

In an adjacent classroom, Elizabeth Thomas instructed seven students, ages 6-9, in the art of printmaking.

Students cut out shapes in felt and glued them onto a wood block, which was then inked to make a print.

They also used ink and glue to make prints.

They drew self-portraits in Styrofoam. Covered with ink, the material served as printing blocks, creating red-ink prints of their artwork.

"In printmaking, the idea is to make several prints," Thomas said.

The children placed leaves, twigs, keys and other small items on special paper. Exposed to sunlight for a few minutes, the paper beneath the objects turned blue.

Kevin Meagle, 9, of Cape Girardeau said the weeklong class was fun and "a chance to get messy."

Katelynn James, 6, of Jackson said printmaking takes a lot of ink.

"I like doing the same thing over and over. I like drawing things," said Alisha Cochrane, 9, of Cape Girardeau.

Some students keep coming back year after year for the art classes.

"This is my sixth year here," said Leah Ulrich, 16, of Cape Girardeau as she painted a still-life scene with acrylic paints. "I like the colors," she said. "It dries real fast."

The artwork of Ulrich and the other students will be displayed at the arts council's Gallery 100, 6 N. Sprigg, in late August.

But for the students, the real attraction is in the doing, whether it is creating a clay dinosaur or a silk-screen print.