SEND YOUR CHILD TO ART CAMP (spring 2015)

  "I was the child that knew no boundaries," laughed Mz.Thang, a local Atlanta artist.  "My parents did not know what to think of me.  They asked if I was really their child!" 

     You can come up with your own description of Mz. Thang but the truth is----the blue-eyed Boomer is so unassuming, you've probably passed her on the street. 

     Mz. Thang and other artists with names like Krispy Prince and Bongo joined Polly Sherill on a recent sunny weekend for an art fair off Dekalb Avenue. 

     Polly has her own trademark name...'Polly on the Avenue'.  It seems essential to have a catchy name in the folk and outsider art atmosphere.

     "My sister is a trained artist, and when I looked at her art and compared it to my own, I thought it wasn't very good," said Mz. Thang. "Then word got out about my art, and it snow-balled."

     For parents on the Atlanta area, finding a good camp with a solid skill to offer the children is a relatively new thing. 

     However, for 20 years Polly the Potter has 'thrown' a Clay Camp during the Summer for children 4-14.  All children learn hand-building skills including glazing. 

     "I have all types---even have learning disabled kids in my classes, and it helps them attain better focus," said Polly.  "They focus on the wheel, and everybody is good at hand-building,  Clay is a great medium because everything always looks awesome in clay."

     Polly Sherrill is best known as one of the finest instructors to ever teach at the Callanwolde Arts Center in Atlanta. 

     Potter described how she has noticed that when kids reach middle school they begin to shut down creatively unless you encourage their talents.  Polly's Clay Camp is designed to build those creative talents.

"A lot of children are required to draw a picture of themselves about that age," said Polly "...they notice it isn't perfect, and so they begin to shut-down creatively, then decide they do not like art."

     Off to one side of Polly was Catherine the Printmaker, a tenured artist who spent a lot of time in Charleston documenting her old neighborhoods in the beginning of her printmaking career. 

     "When I returned to Georgia I decided to document everything about Atlanta that I liked growing-up here," Catherine said.  "I was left-handed and used to write my name backwards, so I was a natural for printmaking, as you are working with an upside-down or reversed image."

     All of the artist friends of Polly on the Avenue encourage parents to find art camps for their children.  

     During summer days when it might be better to stay inside and sculpt instead of dealing with the hot weather, Clay Camp is an excellent alternative. 

     To register for Clay Camp, contact Polly Sherrill at 404-524-2016, or download the application at www.pollythepotter.com

     ----Ray Macon