Santa Rosa Junior College

Linda Weiss, Sterlling Silver Bowl with Olive Twigs
sterling silver, 3" x 6" x 5" 2009

Artist Statement

Silver Bowl was formed by “traditional angle raising”, which is a process of hammering metal from a flat sheet. After forming is completed, the final surface is achieved by “planishing” small, deliberate, overlapping hammer marks. The decorative elements are composed of silver castings of actual olive leaves from our garden. The leaves are soldered to hand forged linear twigs. Natural and botanical forms are frequent sources of inspiration for my work. Although exacting and time intensive to create, Confetti Bracelet was envisioned as fun and lighthearted. It involves attention to detail as well as the elements of line, texture, pattern, movement, and contrast, positive and negative space. The design motif for Leaf Necklace was inspired by contour outlines of California Poppy leaves. Using two colors of metal: gold and silver, provides contrast.

Teaching Philosophy

The classes I teach are centered on a logical progression of learning assignments that provide students with strong foundation based skills. Each student brings to class a unique, valuable personal history of knowledge and experience. This will form the basis for all creative endeavors. I feel it is important to encourage students to tap into what is personal and meaningful to them, to expand their creativity with insightful interest. One of the most important challenges in the classroom, today, is how to meet the needs of students who have a wide range of mixed abilities and learning styles…

My goal is to foster a learning experience that will empower each student to develop a personal aesthetic vision, as well as discover and celebrate his, or her, own creativity.

Web site: www.lindaweiss.com

FACULTY SHOW 2009: Recent Work by SRJC Faculty

Artist Statement

Teaching Philosophy