Artists in Schools

Community Collaborations

Cornelius has worked through the Artists in Schools program in Manitoba for almost 20 years. She has worked with students from grade 1-12 all over Manitoba including students from fly in Northern communities, Hutterite colonies, rural, town, city and inner city communities in Manitoba. Cornelius has taught mural creation and numerous methods of printmaking and animation.

Assisting student with the silkscreen printmaking process

Mural Creation

Cornelius has successfully worked with many students and schools all over Manitoba to create indoor and outdoor murals. She guides students through the initial design process, the transfer of the design onto the wooden boards, the painting and the completion of the mural. Some schools have included mosaic or ceramic elements to the mural.

Reduction Relief Printmaking

Printmaking is the transfer of an image from one surface to another as single or multiple editions. Cornelius offers students the opportunity to learn about and experiment with printmaking using the reduction relief block printing technique. This technique allows for individual creative expression through the transfer of colour, line and texture from a marked block of Styrofoam insulation in single and multiple layers. The results are strong colourful and innovative images.

Learning a printmaking skill expands the student’s visual vocabulary and opens up a whole world of creative expression. This technique allows all students to participate with a reasonable degree of success.

Collagraph

A collagraph is a basic method of printmaking using a board with collage materials glued onto it to form a relief surface with a variety of textures. Cornelius asks students to assemble a collagraph plate from cut pieces of cereal box on cardboard. The assembled collagraph plate is then printed by rolling ink on the surface. Stencils are used to add a variety of blocks of colour to the image.

Silkscreen

Silkscreen is a printmaking technique in which mesh is stretched over a heavy wooden frame. Areas of the mesh on the frame are blocked to create the design. A squeege is drawn across the surface of the screen forcing ink through the mesh onto the paper or fabric below. One colour is printed at a time. Cornelius worked with students to create image on either paper or fabric t-shirts using paper stencils. Some students added collage and drawing to the original silkscreen images.

Electro-etching

Electro-etching uses electricity and an electrolyte solution to etch an image into a piece of metal. Students etch small pieces of copper drawing through a soy based ground to expose the metal or draw on the surface of the plate with a material such as a sharpie that will resist the electro-etching process. The plate is then submerged into the electrolyte liquid and the electrical current is attached. This process is safe as only 1.5 volts of electrical current are used to etch the plate. Once an image has been etched into a plate the plate can be inked. Etching ink is spread over the entire plate. The etched lines hold the ink while the surface is wiped clean. The plate is run through an etching press and the image is transferred onto a piece of high quality paper.

Stop motion animation

Stop motion is an animated film making technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames are played back. Cornelius works with students to create and animate a scrip.