Invaluable Artistic Experiences: La Fete' Ecologie 2011

I had the opportunity Sept 24th to participate in La Fete' d'Ecologie! For those of you who do not know what this is check out their website at http://lafete.btnep.org/LaFeteHome.aspx.

La Fete' d'Ecologie is a festival that celebrates Louisiana's environment, history and blend of culture in the Barrataria-Terrebone National Estuary. They have musicians, educational demonstrations, food, and folk life artists that show off what Louisiana has to offer. Its a festival worth checking out if you missed it this year. There is lots of hands on activities for kids! There are frog races, alligator pettings, cast netting, face painting and much more. This year the festival was held at Lake End Park of Morgan City. This is one beautiful area!

The Beautiful Lake End

Alligator Petting

Nature's Wonder and Awe

Dance to that Folk Music!

I had the wonderful opportunity to be able to participate as a Folk Life Artist this year thanks to a dear friend of Pottery Alley. Mr. Doug if you ever read this cheers to you! He gave my name to an inquiring friend of the Barrataria area. My booth was under the name Mudd Culture by Erin Lafleur.

One of my kiddies finished pieces!

Folk life artists were to demonstrate a domestic and or occupational craft that potentially increases the experience of festival goers and increase their understanding of the areas customs and resources. So I came up with a lesson for kids called "Nature Fossils". Nature Fossils are made by first creating a clay pinch pot. The pot is then flattened into a bed, much like the bottom bed of mud where fossils begin to form. Kids took items found from the park ground itself: acorns, leaves, grasses, rocks, tree branches, and even a feather. Imprints of these nature items are made in the clay bed. We then talked about gypsum (or its more common name: plaster). Plaster is a rock ground into a fine powder that hardens through an exothermic reaction when water is reintroduced to it. We poured plaster into our pinch pot creations and cast our imprints. The final step was adding a paper clip for hanging. The end result was a piece of artwork and a reminder of the importance of our natural surroundings around us.

I had two wonderful helpers! My friend David and my cousin Maddie. They were great with the kids and the demonstrations. David helped me sell my artwork and we kept each other company. Even splashed around in the lake...and in the sand.

Me and my little helper Maddie!

Thanks for helping Daveed

My booth was a tremendous success with the kids and parents. We ran out of supplies about 2 hours early, but the kids learned a lot and enjoyed the project. You should have seen their eyes light up when they found out we were making fossils. One little girl said she had just learned about that in school! For so many of the little ones it was the first time they had ever touched clay or for that matter even seen plaster. My booth was part of the kid scavenger hunt. Kids were given a list of trivia questions that pertained to each booth. My question was, "What is the smallest sediment found at the bottom of the Mississippi River?"...I gave hints. Can you guess?! I have the answer at the bottom of this page.

This little girl was so curious :)

I also had the opportunity to display my folk life work. So I brought along bowls, coffee, cups, coaster tiles, necklaces and sculptures. I sold a good number of my pieces and it felt good to break into the world of festival life. I handed out a bunch of my business cards. I had someone wanting to get in touch with me about working with a group of girl scouts. She even asked me how I got into ceramics! People legitimately cared about where I came from as an artist.

Zombie Princess Coffee Mug- Sold

Midwest Inspired Vase

Paisley Coaster Tiles- Sold

Decorative Tray ( business cards, soap, jewelry)

Necklaces- people loved these!

Overall the experience was wonderful! I would do it again in a heart beat. Next weekend I have another festival, Shadows on the Teche with Susannah, my boss lady at Pottery Alley.

I also got to visit my mom in Mississippi this weekend at her restaurant. My aunt and mom insisted that I leave some of my work with them and I had more necklaces sold that day :) Ceramic Life is so worth it.