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Photo by Bob Pennell Warren Havird, left, Hayley Major and Chris Dintleman display their handmade printing plates during artist Christoph Buchler's "Our Town in Print" summer school class. Artful observations Students capture Central Point through printmaking By VICKI GUARINO CENTRAL POINT -- Snow-topped Mount McLaughlin looming over rooftops; friends Rollerblading in the skate park by the firehouse; shops lining Pine Street. The everyday scenes of Central Point are being reworked by young artists this week at Jewett Elementary School. The 16 kids, mostly middle-schoolers, are enrolled in Medford artist Christoph Buchler's "Our Town in Print" summer school class. In just days, youngsters are sketching scenes of Central Point that strike their fancy, carving out print blocks and running off their artwork for the pages of the class book. Buchler says his goal for the print-making class is to get youngsters to look closely at what they might take for granted around their homes every day. Plus, he says, students get an introduction to the somewhat backward process of print making -- the craft of creating lines by leaving voids in the print block. "It involves a different thinking process," Buchler says. Class began Monday, as students roamed Central Point sketching schools, sidewalk scenes, the fire station and parks. They picked the best of the sketches and began cutting them into cardboard mats. Buchler brought out purple, orange and yellow inks Wednesday, which kids managed to mix into just about every color imaginable. A messy process, sixth-grader Colleen Dee learned quickly. "The oil is very, very sticky," she said as she tried to keep her inky fingertips off her perfect print. By Friday afternoon, students will have printed and bound their own volumes of "Our Town" -- complete with hard covers. Gold Hill summer school students printed a book on their town last week. The session is part of the Central Point district's four-week series of enrichment classes at Patrick and Jewett elementary schools. In Buchler's Central Point class, students like Daniel Clogston, a sixth-grader, took some creative license with local sites. He's printing a rendition of a large Central Point home with landscaping and a flag. As for the flag, Daniel admitted, "I just made it up. I saw a flag later that day." Eighth-grader Clay Wright is printing a park scene. So is Colleen, but she has added basketball players to the view. Fifth-grader Hayley Major chose to print her sidewalk sketch, a view of the Print Quick business on a street corner with a flag opposite. The class was Hayley's first lengthy art project. "But I'm going to a teacher next year who does a lot of art," she says. She says Buchler's class will help her get ready for the school year ahead. Besides, she says, she's enjoying every minute of the class. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA