By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–Just because school is out for the summer doesn’t mean creative skills will be put on hold until August.

A prime example of this was on display the week of June 18 as a handful of students were hard at work at the annual Summer Art Camp with Miss Alice.

Miss Alice refers to Alice Lobell, who was the art teacher at Helena Elementary School for 25 years before retiring a few years ago.

The retired teacher and current Helena City Councilwoman continues to make time each summer to share her skills and help campers develop as artists through pottery and acrylic painting.

Twenty-five campers attended the five-day camp and from scratch created an acrylic painting featuring several cactuses in the dessert, as well as several pinch pots and other clay pieces.

The clay pieces were formed from scratch, placed in a kiln, glazed, placed back in the kiln and taken out to be finished. Some of the pieces included an owl, snake, frogs and other objects.

A unique aspect of the camp was that some of the older students had Lobell as an art teacher when they were in elementary school and the summer camp served as somewhat of a reunion.

Lobell gave students free reign to create their own artwork but she occasionally gave tips and advice along the way.

For more information on enrichment classes this summer, visit Shelbyed.k12.al.us/community/2018-summer.html.