“Ever tried? Ever failed? Never mind, try again and fail better.”- Martin McWilliam, Potter, 1957-Present
Clay is a very forgiving medium. It can be molded and shaped into almost any imaginable form. Working with clay is an exciting hands-on process that develops motor skills, self-expression, problem solving, discipline, confidence, and pride. It also has a uniquely therapeutic and calming quality that seemed to put my students into a spell where they wished they could work on their clay projects all day.
I am grateful that each of my 1st trimester classes were able to complete a clay unit before the high school students shifted to e-learning the week before Thanksgiving. It's a weird time in life to be a visual art teacher with establishing safety precautions for in-person learning along with engaging art students at home on Zoom, but I'm up for the challenge. Now, more than ever, we need opportunities to decompress, create, and develop a culture of community with each other. With so much chaos in the world right now, it's good to take a moment to reflect on what we're thankful for, keep a positive mindset, and engross ourselves in creative outlets.
The ART I class learned the foundations of hand-building and properties of clay with the unit, "All you need is LOVE and a Mug of Hot Cocoa." Students rolled-out slabs of clay to cut a rectangle that when placed up on its side, forms a cylinder for the base of a mug. To create a functional "coffee cup," they also needed to make a handle and slip & score the attachments so that they bonded well with the mug. The surface design was the artist's choice to experiment with carving, imprinting, or adding on pieces. It was exciting to see the progression of mugs from the beginning stages in greenware to the final glazed products over the last few weeks.
1. Wedge a ball of clay to remove air pockets
2. Toss the clay or roll a slab with even thickness (about the size of a pencil)
(Tossing the slab, Rolling slabs, and Mrs. Jager demonstrating the pencil thickness for the slab walls so that it is not too thin or too thick for the firing process)
3. Create a template for the mug size to cut out, then smooth the edges. Stand up the slab on its side, slip & score together, and blend out the transition of clay. Roll another slab for the base to slip & score to the cylinder
5. Form a handle to attach to the mug.
6. Create surface texture by carving into clay or adding pieces. Wrap the piece overnight in plastic each night, then allow it to dry out for the bisque firing in the kiln.
7. Brush on three coats of glaze for the final firing. Fire Away!
8. Ta-Dah!
The clay unit in the ART III class, "Hand Building and Throwing Ceramics," included an introduction to throwing on the pottery wheel as well as sculptural pieces with hand building. After mastering hand-building methods such as slabs, pinching, and rolling coils, you can build almost any hollowed out form with clay. The students developed their concepts and then brainstormed how to build their pieces. Some went the more traditional route with themed mugs and others built inventive sculptures.
(Tiger Mug, Shoe Tongue, and the Spartan Helmet )
Everyone in the class spent a few days dedicated to throwing on the pottery wheel. After demonstrating the steps of centering, opening, and pulling a cylinder, I paired up with individuals to guide them through the process. Pottery is craft that can take years to master and I wanted to make sure that each of my advanced students got the opportunity to spend some time on the wheel to gain exposure and experience.
Two of my students really developed an interest in pottery and used the last two weeks of the trimester to practice throwing as part of their independent final projects. I allowed them to create work right up to the last day of class so that they could have time to make pieces that they might choose to fire. When my high school students return to in-person instruction, I will have them re-visit the art room during Bonus period to glaze their fired pieces.
After the clay pieces have been fully completed to the artist's satisfaction, they are set out to dry for approximately seven to ten days until all of the moisture is gone and the work is bone dry for the kiln. During the wait time, the ART I class switched gears to the unit called "Itty Bitty Miniature Sculptures" using 2 oz each of Air-Dry clay. Similar to play-dough, air-dry clay has a soft, workable texture that is easily manipulated and gradually hardens when exposed to air. The students were given freedom of their subject matter with the creative challenge of working with a limited amount of clay in a tiny scale. They used bamboo skewers for fine details and mixed their own colors for painting the fine details.
( fishing pole, "Among Us" characters, & a mini dinosaur)
(Bumble Bee,Sushi; and a Porsche hood ornament)
The middle school art classes were finishing up painting projects when the high school students began their clay units so there were only a couple weeks left until the end of the trimester. I knew that they wouldn't have the time to complete a final fired piece within a week of 30 minute periods, so I created the "7 Days of Clay" unit so that everyone could still have the clay experience. Every day for seven days, students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade art learned how to create hand built pieces and document their work with digital photographs for grading. I also had the added challenge of students working on projects from home while in quarantine. Clay kits were sent to them and students tuned in through Zoom sessions and pre-recorded video demonstrations so that they could participate on the same projects that their classmates were creating in the classroom.
Students learned ceramics fundamentals including how to roll slabs, slipping & scoring three-dimensional pieces, forming pinch pots, and creating double pinch pot sculptures. On each mini-project, the students were given step-by-step instructions to learn the correct techniques and then personal choices to express their creativity through the subject matter and details.
(Students create texture tiles using the letters of their name and carving into the clay. )
(Double pinch pot sculptures)
Students across the board in all grade levels expressed great enthusiasm and pride in their work on the clay projects. In the post-trimester art survey, students wrote that they wished they could do more ceramics in the future and that they liked getting their hands dirty to build things. My pottery students said that they learned that throwing on the wheel took time, patience, and a positive attitude to accept their failures and brush them off by starting on the next ball of clay. I'm overjoyed that we had so much success this trimester and look forward to continuing to develop the clay program at New Buffalo Middle/High School.
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