Clay Fish

One of the reasons I started this blog is the regret I have for not saving samples or photos of past art projects.  Now at the very least I should be able to take a decent photo with my iphone, but my goal is to keep a camera in my school bag at all times. 

I happened to find these pictures while going through past files of photos on my husband's computer - I work almost exclusively on my laptop.

This was one of my first clay projects ever with a grade one class.  It was a project that would eventually test our school's kiln which had sat dormant in our school for years - until I showed up and learned we had one! This would be a good introductory lessons with clay. 

After spending some time exploring different texture tools, students would roll out a slab and use a fish cookie cutter to make their fish shape.  Using a damp finger they would smooth out any rough edges or cracks. Then they would use the different tools to imprint the details.  Before they move their piece to the drying shelf I would use a wooden skewer to print their initials on the back side of the fish.

We would then dry our pieces, fire in the kiln, glaze and refire. 

I always love the surprised expressions on the childrens' faces when they get their first look at their shiny ceramic artwork! They cannot wait to show their parents what they did! Priceless!

Mother's Day Clay Plates

MOM & ME by Grade 3 Student



I LUV MY MOM by Grade 4 Student



I made these clay plates with my son's grade 3/4 class.  First we rolled out our clay into a flat slab.  Then using a styrofoam plate turned upsidedown as a template, we traced a circle using wooden kabab skewers.  After cutting out the circle shape they carfully molded their circle into their own styrofoam plate.  I gave them a quick lesson on how to score and slip other pieces onto their plate. 

I had a handful of small cookie cutters (heart, star, butterfly, tulip, bell, flower) but I encouraged them to be creative with the those basic shapes.  Hence, the bell also became a female head, half of a heart became a bird, the tulip and bell combined to make a cat, etc.  Some created their own shapes by hand.

They were also provided with a set of mini alphabet stamps as well as other worded stamps to create impressions into the clay.  

A week later we painted the entire plate white for the first coat.  Then we used acrylic paints of various colours.  When dry, we added a coat of liquid varnish to seal the paint.  The photos are in the pre-varnished state.


   

 

    

Splat the Cat and Friends

I LOVE how these little Splat the Cat inspired bowls turned out!!!

I got the idea for this clay project from a little cat bowl I saw on Etsy.com and decided to try it out with my Grade Ones.

Some of my students wanted to glaze their cats a different colour, and so we have some of Splat's friends:

First we rolled out our clay into a slab.  I gave them a cat shaped tracer that they had to draw into their slab with a wooden kebab skewer.  Then using a plastic knife they cut away the extra clay.  Using their fingers they carefully smoothed out the outer edges of their cats.

They also used the skewers to try to make impressions in the paws as you can see in the blue cat below.  Some kids just drew lines on their paws.

Then using their skewers and  various tools around the classroom they created the faces for their cats.  Impressions for the eyes were made using the flat end of a pencil crayon.

When all their details were done they gently lay their cat slabs into a styrofoam bowl, carefully molding the cat into the shape of the bowl.

When they were completely dry we fired them in the kiln.  We glazed them and refired them then added small googly eyes as the final touch.