For the Love of Ceramics!

 I think I have been teaching the Ceramics elective for 3-4 years now and I am loving it! I love seeing how my students enjoy creating with their hands and how they grow in their handbuilding skills throughout the class and from year to year. I have students who have been taking ceramics now for three years in a row. 

We also have traditions; things we make every year like pinch pots, coil pots and DRAGONS!!! Several years ago, when I first began teaching the ceramics elective, I was searching for some beginner ceramics projects and found a lesson on creating dragons. Since then, it has become a tradition to create dragons every year. I also have students who have been taking my ceramics elective now, for their third year and have 3 dragons at home. They have a collection! :) It is so cool to see how their skills are growing as their dragons get more elaborate! We will be having an art show at the end of the year so stay tuned to see many of our finished projects! Besides the pinch pots, coil pots and dragons, we also made drop pots, pinch pot pumpkins, message rocks, slab dish and finally a weaved clay basket. 

Below, you will see students in action as they are building their dragons. Keep scrolling and you will see students creating their weaved clay baskets. 

The photos below are of my students creating their weaved clay baskets. We needed a bowl mold to create our baskets around and the high school only had one. So, I had students bring a bowl from home. They wrapped it in newspaper and turned it upside down. Students (in the photo below) rolled out clay about 1/4 inch thick then cut out strips. They smoothed the corners with plastic bags then used the strips to wrap around the bottom of their bowl. I reminded students to score (make criss cross lines) and slip (add water or watery clay) so the end pieces would stick together and not break as it dries and gets fired later in the kiln. After making the bottom strip, they laid the rest of their strips over their bowl then weaved them over and under each other to create their basket. After a few more steps, they had a clay basket! We wrapped them in bags then stored them in the cupboard. I pulled them out a day before we met next so they could get leatherhard and we cleaned up our bowls before sending them to the kiln. I am so thankful for the high school teacher who fires all of our projects and also shares so many of their tools and ideas so that we can be successful in these fun projects! Thank you Mr. Bast!

The photos below are showing the process of building our weaved clay baskets. Enjoy!