Clay Coil Creatures Part 2

April 1 saw Part 2 of our Clay Coil Creatures class at the Rockwell Museum.  No foolin' (wink, wink), we made creatures inspired by the collection in the gallery.  Please catch up with Part 1 to follow the progression of this project.

The pieces were bisque fired to remove all moisture and create a stone-like surface.

Bisque Baked Beauties

The time to design the surface of these beauties had arrived.  Education Programs Coordinator, Amy Ruza, led the class on glazing instructions.

She had glazed ceramic samples to show the changes in color from the jar to kiln firing.

Glaze changes drastically in the kiln.

After a short glazing tutorial, students chose their preferred colors and went to work finalizing their masterpieces.  Some had direct inspiration from the gallery.

This artist was inspired by the gallery installation

Some students were inspired by the Native American picture dictionary provided by the museum.

Replicated Native American Eagle

Some students let their heart design for them.

A Spring Bunny

The class went quickly with all of the activity, excitement and creation.

Students hard at work

The glaze dries to a dull finish, but shimmers like glass after the kiln firing.  Here are before and after shots of the projects for your enjoyment:

The Whole Lot

The image above shows the entire class project from cart to kiln.  Now let's look at some pieces a little closer.

A Charming Snake

The snake maker's sister went to the woods for this cutie pie.  Remember to slip and score very well when making clay objects.  If you do not follow this step, items will pop off!  This poor bunny's limbs were lost in the bisque fire.

Limb-less Bunny

This little girl captured my heart.

Sweet Lil' Lady

A few more pieces looked like this:

Elephants, Turtles and Teacups

These lucky participant are now able to pick up their projects and present them to their families.  Like relics from our past, these pieces are part of future archaeology.

I am proud to share this knowledge and collaborate these lessons for my students.  The process of making objects never ceases to amaze me.

Visit here again next month when we dive into the world of book making with Wynn Yarrow.

Thanks for visiting!

xoxo, erica

Clay Coil Creatures Part 1

First Friday Art Club visited and learned in a local museum in

March with a ceramics survey course. 

Who has visited the Rockwell Museum before today?

We visited The Rockwell Museum for a visit in the galleries and a lesson in ceramic construction. The class began with a pristine education lab.  Education Programs Coordinator, Amy Ruza, led instruction on clay hand building using the coil technique, with the most important law of clay building- slip and score.

Slip and Score is like glue in ceramics.

The students got straight to work, understanding that they had a very strict time frame to complete this segment of the project.  It was impressive to watch these budding artists take lumps of clay and transform them into mini masterpieces.

From Lump-thing to Something

The idea was to create a creature form the coil technique, hence the program title, "Clay Coil Creatures."  

The results are quite fascinating...

There were turtles and squirrels

Great examples of coils and smooth textures

Then there were elephants

This lady has taken ceramics classes before.

They discovered texture options...

Texture with party beads

In just under an hour of working time, there was a jungle of creatures and shapes to adore. These need to dry for about two weeks before they get bisque fired 

and prepared for the next class in April.  

The next phase of these projects is glazing, 

which will give everything a new life of color and shine!

From clay to bisque, waiting for glaze

Check back in April to view the collection in it's final phase.

Thanks for visiting!

Beauty from the studio

A Special note of Thanks goes to the staff of the Rockwell Museum for collaborating with our library and welcoming our First Friday Art Club for a ceramics treat.