Earthscapes with The Rockwell Museum, part 2

We played with clay for the SSCL First Friday Art Club in May.  If you take a moment to read Part 1 of this Earthscapes project, you will know that this clay portion represents a topographical view of a landscape for which our dream homes will be placed.

Amy's and My Earthscape Sample

Amy Ruza from The Rockwell Museum and I met earlier in the month to make the sample you see above.  There are forests, fresh water, mountains and fields within our landscape. 

The clay is terracotta, which has a beautiful brown hue, lending itself to the Earth-like feel.

Roll out a slab and create dimension

The students were instructed to roll out a 1/4" thick slab of clay cut to the size of a sheet of paper.  Then, they placed the clay slabs over crumpled paper to give the clay dimension.  

It was required that each slab touch the table surface on two sides in order to provide

holes meant for hanging vertically on a wall.  

A river runs through it

Once the slabs were rolled out and placed on cardboard sheets for transport and holes were prodded, students had their own choices to make.  Including a fresh water source was HIGHLY encouraged.  It was fun to watch these lumps of mud transform before our eyes!

Rivers, valleys, caves, and VOLCANOES!

Land features such as rivers, valleys, caves and even VOLCANOES developed over these lands.  These adventurous artists represented their own ideas, but also shared their expertise as other students showed interest in certain elements

Let the Underglaze Begin

After the clay landscape was approved, it was time to add color with underglaze.  Blue represented water and the sample above shows a lovely winding river, accessible throughout the land.  Forests for food and exploration were a popular feature.

Each countdown made them frantic

We only have an hour and a half in First Friday Art Club and every minute is precious.  To keep students aware, I give them incremental countdowns until cleanup.  They are always so shocked and disappointed when I say we only have 20 minutes left.  "TWENTY MINUTES?! How did class fly by so quickly?!"

Countdowns make them Hustle!

As you can see, the before and after show how these kids can hustle to get the job complete.  Green grasses, white capped mountains and streams of blue covered our tables.

Fallen Tree

This student considered having a fallen tree available for fire wood when he moves his house here this summer.  The river will be a helpful form of transportation to get that tree to his home!  I'm impressed by that thought process for such a young student.

Off to the kiln

Now that the Earthscapes have been created, they must get fired in the kiln.  The Rockwell Museum has their own kiln and will provide this service.  The items will take two weeks to dry before being fired.  Many students wanted to take these home next week!  

There was a minor lesson in how ceramics get processed.

The SSC Library will exhibit these Earthscapes in July and August as part of the 

summer reading club theme, "Build a Better World."  

Accessibility to art always helps create a better world!

Thanks for visiting this month and checking on our progress.  I'll be sure to show you the Earthscapes on display, but until then, seek the First Friday Art Club blog in June to see what we make with a little help from the sun with Cyanotypes.

~erica

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Discover and Draw in the Contemporary Art & Design Galleries of Corning Museum of Glass

First Friday Art Club visited the new Contemporary Art & Design Galleries of Corning Museum of Glass in June.  We watched a Hot Glass show.

Heather Spiewak and G. Brian Juk on deck

The group entered a raffle to take home some gorgeous glass.

We did not win the raffle :-(

We then traveled to the newest wing of the Corning Museum of Glass, the Contemporary Art & Design Galleries.  These beautiful galleries are housed on the footprint of the old Steuben Glass factory.  Steuben Glass is once again owned by Corning, but the production of the glass occurs off campus.

Meet, then disperse to draw!

We gave the students drawing supplies, then sent them into the galleries to draw what interested them.  Many of the kids had never been to the new galleries, so this was a treat.

Constellation, Kiki Smith

My favorite piece in these galleries, at least at the moment, is Kiki Smith's "Constellation."  It is set in a room solo from the other works, giving it a grand presence when viewed in the gallery.  The set up of this piece was quite intensive.  I love this time lapse video showing the process.  

The students were quite content to sit and draw their favorite pieces throughout the galleries. 

The hard part of this program was pulling the kids away from the galleries to go home.  I call that a major success!  Next time we visit, I want to display the drawings within the library.

This blog will be on hiatus for summer chaos.  Check back in September for our Tie Dye results, just in time for back to school season.

Happy Creating my friends!

-erica