Bears

These bears are made from simple pinch pots and can be made realistic or cute little teddy bears.  Start with two equal spheres of clay and make them into pinch pots by pushing your thumb into the center of the sphere and squeezing around the sides until you have a small bowl shape. Do the same to both spheres.  Take your scratching tool (wire tool, fork, comb...) and scratch-to-attach the edges of the bowls.  Then gently push them together and smooth out the seam with your fingers.  This creates the body of your bear.  Now make one smaller pinch pot and turn it upside down onto the top of your body to create the head.  Scratch-to-attach it on and blend it in well to the shoulders of the bear.  

Now using some extra clay, create your ears, eyes, nose, arms and legs. For the arms and legs, roll out four coils of clay that are about the same size and thickness, scratch the end of each coil and scratch the body where you want to attach them on, blend them in well with your fingers.  You can push a small round tool into the ends of the coils to make paw prints.   The ears are easy to make by flattening a small sphere of clay and cutting it in half making two equal ears.  The nose is a small triangle and the eyes are two spheres with a smaller dot pushed into them.  You can also add details like a honey pot, clothes or make your bear catching a salmon in the river.  Remember that all of your bears' parts need to be scratched-to-attached on! 

You can also give your bear a furry texture by scoring the clay with your scratching tool.  HINT:  Don't forget to poke a hole into the hollow space of your bear that goes through the body and all the way into the air that you've trapped in the head so that it doesn't explode in the kiln!!!  Let them dry, bisque fire, glaze and glaze fire them. 

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Tiki Heads

These fun tiki heads are a perfect lesson in symmetry for students. I show my students lots of examples of symmetry in art and nature before we start this project.  I also have them sketch out a plan on paper of what shapes they will use to create their clay tiki head.

Start by rolling out a 3/8ths of an inch slab of clay and cut out a rectangle that is about 5" x 10".  Wrap the rectangle up into a cylinder and scratch-to-attach the edges together.  Trace the bottom of the cylinder onto another slab of clay and scratch-to-attach the circle onto the bottom of the cylinder. Now its time to start building the tiki face.

Take your scrap flat pieces of clay and roll them out a little thinner with a rolling pin.  Use a knife to cut out each of the shapes that you need to build the face and scratch-to-attach them onto the cylinder.  I challenged my students to choose at least 6 completely different shapes and to use at least 15 pieces to build their tiki faces.  I also challenged them to create two unique faces, one on each side of the cylinder.  You can adjust the challenge for your students ability and age level.  Dry your pieces, bisque fire them and then glaze.  You can also challenge students to use at least 10 different colors on their pieces if you'd like to get some super rainbow tiki heads! Once they are fired you can also put plants in your tiki heads to make them grow hair!

!!! B CR8IV!!!

Pouring Vessel

I love to teach my students about the functionality of the things that they make and how a seemingly simple object can also have complex design needs. For this project, we discuss the anatomy of pouring vessel; the body, handle, throat, rim, foot & spout and how each of these parts needs to be assembled well for the vessel to actually pour.  To ensure success for my students, I provide them with two paper templates to make their vessels, one for the body and one for the spout.

Start by rolling out a slab of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick and large enough to accommodate a rectangular paper template that is about 4" x 10" ( you can always make yours smaller or larger as desired!).  Cut out the rectangle and form it into a cylinder, scratch-to-attach the edges together and smooth the seam.  Then place the cylinder on top of a slab of clay and trace around it to create the right size circle for the bottom then scratch-to-attach it on well.  Now using a paper template for the spout, which is basically a triangle with  the bottom side rounded outward, cut out the spout, curve it and scratch-to-attach it onto the side of the cylinder. Then cut away the part of the cylinder where the spout is attached and smooth out the throat of the spout so that it is continuous and the liquid won't hit any bumps on its way out.  Make sure to keep the lip of the spout  straight edged on the end or your liquids will drip down the sides when you pour.  Next cut out a long and thin rectangle that you'll use for the handle, it will need to be about an inch and a half wide by about 8 inches long (if its too long, you can always trim it).  Bend the rectangle into a half heart shape and scratch-to-attach it on opposite the spout.  Now you can decorate your slab built pouring vessel however you like, let it dry and bisque fire it.  Be sure to glaze the entire surface to keep it sealed for liquids, fire it and then see if its functional!

!!!B CR8IV!!!

Nesting Bowls

Pinch pots are simple to make, but nesting them is a great challenge for students to get them just right!  I ask students to create 6 nested bowls in whatever shape they'd like (hearts, circles ovals etc..) using just the pinch pot technique to create them.

Have students start by making 6 spheres of clay that gradually get smaller and smaller (the first one can be about the size of a grapefruit). Starting with the largest sphere, have students stick their thumbs into the sphere and squeeze around the sides until all the clay is stretched out into a bowl shape.  Form the bowl into the desired shape and start on the next one, as each bowl is stretched out test it for fitting into the larger one.  Once they are all nested let them dry and bisque fire them.  I gave a color theory lesson on tones and tints for students to think about when painting their bowls.  You could also have students create a pattern of colors or use only warm/cool colors when glazing.

!!! B CR8IV!!! 

Wizards

Wizards with a crystal ball (aka: marble!) are super fun for students to create and are a lesson in using cones as a 3-D shape. To start, roll out a slab of clay that is about 3/8ths of an inch thick and then use a paper template to cut out the shape of a large cone.  Wrap the clay up into a cone and scratch-to-attach the edges together.  Next roll out a coil of clay that you can scratch-to-attach near the top of the cone, this will become the brim of the hat.  Once the coil is well attached, pinch the edges with your fingers to thin it out and shape it.  Then roll out two coils of clay that are also cone shaped to create the arms, scratch-to-attach them on so that the hands are facing out in front.  Cutting out two ovals and attaching them to the bottom of the cone make feet poking out from under the wizard's robe.  I created two spheres for eyes and a small cone for the nose that were all scratched-to-attached on.  For the hair, beard and mustache, I used a garlic press to create "spaghetti hair", it's fun to make, but a little tricky to attach, make sure students take their time with this part.  Encourage students to turn their sculptures around and look at them from all sides, adding details or decoration as desired.  Bisque fire your wizards, glaze them and fire them again.  Once finished, you can glue the crystal ball into their hands.

!!!B CR8IV!!!