Pinch Pot Creatures

If you Google, ''pinch pot creatures," there are many websites with wonderful examples including those from elementary and middle school teachers. After teaching a variety of lessons based on learning the basic hand building techniques, I decided to try this idea and it was a total hit. I think you could do this with any age group from children to adults. Who could resist the idea of creating an imaginary creature and in the process learning a variety of ceramic and sculptural techniques. The element of fun and imagination engages students in learning all the technical skills. I opted for painting with acrylic paints since I also wanted to have students practice their patterning skills as part of the finishing process.

Craft In America-Pinch and Coil

First semester students continued their exploration in working with clay by learning the pinch and coil methods of construction. Texture during construction and color contrast during glazing were our learning objectives. For the coil bowls, we constructed inside a plastic bowl to provide support as our beginning potters experimented with coil. They did a great job!

Art Club In The New Year

Here are a few art club projects, two finished before the the holidays and one still in progress called a "screamer" which is a very large sculpture piece currently being painted. Right now it's in the back of the art room, upside down as paint dries on one side of the "screamer" body. Our new pottery project in the first stages, are ceramic heart magnets to be finished in time for Valentine Day!

Art Club-Cool Pottery Project

These are some examples of pottery projects done by my Art Club students. They just keep getting better and better!

Craft In America - Slab Pottery

We start exploring ceramic craft traditions in America by looking at two very different artists, George Ohr from Biloxi, Mississippi and Maria Martinez from San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico. Following is a sample of our Heart and Soul (Sole) project which is done as a slab project that includes texture from the soles of our shoes. The "double" bonus here was the opportunity to reach across the curriculum to language arts with the use of our homophone.