Intro to Clay : Art of the Pinch Pot : Glazing

Intro to Clay : Art of the Pinch Pot : Glazing

This was the final production week of our pinch pot workshop for students in grades K-2. Having completed creating mouse families, fish, and nesting birds, we spent our last session focusing on color and design.

Materials Needed

Fired clay projects (mice, fish, and birds in nests)
Low fire non-toxic glazes in a variety of colors
Brushes, various sizes
Shallow cardboard boxes, one for each student

1. Each week in this course, we looked at various artists' interpretations of mice, fish, and birds. Creatures were made in a variety of media and we explored the ways color was used to add interest to the work, whether to make the animal in a more realistic looking way or something more based on fantasy and imagination.

2. I gave a brief demo on using glazes and to avoid wasting any, we set up glazing stations around the room. Each of the five tables had 2 colors of glaze, 4-6 brushes of different sizes for each color, and a little clay biscuit that showed how the fired version of that particular glaze looked. This helped students get a better idea of how their color choices might look after their projects went through one last firing.

3. Each student had a shallow cardboard box holding all three of their projects, which they carried from station to station, adding their favorite colors. Emphasis was on layering glazes to create richer color and also using tiny brushes to add patterns such as dots or stripes onto base layers of glaze.

Work will be fired again and next week, the students will curate their own work for a group show. Tune in next week to see the final results.