Pinch Pot Snow Men Don't Blow!

In celebration of winter, my third grade classes decided they would like to make clay snowmen. Three rolled "clay" balls stacked on top of each other with carrot noses, black to hats, and thin stick arms was the request. Hello...explosion? It would be a Snowman Apocalypse in my kiln with parts flying everywhere.

I wanted them to be able to do a 3-d snowman that would be manageable for their age level in our short time frame, and with less chance of destruction and disappointment. And then the pinch pot hit me! Brilliant!

Here is a quick overview of my steps in the creation of our clay snowmen for any of you out there interested in doing this kind of project in your art room.

1. Give each student a piece of clay. Size depends on your preference.

2. Have the student split the clay into 4 pieces. No these should not be equal.

3. Three of the pieces are going to be used for your pinch pots and the last piece for the details.

4. Ask your students to roll 3 sizes of clay balls...small, medium, and large.

5. Each one of these balls is turned into a pinch pot. Name goes on the inside of the biggest pot.

6. They will score and slip each pot together biggest on bottom, smallest on top.

7. We rolled tiny clay snakes to smooth into the creases for added protection.

8. The extra piece of clay can be used to make eyes, nose, mouth, buttons, hat, scarf etc...

9. Remind them everything they stick on has to be scored and slipped.

I poked a pinhole in the back of top and middle snow balls "pots" after the students were done to give it an even better chance of survival. Fire, glaze, and fire again and there you have it. Cute little snowmen perfect for a winter clay project. Check out the pics below to see what some of my students created. We chose colors not typically seen on snowmen since we were making "art"! 

Happy Baking!

Monkey Mind with Doctor Who, Art Class, and Humanity

As a Doctor Who fan who not only watches the show but has completely transformed my art class into the TARDIS this year, it's obvious that Doctor Who is on my mind a lot. I found myself thinking deeply about connections between the show and art in general the other day so I thought I'd share some of my discoveries.

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First I thought about the characters. They are for the most part aliens. And then my mind wondered...what is alien in art? Art that is foreign to us. Art that to us is not really art. What language do these aliens speak on Doctor Who and what is the language of art. Can we understand all the languages in a piece of art. Do we have to know the language to understand the meaning?

The Cybermen are evil aliens. Why do we see them as bad? Is it because they want everyone to be like them? Conformity and assimilation is their goal. For creative people this is the opposite of what we strive for. Creativity NOT Conformity!


tardis.wikia.com

The Doctor says "I don't have anything to lose". What do we have to lose as Artists? Don't be afraid to make "happy accidents". This is art we have nothing to lose. You are making something out of nothing. That in itself is Extraordinary! Let the creativity flow we have nothing to lose.

"Fantastic!" "Brilliant!" "Be Extraordinary!" All words used by the Doctors. All words we should think about in art. When encouraging my students I use these words. At the beginning of the year I asked them if anyone had ever said they were extraordinary in school. And usually no. The answer is NO. Because we don't have time during the school day for "Extraordinary".


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But we do in that Art Room. In my TARDIS (The.Art.Room.Discovers.Incredible.Skills) we have all the time in the world. The sky is not the limit. There is not limit. In Doctor Who they travel throughout the universe in space and time. Is the universe ever finished...will our art ever be finished. Who says it has to be finished. Art does not have to be finite. Is that scary? Are we scared of the unknown.


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Doctor Who himself is an alien. He regenerates, transforms into a new Doctor. How does our art regenerate? How do our students transform throughout the years and how does their art evolve? It's a constant evolution in Doctor Who and for our students and ourselves it's the same. We are all regenerating or transforming throughout our lives. The show is a creatively colorful and entertaining representation of the evolution of ourselves. And not necessarily throughout thousands of years. But throughout our own lifetime. Isn't that fantastic? Isn't that brilliant. That we are constantly changing.

Aren't our lives in fact extraordinary?

How Are Students Like Water Bottles?

This is my first attempt at a YouTube video. Great day teaching and week.
Check it out.
Be kind. :-)