So this week at camp I got to “get back to basics” and the kids are playing in the mud!
Literally. It’s quite the challenge to start a week with a classroom full of kids all waiting
anxiously to start slingin’ the mud. With me there to show them how! After some initial
introductions, discussion of camp rules and overview of the class – we start with the basics.
Wedging, centering, opening, compressing, throwing, compressing, refining, lifting, etc.
Okay… so it wasn’t quite that easy. And there hasn’t been a whole lot of “refinement.”
But the kids are having fun and that’s really all that matters to me!
So tomorrow’s our last day of camp and we have a lot to finish up…
They kids threw pots with stoneware on Monday & Tuesday, trimmed on Wednesday,
and then switching to throwing with terra cotta today. If all goes as planned, tomorrow
we will finish up today’s terra cotta pots with trimming, attachments, decorations
and underglazing. They also need to glaze their bisqued stoneware pots that we rushed
through the drying (and I use that term loosely) process so the pots can be out of the kiln
and the kids can finish the process on Friday. Next week, when their pots come out of the
cone 10 glaze kiln, the kids will receive a postcard from Lillstreet to let them know
they can come back and claim their handmade treasures!
I love throwing pots. Your description of the summer camp makes me want to set up a shop in my garage for the neighborhood.
Set it up!!! And the garage is the perfect place… you can just hose it down after the kids have had their fun! And then again, after YOU have your fun!!!
I would love to be able to set up a workshop studio in my garage. Alas, a lack of wheels prevents me from putting on a proper throwing workshop. And my location is not exactly conducive to such a thing either. It looks like you spent a lot of time centering clay for your students, yes?
Surprisingly… the kids catch on to centering pretty quickly. I try to make it very simple for them. I always demonstrate the steps for them a couple times, then make them “repeat” the steps back to me. I sit at the wheel and make them tell me what I need to do step-by-step… and I won’t do it, or I will do it wrong, if they don’t tell me what the next step is. They really seem to catch the process steps pretty easily.
It always seems like Day One is frustrating for most of them, but they catch on by the end of the day. Day Two starts out with them frustrated & prepared to fail, but quickly surprised when they get it centered and actually start making pots. But then on Day Three, some of the kids back-slide a bit as they get overly confident and move on too quickly with opening & pulling up the sides before it’s quite centered. They realize quickly that that is not an option! I keep a few plaster bats on the table for them to put their “dead” pots & ruined balls of clay to dry and re-wedge… we call it “The Graveyard.”
Okay… so I do center a few balls of clay along the way – who are we kidding?! Especially when you see that kid who is getting frustrated and on the verge of tears. I always make sure that every child finishes the day with a couple new pots… that they at least “had a hand in” the creation of that pot! I try to make my assistance as transparent to them as possible. And in the end, every kid is excited about their masterpieces – and they all had a great time playing in the mud!… me too!