Celebrating a little FLASHBACK FRIDAY with these wonderful chess pieces made by Mathieu last summer during Chess Camp at Lillstreet Art Center! He came in with a plan & made a wonderful version of the Terra Cotta Warriors. His chess set was all handbuilt with terra cotta in five days! He decided to keep his set unglazed to be more “authentic.” It was my favorite set of chess pieces from last summer!

And for those who don’t know… The TERRA COTTA ARMY was created by China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who began the construction of the army in 246 BC after he (then aged 13) ascended the throne. It was an afterlife army for Emperor Qin. It was believed that objects like statues can be animated in the afterlife. The clay soldiers remained untouched for more than 2000 years, until 1974, when they were unearthed by Chinese farmers. Experts estimate there are more than 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots, and 670 horses.

So I guess when I told my Summer Campers to NOT get any glaze on the bottoms of their cups… something got lost in translation? Good thing they know how to use a sponge… start wiping!!!

Today my Summer Campers switch from wheelthrowing to trimming… and carving, decorating, stamping, adding handles & a lot more to make their pots more special… and thinner! No plain paperweights this week – HA!!!

Another week of Wheelthrowing Summer Camp…
bring on the kids, bring out the sponges!!!

Last week at Summer Camp, we had an other week of large sculptures… and a great Sculpture Gallery Show on Friday! So much fun watching my campers build & paint these large pieces during the week… as well as memorizing fifty famous artists & sculptors along the way!

So my campers this week started painting their big sculptures today… a lot of paint went on their sculptures… but some became palette “masterpieces” on paper plates too!!!

So yesterday afternoon, there “may” have been a strange sighting outside of Lillstreet Art Center. There was “rumor” of a giraffe standing out on the corner of Montrose & Ravenswood!!! In Chicago?… Shocking, right?! Well, not so shocking for one of my Summer Campers this week who made his life-sized baby giraffe in Sculpture Camp! Murray worked hard on his giraffe… so we just had to show him off to the world!!!

After getting some “real tools” from my studio, my Summer Campers put their hands to work making some incredible terra cotta planters on Monday… glazing them on Tuesday. I have a small group of kids this week, but they’re still kickin’ it out of the park!!!

Celebrating a little MUGSHOT MONDAY with this double-handled cutie made by one of my Summer Campers!!! Too cute.

After a wonderful week with a great group of Summer Campers… we had a brilliant Sculpture Gallery Show at the end of Friday for parents, siblings, friends & other summer campers. The kids were so proud of their sculptures… and I was SO PROUD of them! Such a great time showing off their hard work… their creative efforts… and speeding through flashcards & showing off their new art history knowledge!!!