Week One of Summer Camp done. And eventful it was!!! We started the week with no air conditioning… sweltering during the hottest days of the heatwave! They moved us to a different classroom that was not quite as intolerable… and gave use a “swamp cooler.” Yep, I didn’t know either… a 5-gallon bucket of ice in front of a fan!!! Wait, what?! We made it through the day with only one camper passing out… but who’s counting? The rest of the week was warm… as we got moved back into our original “UN-air-conditioned“ room. Sweaty & clammy pretty much all day long!!!

But then today… THIS happened! They got a NEW air conditioning unit on the roof!l… YAY!!! Although I didn’t really expect them to open the ceiling completely… DURING camp!!! But they did. Very quickly… just a shower of dust… a new sky view… and then we had air conditioning again!!! Voila’!!!

Quick fix and the room got chilly as the old unit was lowered down from a crane
just outside our classroom window! Like I said… eventful.

Luckily, the new air conditioning unit should make the rest of Summer Camp
so much more enjoyable in there!!!

It’s only Day Two of Summer Camp… and Rule #3 is already well in play!!!
With a splash of water on the floor… “Whatever mess you make, you WILL be cleaning up!”
And they do…

Today was my first day of Summer Camp!!!
You know it’s my favorite thing!!!
I mean, what could be better than being “entertained” by kids all day
while playing with clay making cool projects on the wheel?!

This week it’s back-to-back Wheelthrowing Camps… with pre-teens in the morning & teens in the afternoon. My “Summer Camp Tour of Duty” has officially begun at Lillstreet Art Center!!! Giddy-up…

By the end of the week, we had SEVEN full trays of chess pieces. All painted with underglaze… and hopefully all scored & slipped with poked air holes. Very impressive to see them all together like this… tray after tray after tray. A grand total of 382 CHESS PIECES!!! Not bad for a one-week camp… as I had a wonderful group of campers! It was a fitting end to another successful CHESS CAMP!!!

An incognito camper with her own sunglasses… a perfect fit…
also known as the “knight” on her beach themed chess board.

“Paint the chess pieces.. NOT your hands!!!”…
says the teacher with a smirky grin, as it is kind of adorable to say the least!

As Friday neared an end, it was a full-on press to get all of the CHESS CAMP pieces painted with underglazes. So much fun seeing their terra cotta pieces come to life in color. Even better when they get glazed & fired with clear glaze later! The kids had a great time painting… and they were thrilled with the results!

It was Friday of CHESS CAMP… and one of the campers was falling behind and did NOT have all of his pieces built yet. So it was all-hands-on-deck to help Henry… and it was so great to watch all of the other kids pitch in so eagerly! Assembly line, score, slip, score, slip… GO!!!

Last week at Summer Camp it was my favorite week… CHESS CAMP!!! And yes, my 9-10 year old campers made full chess sets out of clay! All handbuilt to their own imagination. Lots of parts, lots of pieces… and “hopefully” a LOT of scoring & slipping to hold it all together!

Another day in Chess Camp… and it’s all starting to come together!
One square at a time!