It’s another week of summer camp… another round of “Fire, Forge & Feast.”
This is the first summer that we’ve offered two sessions of this summer camp.
It’s fun to have another batch of kids making their clay dinnerware sets.
Yesterday & today they came up with their themes, then made ceramic plates,
bowls, cups and handles out of terra cotta. We finished today with each of them
painting their work with Lillstreet‘s new underglaze/glaze combo!

Some of our themes this week?… “Alice In Wonderland,” zombies, flowers, “Harry Potter,”
Alaska, trees, Switzerland, “Doctor Who,” video games, and… my “least” favorite?…
mathematics! Yes, one of them is actually basing his entire set on mathematics!
I’m an artist… I don’t do math!

So our menagerie fills the table! Luckily, all of the animals seemed to get along overnight.
Each of them ready to go home with the kids to take up residence in their new digs.
It’s always fun to see the looks on the parents’ faces when they come to pick up their kids
and suddenly see them walk out of the building carrying a huge animal! Hysterical…

Each animal cuter than the next… some more animated than others, each quite adorable!
Including a fennec fox, alligator, dachsund, great dane, sting ray, anemone, caiman, fox,
elephant and a wonderful flamingo striking a statuesque pose!

Maybe I forgot to tell the kids that we’re painting the animals… not their hands???

So today the kids were finishing up their Wild Things sculptures! The plaster gauze is dry
and they animals were really “coming to life” as they were painted with acrylic paints.

I especially LOVE when some of the sculptures take on a life of their own and get larger &
larger… and eventually cover most of the table. Who am I to tell them to to limit their project?!
Definitely not me… instead, I encourage it!!!

Sometimes it’s just amazing to see what my campers can come up with some simple
art supplies. Today my “Wild Things” campers continued their animal projects by
making sculptures of their favorite animals. We started with sketches of their animals
& habitats. We then created an armature out of wire hangers, newspaper & masking tape.
Once they had “filled out” the wire frame and added some characteristic details, they
began to cover the armature with plaster gauze. Kinda like paper mache, but a lot easier,
quicker & stronger! By the end of the day their animals were coming along quite nicely.
Tomorrow we continue to add details, as well as paint them in full color to bring them to life!

Today was an adventure at Lincoln Park Zoo!
Yep, me and my fourteen “Wild Things” summer camp kids traipsing around
Lincoln Park Zoo! Visiting the animals, getting inspiration for the rest of the week’s
animal themed projects. Along the way, we stopped at the patio for lunch and some
watercolor painting. Loving seeing how focused the kids get once they start painting!

But after a long day at the Zoo, with a lot of walking around, the kids favorite spot
is always the Children’s Zoo. Not for the little animals, but for the cool fountain that
shoots streams of water out of the sidewalk. Needless to say, the kids had a splashing
good time… and went back to Lillstreet a little wetter than before!

Today it was back to Summer Camp… “Wild Things.”
So it’s a week all about animal-themed projects. And let me just say, my group
of campers this week is very “energetic.” Oh wait, it’s animal-themed…
maybe “squirrelly” is a better choice of words?!

Sadly, my trip to Dover coincided with the last day of “Fire, Forge & Feast.”
So I didn’t get to FEAST!

I also missed out on the final day of putting everything together. The kids finished
all of their projects, put all of their parts together and finished their pieces! Thanks to my
co-teacher Pam for covering the last day. For making sure everything came together…
and for sending me these photos from the last day of camp!!!

Here’s the final tally of how many saw blades were broken during the kids’ three days
of metal work. Of course, the goal was to have a low number… apparently, some of the
kids didn’t quite grasp that concept?! And no fingers were lost…

Sadly, there was a kiln malfunction while firing their clay pieces. Apparently, one of the
electric element rings decided to not work, which resulted in an under-fired kiln. No biggie.
The pieces can easily be re-fired as soon as the elements are replaced. Unfortunately, it also
means that the kids didn’t get their finished pieces back. But they will… just a little later
than we all expected! Although, here’s one that made it through…

Luckily, the metal work stayed within Pam’s control… so everything turned out great.

Even the pieces that were inserted into the clay handles that they had made. A true marriage
of clay handles and metal cutlery. A great summer camp combination for the kids!

So the fun of “Fire, Forge & Feast” continues… with another day of metals fun!
The kids have been working so hard, keeping focused on their projects, and trying
to get everything finished. They’re picking patterns, adding textures and making
some extra pieces to add to their dinnerware sets!

Today was “hump day” of “Fire, Forge & Feast” camp…
and we always like to celebrate the middle of the week with a little sweetness.
Somehow, the kids always “come up with the idea” to have a chocolate chip cookie bake-off.
Okay, maybe we do a little hinting, but somehow we can flip it so they seem to think it was
“all their idea.” And then they make the cookies at home and bring them in for us to try!

My co-teacher Pam Robinson made a yummy batch of cookies… that I had to sample for
breakfast before the kids began to show up. And then imagine my surprise & excitement
when Mac showed up with this tray of cookies he had made with chocolate-filled, toasted
marshmallows on top! His own concoction – kinda like a chocolate chip cookie s’more…
and you know how I just “hate” s’mores!… kidding!!!

So I separated the cookies out so everyone got a plate of cookies to taste, sample & vote on.
We had seven different varieties & entries in the contest. Some traditional, some with a little
variation like white chocolate or even cinnamon chocolate chips!!!

So here’s our plan. Make the kids bake cookies. Bring them in for us to eat.
We make them work in metal all day. Then load them up with sugar & send ’em home!!!

For the record… cookie #4 won the contest. A fairly traditional chocolate chip cookie.
Soft on the inside, crispy on the outside with some nice semi-sweet chips inside!
Nothing fancy. Just yummy cookies. Congratulations Julian… looks like you win the
cookie “trophy” plate that I made for the winner!

My summer campers have moved over to the Metals Room and we’re making metal knives,
forks& spoons. They’re all so focused on their projects with a lot to get done before the end
of the week. We started with my co-teacher Pam Robinson teaching the kids some
metalsmithing basics.We also stressed that their metal pieces also had to coordinate with
the overall theme & concept they were creating for themselves. Two days of clay were just
the start for this week’s project!

Once they started, the kids were all pretty focused on their projects. Each of them trying
to make their knives, forks & spoons… and trying not to cut themselves or break too many
saw blades. Once their pieces are cut out, they will then file them down and add textures
& patterns! You know how I love textures & patterns… even in metal!

And that’s not all… a very “sweet” afternoon was planned for them too…