Just a quick “thank you” to the broken Coca-Cola machine just outside the room
where I’m teaching my summer camp this week.

And I would just like to “thank” them for giving us a broken machine!
Let’s just say the kids love it more than I… as every time they buy a can of Pibb Xtra
(yes, that’s extra sugar & extra caffeine) the machine gives them TWO cans!!!
Yes, two cans for the price of one!!!

Just what the summer camp kids need… more caffeine & more sugar!!!
Especially when we were headed off to the Art Institute for the day!

So there it is… another week of camp done. Check… and check mate!
And the kids were all working feverishly to finish their sets by the end of camp!
Plus, I brought in some music “to calm the savage beasts” and give us all a little
more vocal entertainment throughout the day. Especially Andrew who not only sang
along with a lot of the songs… but also decided to “bust a move” frequently too!

So they tackled the day head-on with a lot of work on the docket. They had pretty much
finished building all of their pieces. A few more here & there, but generally finished.
We pulled out the underglazes and they started painting… all the while being very careful
not to break of their fragile greenware pieces. Okay… so we had a couple mishaps,
but nothing that couldn’t be rebuilt in our spare time.

So they kept painting their pieces with colorful underglazes all day. Which really brings
them all to life. It’s always so much fun to see their “vision” come together!

By the end of camp today, every camper had completed their entire Chess Set.
They were very excited, as was I… always so impressive that they can finish a project
this large in just five days! Plus, we finished with time to spare… so we all shared in a
huge ice cream social with potluck toppings brought in by the kids! I always love filling
the kids with sugar at the end of the day and sending them home all jacked-up
to Mom & Dad!!!

Thank you again to all of my campers for making this another successful week.
They were all so energetic & entertaining. I laughed with them all week long.

So one of my kids has been entertaining me all week long.
Not only is his chess set coming together quite nicely…
And not only has he persuaded me to download the app “Plants vs. Aliens”…
But he has also been serenading the class all week long! Which is not only incredibly
entertaining… Andrew actually has a really good voice too! So it’s been a LOT of fun!!!
And you can check him out on his very own YouTube video!!!

The film quality is not all that great, and the beginning is a little shaky. But make sure
you wait until the chorus of the song really kicks in… Andrew’s got a great voice for a
13 year old!!! Watch the video, give it a “LIKE” rating if you can… and I’m sure he’d
love to get some good Comments too!!! Click on the link below…

Andrew Johnson on “YouTube”

So the kids have been very focused this week…
with their themes in place and the terra cotta quickly forming into chess pieces!
It’s been an assembly line of pawns, and then a lot of scoring & slipping along the way!
Some of the themes this time around include…
* Land Animals vs. Water Animals
* Plants vs. Zombies… apparently a hugely popular app with the kids?!
* Health Food vs. Junk Food… matching chess sets by my two overachievers!
* Star Wars
* Soda Pop vs. Fruit Juices
* Plates vs. Bowls… which I don’t really get, but he’s VERY into it?!!!
* Forks vs. Spoons… again, what’s with the utensils???
* Tofu vs. Meat

Too bad that not all of my overachieving kids “understood” that the slip should go on their
pieces, not their hands! At least they’re following my #1 Summer Camp Rule… Have Fun!

Along the way, in between making their pieces, the kids also started to paint their
chess boards today. With colors & thematic elements to coordinate with their chess sets.

After lunch, the kids who have finished making all of their pieces started painting their
chess pieces with colorful underglazes. This is always fun because it’s when all of their
hard work really comes to life! And the chess piece personalities really begin to pop!

And with kids this adorable… how could you NOT love Summer Camp?!!! They have been
too funny! Great attitudes, funny stories, good karaoke, bad jokes… all WONDERFUL FUN!!!

Another week of camp… and this time it’s all about Chess!
The kids are going to make an entire thematic chess set out of terra cotta.
So today we started the day with some great brainstorming to help the kids
come up with their themes. Some of them came into the day with a theme
already in their head, others needed some help. So we came up with a lot of ideas…
and it was funny to see where there minds were coming from! We had a list with
lots of video games, vampires and crazy inanimate objects!!! Once they each
decided in their theme, I had them fill in a worksheet to figure out what each
piece in their set will be. A quick demo… and then they started forming their pieces!

It’s going to be a very long week… they’ve got a LOT of work ahead of them.
With 32 chess pieces to make, plus their thematic chess board, they’ve got a lot of
handbuilding to do! So my job is to keep them focused… and their job is to keep me laughing!

After a week of clay & metal, my summer camp kids finally pulled everything together
to make their dinnerware sets come true! They’ve made their clay plates, bowls, cups,
platters, cups, whatever. And then made metal forks, knives, forks, spoons, bowls,
chopsticks, whatever. Today we finished everything & had a wonderful potluck feast!

We started by pulling all of their metal pieces out of the tumbler… all polished and
hardened from a night of tumbling. The kids loved seeing their pieces all shiny!

Then they assembled their pieces by inserting the metal pieces into the clay handles
that they made on Monday. A little epoxy… and voila’… instant handmade cutlery!!!
And a few pieces that were all metal. Cut, textured and metal handles riveted in place…
like my new salad tongs!!!

As some of the kids had already assembled their dinnerware sets, and we still had time
to make a few more pieces, some kids moved onto forming metal bowls from a flat sheet
of metal. Fun with torches & a lot of hammering!!!

Finally it was time for lunch and we got to use some of out new pieces for The Feast.
It was so nice to actually use the kids pieces to eat their lunch. Serving pieces, forks
and plates!!! And from the looks of it… we had quite a Feast. The kids brought in
a LOT of wonderful food to cap off our wonderful week of camp!

As we finished our clay pieces yesterday with underglaze colors & clear overglaze,
the pieces were all put into the kiln and we moved on to the metal portion of our camp.
So we started the day with the kids designing the flatware pieces that will coordinate
with their ceramic plates, bowls & cups. After a little instruction & demos, the kids set off
and started sawing through their sheets of copper. With some great conversations,
a fun iTunes Playlist by Sydney and a lot of laughs!!!

At lunch today, we saw a large tree that had been chopped down. Beautiful wood chunks.
Just sitting there for the taking. How can you pass it by? We couldn’t… Pam was too excited
to get a couple pieces back in the Metals Studio for new hammering work stations. So we
put the kids to work and had some of them roll them down the alley and back to Lillstreet.

Back at Lillstreet, we had a very happy Pam about the new “huge stump in her life.”

Then my camp co-teacher Pam Robinson gave them a demonstration on how to hammer
their pieces to add textures & curves.Lots of tools. Lots of techniques. Lots to learn.

And if that weren’t enough, we also enjoyed the 3rd Annual Chocolate Chip Cookie Bake-Off.
We had seven entries in the contest, so everyone tasted the homemade cookies and voted for
their favorite. Since I taught my adult class late last night, I didn’t bake. But I did bring milk
to help cleanse their palates in between cookies. I love it when my campers bake cookies!!!

Isabella came up the big winner with the cookie on the far right side – with a mixture
of semi-sweet and white chocolate chips! She will be the proud recipient of the
“Number One Cookie” plate I made for the victor! Congratulations Isabella!!!

Today was the start of another week of camp… this time, one of the most exciting
weeks of the whole summer! It’s “Fire, Forge & Feast”… where we work on clay
dinnerware sets on Monday & Tuesday, then move over to the Metals Dept. for
the rest of the week making metal forks, knives & spoons. Then we put it all together
on Friday and have a big potluck feast on Friday! Using the actual dinnerware they’ve
just created during the week. It’s a full-day camp with some of the older kids who are
up for the creative & production challenge!

So today the kids started their adventure – with some creative brainstorming of their
themes & designs. We’re working towards a cohesive design where all of the pieces
work together in the end. Today was Day One… and they’re off to a good start!

As my campers finished their sculptures, we turned to more painting since
they were doing so well, and having so much fun. So we switched to a little fun
with color theory and gradations. They did a great job mixing & blending colors
and painting their color swatches. Once they dried, we put them back together
to create a mural to put on the wall for all of Lillstreet to see!

Oddly…. many of the kids didn’t quite understand that they paint was supposed
to be on their paintbrushes… and NOT their hands?!!!

And here’s their final result… the mural that all of Lillstreet can now enjoy!

As the week continued, my campers started to work on their sculptures.
We built them with wire hanger armatures, newspaper & masking tape
fillers and a final “sculpting” layer of plaster gauze. The kids were all quite
focused… and excited to finally be painting them to bring them to life!