Another week. Another group of great kids. And another week of CHESS.
Yep, another week of themes, sculptures, clay and fun. Lots of fun!!!
And this week I also have really great kids – many of which I have had before.
The kids have already decided upon their themes of who is battling who.
Some have “cute” themes like Cats vs. Dogs… or Fruits vs. Vegetables.
Some have “sporty” themes like Baseball vs. Hockey… or Archers vs. Knights.
Some have “geographic” themes like North Pole vs. South Pole.
Some have “nutritional” themes like Good Foods vs. Junk Foods.
Some have “historic” themes like World War II: USA vs. Germany.

But no matter what the theme, they all have a LOT of work ahead of them
crafting all 32 chess pieces out of terra cotta clay. As the week progresses,
they will also start to paint their chess boards and by Friday be painting their
chess pieces with underglazes for more realistic & exciting pieces! But so far…
they’re diligently working to create all of their chess pieces!

As another week of Summer Camp comes to an end, we finish off with our
focus on Art History & Master Artists. I saw this video and loved it – and
found it oddly appropriate to finish off the great week of art. Check it out…

Classic Women In Art

After a full week of masterpieces & master artists, we ended the week with
a focus on George Seurat. So the kids started making their own versions
with a lot of stippling & paint. The kids worked on ceramic tiles with acrylic paint
to create  simple Pointillism Puzzle as their final project of the week!
The kids LOVE doing Seurat… and painting with Q-Tips!!!

My camp kids this week thought they were free from school.  Ha!
That summer camp was just going to be a bunch of fun – and no learning. Ha!
Well, they were wrong. And what could be more fun for a bunch of 8-12 year olds
than some Art History?!

After they finished glazing their clay pieces on Tuesday, we shifted our focus to some
famous master artists. Some of the biggest names, some of the biggest masterpieces!
Flash cards and a little friendly competition always gets the kids excited about
memorizing some names, artworks and tidbits about each artist.

After learning about some of the top artists, we had then do a little still life of their own.
They sketched them, then they painted them. We helped teach them some basic skills to
help create their own masterpieces. Then today, we shifted once again… and they had to
re-create the same still life image “in the style” of the famous artists. Which included
using different materials and techniques to best “mimic”  the famous artist’s style.
Some were painted, some were pastels… some were stippled, some were splattered!
Markers, crayons, paints, colored pencils, pastels, ink pens and more to make their art.
Each kid had the chance to tackle five different artists… randomly drawn of course.

Ask the kids, and they all now know the following sixteen famous artists!
Salvador Dali                  M.C. Escher
Frida Kahlo                     Paul Gaugin
Georgia O’Keefe             Al Hirschfeld
Roy Lichtenstein             Henri Magritte
Piet Mondrian                 Claude Monet
Pablo Picasso                 George Seurat
Toulouse Lautrec            Vincent VanGogh
Wasily Kandinsky           Jackson Pollack

Another week at camp – another group of kids!
This week it’s Clay & MultiMedia; which means a clay project on Monday.
And then other clay projects throughout the week. So we started the week today
with leaf impression plates! We went for a nature walk and “borrowed” a few leaves
along the way. They then made slabs, pressed in their leaves, painted a layer of
underglaze and then carefully pulled out the leaves – leaving the texture & outline
of the pressed leaves in their slabs.

Once the underglaze “dried” enough not to be “smudgey,” they then turned them
into plates by creating a coil frame to use as a slump mold. Tomorrow they will paint
them with clear glaze. And then by the end of the week… they’ll get their finished plates!
And here are my demo plates… also waiting for some clear glaze & kiln time!

So we just had our FEAST!… with a ton of great food and desserts…
and finished all of our projects! Plus, added one more just for today!

So the copper utensil came out of the tumbler all polished and tempered.
The kids had to do a few “refinements” to get the tabs to fit into their clay handles.
A dab of two-part epoxy and we assembled all of the knives, forks & spoons!

They then had the opportunity to make another metal piece – a thematic cookie cutter!
With a bit of design, a touch of metalwork and a little wire “stitching” they each made
a copper cookie cutter to complete their thematic set.

After the FEAST, we put together our plates, cups & silverware so everyone could
see each others pieces all put together – and how their theme played through all pieces.
From a set of  “Peace, Love & Happiness”… to flowers & ivy, aquatic, Legos, Jamaica,
dogs, mythology and even more flowers! Plus hippos, volcanoes and much more!

So we completed the clay portion of our camp, and we’ve all moved over to the
Metals Dept. to start work on their silverware. We discussed design and how they
can incorporate their silverware into the theme of their clay plates. Once they each
had a plan… we started cutting out the pieces of copper. Lots of sawing…
followed by lots of filing, lots of pounding, lots of shaping, lots of sanding, lots of fun!
The kids have been doing great – everyone’s right on track… and tomorrow we FEAST!!!

Another week back at Summer Camp… and it’s a very special camp!
So exciting that we have a completely full class, plus kids on the waiting list to get in!

It’s my annual collaboration camp where we combine clay & metal in one week.
I co-teach with metalsmith Pam Robinson – I oversee the clay, she does the metal…
and then on Friday we both get to enjoy the Feast Finale. So it’s three times the fun!
Fire... as the clay will be fired in the kiln.
Forge… as the metal will be made into silverware.
Feast... as in a great potluck lunch on Friday!

So the way this week’s camp works, on Monday & Tuesday the kids make thematic
dinnerware sets out of terra cotta. The goal is for each kid to make a plate, bowl and cup,
as well as ceramic handles for their silverware. Then on Wednesday & Thursday,
we shift to the metals room where the kids now make their own metal knives, forks & spoons.
On Friday, we will combine their silverware in their ceramic handles. And then we get
to Feast. And celebrate our fun week with a potluck lunch using the dinnerware sets
they’ve each made this week.

And oh, but wait there’s more… as an extra special bonus, we’ve challenged the kids
with one more task! Fun for them… and extra fun for Pam and I. Tomorrow we’re hosting the
2nd Annual Camp Chocolate Chip Cookie Bake-Off. Any of the kids who want to participate
will be bringing in homemade chocolate cookies. Everyone in class will taste the cookies
and vote on their favorite. And yes, I will be supplying the milk!

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!