Friday was a very busy day in my Sculpture Camp… everyone trying to finish up their sculptures & get ready for our Gallery Show. But also… the kids’ terra cotta birdhouses came out of the kiln too! I think they had kinda forgotten about them after working on their huge plaster sculptures… but once they saw the birdhouses, they were VERY EXCITED!!!

Friday morning we had some time for the Summer Camp kids to finish painting their sculptures. Some still had a lot to cover, while others were ready to start painting details, patterns & expressions bringing their pieces to life!

Over the course of the week, my Summer Campers also memorized over 50 famous artists & sculptors… first AND last names!!! Sure, we’ve all seen the bronze lions in front of the Art Institute… but who made them??? The Bean? The Statue of Liberty? My campers know them all!!!

So on Friday we did a big game of “Memory” using my famous artist flashcards… 130 cards to match-up with their new art history knowledge all in the guise of a fun game!!!

On Thursday, after a full day of plaster gauze detailing & acrylic painting, my Summer Campers knew immediately what was next… and Thank You kiddos!!!

After layers & details of plaster gauze, my Summer Campers were ready to start painting their sculptures. I love when their sculptures start “coming to life” in vivid colors & details… and their laser-focus is always so impressive!

After working with plaster gauze all day in Summer Camp, the floor had a lot of plaster & water drips all over… so here we go again… RULE #3 : “Whatever mess you make, you WILL be cleaning it up.” And they did without complaint. Grab a sponge & start scrubbing!!!

On Wednesday, my Summer Campers switched their focus to their large scale sculptures. We discussed their ideas, the postures, the armatures & how they were going to tackle the project. We constructed most of the armatures out of boxes, wire, cardboard & dowel rods… and then covered the armatures with newspaper & masking tape. The goal was to get them as “identifiable” as possible at this point… so that the layers of plaster gauze to come would solidify everything & give them a surface to add more details & paint later.

This past week at summer camp, I taught a class called “SCULPTURES SMALL TO LARGE.” So we started the week with a fun clay project… constructing thematic terra cotta birdhouses and painting them with colorful glazes. It was a great group of kids… including two that had done the camp before, and came back for another round of Sculpture Camp with ME!!!

So this week’s Summer Camp is culminating this afternoon with a very special SCULPTURE SHOWCASE… a “gallery” showing of my summer campers’ large sculptures & ceramic birdhouses. If you’re anywhere near Lillstreet Art Center this afternoon, please feel free stop by Room 304 from 3:00-3:30pm to see the kid’s artworks! They’ve been working hard all week… it’s a great group of kids making some GREAT sculptures… and I’ll have plenty of photos to come!!!

This past week in Summer Camp, my kids were Wheelthrowing for the most part… but on Thursday my morning kids switched to handbuilding. Sure, they “could have” made anything, but I gave them a challenge. I told them that I wanted them to make two mugs with a theme that ties them together. Some of the themes they chose?… cookies & milk… fruit & veggies… earth & moon… dragon & dinosaur… cat & dog… and so on…

Once the mugs were built, the kids then switched to painting them with colored slips. Once done, they’ll dry and get bisque fired… and then someone at Lillstreet will be glazing them with clear glaze after camp ends. The kids will need to come back about two weeks after camp to pick up their masterpieces!

And then once they were done, we set them aside so the slip could dry a bit… and put them together in their “sets” of two!