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!

And a very good job by Grace… who assembled her collage out of magazine pictures
and then enlarged the image onto her canvas board, and painted the entire thing
with just primary colored acrylic paints! Nicely done Grace!!!

This week, my Summer Camp is Clay & Multimedia… which means we do a clay
project on Monday, and other art projects throughout the week. So my afternoon
group of campers have switched to a painting project. They’ve chosen photos from magazines and have been working to enlarge them & paint the picture on canvas boards. Some of them have breezed right through it… other have required a little more “assistance.”

And then there’s Emma… who effortlessly created her nautical masterpiece!
A little painting prodigy in the making.

It’s another week of summer camp… and the kids this morning were pressing leaves
into their clay, covering them with colored underglaze, and then pulling out the
leaves to reveal a wonderful “relief” of the leaf! These colorful “natural” slabs were
then formed into plates, platters, mugs & vases!

How can you not LOVE teaching Summer Camp…
when faces like these are looking back at you every day?!

As this week of camp continues… my morning Wheelthrowing Camp finished off
their stoneware pieces to get them into a bisque kiln. They trimmed, they stamped,
they carved, they added handles, they finished their pots. We then switched to
terra cotta and they found out it was a lot messier than stoneware! But still a lot of fun!

And who wears WHITE on terra cotta day?! I tried to warn them all ahead of time…
let’s just say, that outfit will never be white ever again!!!

My afternoon camp started working on color theory by painting their own color wheels.
With just the primary colors & white, they had to fill in the entire grid with their color
combinations. When they finish this part… the plan is that they’re going to recreate
the color wheel again but this time with collage pieces!

So my Wheelthrowing Camp is only for the morning session.
At 1:00pm, many of the kids go home, while others start the afternoon session.
This week, my afternoon session is Clay & Multimedia. Which basically means
we do a clay project on Monday, and then other random art projects throughout
the week. And if all goes as planned, they’ll have a fun time, make some great projects,
learn a little bit along the way… and take home all of their projects on Friday.
Including their terra cotta plaques we made today. Here’s a few in the works…