Grotesques in Clay

Eighth grade artists worked for much of the first quarter creating beastly creatures in clay inspired by gargoyles of the Middle Ages. Did you know that gargoyles are actually elaborate downspouts? Usually taking the form of elongated fantastical animals, these decorated gutters are architectural necessities turned into ornament, and they can be found peering down from the churches and cathedrals, houses and town halls of Western Europe. Grotesques look a lot like gargoyles but these sculptures are only decorative and do not function as waterspouts...

Students used a combination of clay hand-building techniques to create their creatures out of low-fire white clay. Most students started by creating two pinch pots joined together to create a hollow egg shape before carefully adding a lot of various details and features. Once the pieces dried out and were bisque fired, the sculptures were painted (rather than glazed) with Krylon's "Make it Stone" spray paint  to give them the look of stone. I love how different they all are and the personality of each piece is so unique!

Here are a few pics of students working on them:

 A few of them waiting on the shelf for spray paint:

The final sculptures were a challenge to photograph- they really need to be viewed in person to get the sense of depth they have and to see the details. I took a few photos from various angles so you could see the tops and sides of some of them... Enjoy!

 

A Peaceful Morning...

In preparation for our upcoming landscape painting unit, my 8th graders headed outside this morning... It was a little chilly at 8:30am during first period, but the seven students who were not shadowing today got to go outside and sketch a bit in Molly's garden. Next Wednesday, we will officially begin our painting project by welcoming a working landscape painter named David Cunningham for a little presentation/workshop. It was so peaceful drinking my coffee in the quiet garden and watching them do their thing... :)

Glass Pumpkins

My 8th grade class took a field trip on Tuesday to McFadden Art Glass in Baltimore where we had an amazing time making blown glass pumpkins. The kids were involved in every step of the creation process and they had a terrific experience, as usual. Here are some pics of the process, followed by the final pieces- enjoy!

Tim McFadden demonstrated the creation of a piece from start to finish as the class intently watched:

After molten glass was collected on the blow pipe from a giant furnace, the pipe was cooled in this nifty fountain to make handling it a little more comfortable:

After a second gathering of glass, students gently rolled the glass onto colored glass frit of their choice (the pipe has to be turning the entire time so the glass doesn't plop off the end like dripping honey!):

The glass is heated again so that the color can melt into the glass...:

...and then Tim helped blow the first bit of air into the piece, before we rolled against this metal table to get it to a nice even shape:

Then, after another reheating, the glass is dropped into this star-shaped mold and blown into again, creating the textured pumpkin-like ribs:

Students then worked at the bench to shape the piece further and pinch it with these big tweezers to create the top:

 Meanwhile, a friend is helping out at the end of the pipe by blowing additional air into it to make the pumpkin larger (also not as easy as it looks- you have to blow pretty hard and move from side to side while blowing since the pipe is constantly twirling):

At the same time, a new bit of glass has been gathered, rolled in colored frit and is heated by a friend- this small gather will become the stem of the pumpkin. The pumpkin is detached from the pipe and the stem is attached and twirled around... 

The last step is to use a blowtorch to soften the sharp end of the stem and attach it to the pumpkin body!

The pieces were put in an annealing oven overnight so they can slowly cool (cooling too fast = shattering glass) and then I was able to pick them up. Look at how beautiful!: