The Moon Bounce - Listening to Intentions

This story is a favorite of mine because of the surprise of simplicity. The young artist came to class and announced she would like to make a moon bounce. Most of the kids were working at a center with recycled objects so my mind immediately began imagining ways to construct a box and add textiles to give it some softness and bounce. As I moved to that part of the room talking about considering what materials would be best for a moon bounce, the answer came with a definitive, "I want to make it out of clay."

Now I felt a bit nervous, not sure I had a great plan in mind for how to make a moon bounce out of clay. Hoping to be helpful, I suggested she draw what she had in mind before getting started. The drawing is on the right - you can see she has already begun to recreate it with clay.

Here, she experiments with getting the newly formed moon bounce (modeled on a princess castle moon bounce) to stand up.

Smoothing down a piece in the back for support helps to solidify the structure.

Finally, a carefully constructed figure is placed inside the doorway.

Attached by the arms, the figures feet do not touch the base of the doorway - because she's jumping!

The Hot Tub - Why I Love Student Choice in the Studio

This pot began toward the end of the spring after school session. A nice example of the clay skills this young artist developed over the course of her classes. Notice the scoring marks on the bottom slab, ready for attachment of a second side to complete the pot. Also, there is a coil of clay worked into the space between the two attached slabs, adding strength to the joint of the piece.

Here, she carefully adds the second side, supporting the inside and outside with her hands as she joins the fragile sides together. Behind her are cut off pieces from shaping the slab to be just the right size to complete the pot.

The completed and smoothed slab pot...or what I thought was a pot based on her original intention. The artist seemed a bit dissatisfied, saying she thougth that it was too deep to be a pot. As an observer, I felt a bit disappointed that she did not see and relish in the growth in her hand building skills that I was seeing.

I returned some time later to find this addition, also built with slabs - as well as another transformation. "It was too deep to be a pot so I added a ladder and now it's a hot tub." Watching this unfold was a wonderful experience of developing clay and sculpting skills along with the delight of imagination and creative problem solving.

Visit the Teaching for Artistic Behavior page to read more about Choice-based art making.

An Introduction to our Kiln and Firing Process

The kiln is a large appliance that lives on my back patio. Here it is with the top closed the way it looks when it is firing. The box on the outside houses the computer that controls the temperature. The clay and glaze we use are "low-fire" meaning they fire to about 1900 degrees Fahrenheit.

The kiln opens from the top.

Sculptures and pots are stacked on vertical shelves supported by columns. Below, you can look down intot he kiln to see the first shelf. Columns will be added next and another shelf stacked on top.

The picture above shows clay that has dried and is ready for a first firing. When it goes into the kiln it is called "greenware." When it comes out, it has been transformed to ceramic and is called "bisque." This firing takes about 15 hours and then another 8 to 12 hours to cool.

The clay in this picture is ready for a glaze firing. The blue pieces are all painted with clear glaze. This can be a bit confusing because it doesn't look very shiny. The glaze gets its color and sheen from the firing process. There is silica in the glaze that melts to form a thin coat of glass covering the clay. This firing only takes about 7 hours but takes 8 to 12 hours to cool.

Below are the same pieces after firing. Notice their sheen and color.