Poinsettia Drawings

Finally, we are done with poinsettias!  Here are the finished oil pastels poinsettia drawings done by my 4th graders.  Most of them did really great on these!  We worked on these in between all of the clay work...waiting for the clay to dry to fire...waiting for the glaze firing, etc.  It was a little disappointing that everyone just did red poinsettias...I had three different colors of live poinsettias in front of them during this project and I did a demonstration of drawing them and shading them using yellow and orange, but for some reason, the red appealed to everyone!

Finished Poinsettia Pots!

I can finally say that these are done and graded!  When we glazed them, I pulled out a bunch of red, green, yellow, orange and light brownish glazes that I had that were open to try and make room in my cupboards for new stuff.  I encouraged the kids to layer glazes (and talked to them about waiting till one coat was dry before glazing on top so they don't contaminate them).  A few of them did, a few didn't.

I also asked them to glaze the bottoms, but a few here or there didn't do that either.  You can tell by looking at some of these pictures, which didn't layer glazes, which didn't put enough coats of glaze on, and which didn't necessarily glaze their colors in the appropriate place for a poinsettia, but I still love how they turned out!  Check out the rest on our Artsonia Gallery!  Here is the original post that showed how to make these!

This one turned out AWESOME!  I think it was my favorite.  True, his colors weren't exactly 100% true to a poinsettia, but he was creative with his glaze application and it turned out great!  The picture does it no justice!

Glazes: Which do you prefer?

On the Tuesday before school started, I went into school to straighten up my room.  Usually, they wax the floors and move stuff around, so I figured my room would be a mess upon return.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, (whichever way you look at it) they didn't do a full cleaning in my room, so my trip to school turned towards my glaze cabinet.

As I was going through my requisitions over the break, I was trying to decide what glazes to purchase for next year.  Then I thought I had better do an inventory of what I had.  Currently, I  have a large variety of Amaco glazes from the LG, CTL, and F series.  I LOVE the Crystalex Glazes Amaco puts out...they're so cool!

Anyways, I figured I should make a list of what I had, but couldn't find good checklist of Amaco glazes with the color next to the name, so my anal-retentive organization skills kicked in and I made myself a checklist!  I discovered that I have quite a few doubles, which aren't even open yet, of Amaco glazes, so I think I may try out and order some Duncan and Mayco glazes that I tried out at the NYSATA conference.  What glazes do you use in your classroom?

Just a teaser at my checklist.  If anyone would like a copy, feel free to e-mail me!  It currently only has the complete Amaco glaze lists for the low-fire glazes in the CTL, LG, F, O, A and LT series. As I start buying other brands and deciding if I like them or not, I'll probably add to the list.

My newly organized glaze cabinet.  I have a small variety of slump and hump molds, which are on the top shelf, as well as 6 vase molds. 

This is a test tile board I made last year with my glazes to show the students what I had in stock. It doesn't have enough room on it anymore to add the larger variety of glazes that I have, so I have hung the Amaco glaze poster I received at the NYSATA conference and have the glazes that are "in stock" marked on that poster for when students get a choice of what glazes to use.

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Speaking of glazes, my 4th graders finished glazing their poinsettia bowls this week, so those are in the kiln to be fired on Monday!  I feel so behind!  I thought I started all of these holiday themed projects early enough this year that we would finish them before Christmas, but alas, I was wrong, like always!

I left just enough room on the top shelf to fire my tile that I glazed at the NYSATA conference.  It's been sitting on my counter since November!

I made this tile at the Mayco vendor.  We used some new glazes, including the4 Mayco Stroke & Coat accents, which are a puffy paint glaze...they leave intentional raised areas in glaze.

Poinsettia Bowls

Here are the 4th grade, Class A's, finished poinsettia bowls.  I'm going to be a little nervous firing these as on the second day, they weren't as focused on rolling their slabs as thin.  (Friday seemed to be a bonkers day for most of the students...is there a full moon coming up??) Some of these are a little on the thick side!  I had to rush the students a tad bit too, as I can only give them two days to work with the clay, otherwise it would start getting too dry to work with.  This group started them on Monday and then I didn't have them until Friday again.  I did go through with a needle tool and poke some holes, just in case!

Ceramic Poinsettia Bowls-4th Grade

For our next unit in 4th grade, we are going to do a series of artwork using poinsettias.  (I do have one student in 4th grade who does not celebrate Christmas, so this student will be doing a flower of choice, like a daisy.)  Since I am trying to push the idea of drawing from real life, this unit will fit in perfectly!

My finished poinsettia "bowl".

I bought 6 small poinsettia plants to have on the tables (once we get past the big clay stage of having to roll out the slabs) for observation.

Today I started this project with my first class of 4th graders.  I will be giving them 2 days to work with the clay on their bowls.  While I fire the kiln, we will then do an observational drawing of a poinsettia flower using oil pastels, continuing our use of value and blending colors.  Once those are finished, they should be able to glaze their flowers. I will probably let it be up to them if they want to underglaze and then glaze with a clear glaze, or if they want to use the colored glazes that I have.   We'll cross that bridge as we get closer to it!

Anyways, here is how I had them create their clay bowls.  I have completed mine (for the most part...just needs some fine tuning!).

1. Step 1: Roll out slabs of clay.  Create a petal pattern to use for uniform petal shapes.

I don't have a slab roller but I purchased this slab cutter last year and so far, I love it!  The copper bar moves up and down the tool so that you can adjust the width of the slab you cut.  Since the clay is already pretty well wedged, I just have the kids roll it out more and stretch the clay more.

Step 2: Have students put their initials on a styrofoam bowl.  Begin placing the petals around the inside of the bowl, conforming them to the sides.  Wherever they touch, smooth the clay together.

Some students spaced their petals out more because they made smaller petals.  In the end, this will all work out fine!

Step 3:  Do a second layer of petals.  Technically, the first round of petals are the leaves, and the second row are the poinsettia flower petals.  Normally I would have the students score and slip clay together, but this clay is brand new and relatively moist.  So, I have them score their first layer of clay before pressing the second row of petals on them.  I'm not making them use slip right now, and they don't have to score the backs of their petals as they attach them because the texture from the burlap is enough.

This is about how far most of the kids got today.  Everyone got their first layer made, and about half almost completed the second layer.

Step 4: Do a third layer of petals, coming from the middle.  Make them slightly smaller than the last layer of petals.

Step 5: Score the middle of the flower.  Roll small balls of clay, score and slip them to the center to create the buds of the poinsettia.  (The balls will actually need slip as they can't be smoothed down onto the flower.)

Step 6: Smooth the flower with an elephant ear sponge (which I haven't done yet, just for the sake of showing the students what their flower should look like when finished) and use a clay knife/needle tool to add the flower veins.

More posts to come as the students finish up their flowers!