Latest Endeavor..

Lately I have been working on projects that would be good examples for secondary art lesson plans.  I have been exploring the idea of adding landscapes to pottery.  I finished my first piece that is an example of an African landscape using a warm color scheme (below).  Now I am working on a night time city scape piece that I will upload a photo of when I am finished.  I think that these both will be good ways to have students explore different countries and cities, while honing their ceramic skills!

There is also a continued design on the back with more trees and a giraffe.

Chihuly at Las Vegas

I had the lucky experience of getting a free three day vacation to Las Vegas.  I was more then happy to see all the free art exhibits around town!  Represented everywhere I looked was Dale Chihuly.  He had a small exhibit right outside the Aria hotel where I was staying, as well as many installations at the Bellagio next door.  I got to see one of his most famous pieces, the ceiling at the Bellagio entrance, simply breathtaking!

www.chihuly.com

My Maitland Art House Installation

Along with the lizards, catipillars, frogs, snakes, and cats, a breath of life is given to a dead tree with the addition of this small installation of low fired cone shaped forms.

Conic Trio

Casselberry Art House

I started teaching pottery back in April at Casselberry Art House.  It has been really fun and my students there are awesome.  Here are just a few of their slab projects:

To go along with the Cat in the Hat...

I decided to make some friends for the Cat in the Hat that I drew on the white board while subbing last week.  What better than Thing 1 and Thing 2?  I could not draw them on the board because the students were watching science videos, so I sat down and made them from construction paper.

Whats the difference between stoneware and earthenware?

People often are confused about the difference between stoneware (high fire clay) and earthenware (low fire clay).  I found a nifty chart online that offers up some easy ways to compare the two and clarify the strengths and weaknesses between them:

Differences in an undecorated piece of stoneware and earthenware:    

Stoneware Earthenware (ceramic ware) Impervious to water (water tight) Not impervious to water (cannot hold water) Chip resistant Chips easily Color: Buff or terra cotta Color: white Feel: textured Feel: chalky Look: like pottery Look: rough white Looks great undecorated or decorated. Can only use when decorated. Can withstand high/low temp. Cannot withstand high/low temp. Oven safe Not oven safe Suited for household use. Suited for decorative use Painting bisque: Wipe off mistakes.   Glazes flow: bisque is not porous Painting bisque: Cannot correct mistakes Glazes adheres to bisque: bisque is porous Firing: Leave the bottom of the piece dry and place on shelf Paint or glaze the bottom of the piece and stilt on shelf.

Step by Step Gnoming!

Today I found a wonderful tutorial on gnome making on weefolkart.com!

Step by Step Clay Gnoming!