Ancient Pot Project

Much of the world's ancient pottery was made using a coil technique. This was a pretty easy process for most of my students to learn. They rolled each snake-like coil of clay out on the table, stacked it into the place before blending it into the wall. It is important to push the coil down into the outside and the inside of the pot. It is OK to see finger marks as you are blending.

The pot can be embellished by adding a foot or arms. When it gets leather hard, students were even able to carve into the surface. This was a great lesson to review the our Ancient Greece notes from months ago. Students could choose from traditional forms, learn what that specific type of vase or pot was used for, and review the names of the parts of the pot. The technique of hand building by using coils was the main learning objective, but there's so much more to this lesson. And getting to have a nice flower vase in time for Mother's Day is a bonus.

 

Wall Vase Craft

A few weeks ago, my little artists were each given a chunk of clay to run through the slab roller before choosing a shape to cut from the slab. This was the first step in their wall vase project. Then they created texture by pressing objects into the clay. Pockets were cut and textured before the slip and score technique was used to attach them to the original shape. Holes at the top ensure that these wall vases or wall pockets can be hung by a nail or a ribbon.

I made a small clay wall vase in elementary school, but I don't remember ever explicitly being taught about elements of design: line, shape, color, texture, and value. Simply by talking about these elements with my students, helps them recognize that they have choices. They can decide the shape of their slab. Not everyone has to make an oval. They can choose what kind of texture they make. It doesn't just have to be the first tool they come across. There are options. Some chose not to even make pockets, just shapes to hang on the wall.

Finally, students chose the color paint to use for the surface, after the pieces were fired. Some students used multiple colors; some used thick paint to fill in the bumps; others dried brushed color on top of dried thick paint to show contrast and expose the texture.

I don't know if any of these projects will survive the bus ride home, but I like to think of children hanging it on a bedroom wall and keeping tiny treasures or dried flowers in them and remembering art class.