Pottery

The Arts & Crafts Center on base now offers homeschool art class on Friday mornings. This is great news for us because the class used to be held on Wednesdays, which was too disruptive to our school schedule. By Friday, we are finished (enough) with our work for the week and ready to venture out to activities.

This month, we have spent a joyful hour each week making pinch pots, coil pots, and slab pots (well, sushi plates from slabs). We have learned about kilns (not ovens), firing (not baking), and glazing with brightly-colored glazes.

Matthew, especially, has had a wonderful time. He has needed my direction during the class to keep him on task, but he is able to work with the clay, and results have been very satisfying. He loves that he has made dishes that he can really use.

Matthew's "Breakfast Set" of bowl, cup, and pitcher.

These are pinch pots, which he made and glazed, at least the first coat of each, himself.

Joseph also made a bowl and cup for his breakfast. His design was more considered. From his work, we learned an important lesson about glaze: you have to read the labels before painting it on because before firing, the colors are very different from afterward. Joseph thought he used the same blue glaze on the cup as he had used the week before on the bowl, but it turned out to be a much brighter blue. Still very attractive, but not matching. Thankfully, he's happy with the result anyway.

Joseph's cereal bowl and juice cup

Next week, we'll get our sushi plates and coil pots (pencil holders) out of the kiln. Then on to more pottery adventures in October. :-)