ceramics 3

Y2 'rice' bowls all glazed, fired and finished.

I like the way the blue has run into the white.

ceramics 2

Today, the y2's managed to underglaze and decorate their 'rice' bowls. They're in the kiln as I type - hope they turn out ok - the children are expecting to be able to eat out of them during their upcoming Chinese feast.

YAY!

The first firing in anger was a success - nothing cracked or exploded! This was the sight on opening the kiln.

 

Some of the bowls have a lovely mottled glazing effect - purely by accident rather than design.

glazed

Today in y2 we decorated our rice bowls. They had already been underglazed both inside and out in white so we added patterns using a dark blue glaze.

 

Here are some of the bowls before their final firing;

 

We're keeping everything crossed. It's the first time we've tried anything like this and I've warned the children that some bowls may still crack under the intense heat!

cityscapes

Excited - because the 'rice bowls' are currently being bisque fired in batches. I'll underglaze them all in white before the children add the blue patterning in their next lesson.

Meanwhile, y6 have continued with their rivers/perspective theme and have created some collaged cityscapes.

 

rice bowls

Today y2 made a start on their rice bowls. We used the tried and trusted thumb pot method.

 

We enlarged the hole using thumbs and fingers.

We smoothed and shaped until we arrived at a bowl shape.

We even added a foot from a sausage of clay.

All fingers and toes are now crossed so that they don't explode, crack or fall apart in the kiln. They are on a drying programme at the moment and then will be bisque fired ready for decorating next week.

at school

In FS2 today we read a story called 'Penguin Small' (by Mick Inkpen ) and so, made some small penguins! Simple card and paper construction with a sticky label forming the white front.

 

 

In Y2 we painted our Chinese bowls (made from air-drying clay). We used blue over an undercoat of white. When they've dried, we'll add a coat of PVA to seal them and give them a bit of a shine. Can't wait till the new kiln comes and we can start experimenting with 'proper' clay and real glazes.

a clay day today

Y2 are studying China so today we made 'rice' bowls using the thumbpot method. They did well at keeping a uniform thickness to the walls. We couldn't make them too thin as the air-drying clay cracks easily. We have though ordered a kiln and so in a few months time (when the new art room is up and running) we should be able to produce fired and glazed items - yay!

 

 

We even managed to put 'feet' onto them (using a coil of clay) - hopefully we smoothed them in enough to stop them falling apart when dry!