mugs

In ceramics club we have been making mugs/beakers. We used rolled slabs formed around tubes. After bisque firing, yesterday we glazed them and today they are being fired for a final time. Fingers crossed that they don't split (or leak when used!).

tigers & dishes

Yesterday the y1's created some pieces based on Rousseau's painting 'Tiger in a Storm'. They've also been reading 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea' by Judith kerr. We used techniques from the last couple of weeks in that we wove, using paper strips, the tiger's stripes and then stitched the grass, using coloured wool.

Meanwhile in ceramic club we took home our completed and fired dishes.

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.

poppies 2

We're onto glazing our ceramic poppies. A couple of coats should hopefully do - we've only got 2L of red glaze!

yesterday

Confident that none of our mums read this blog, here is a sneak preview of the cards our y1's & 2's made this year for Mother's day. We hope to see them out and about on Sunday proudly wearing their badges!

 

Meanwhile in art club we glazed our eggcups - a simple double thumbpot design. Here they are prior to their final firing.

hotch potch

In preparation for a 'Great Fire of London' collage the children painted 'flames'. It was a good opportunity to revisit colour mixing/primary/secondary colours etc.

 

Meanwhile fresh from the kiln, some plaques of footy supporters. These are designed to be either hung on a wall or propped on a shelf. Not sure whether to add them to my Folksy shop - your views would be greatly appreciated as to whether they would sell.

Finally, a painting that I started today. It's on canvas and measures about 60x50cm.

today

I've recently had a go at a few bits and pieces clay-wise and here they are on opening the kiln after their final firing. You should be able to spot the footy supporter from last week (quite pleased with him), some small pendants (an experiment that I might pursue with members of my weekly art club) and various parts of a bird (pigeon?) that I've got a crazy idea to make into an automaton piece!

 

Meanwhile in Y4 we glazed our polar bears and carefully added basic facial details.

For those who had finished we then went on to imagine that there was a polar bear who was not like other polar bears - essentially the 'Elmer the elephant' story by David McKee, but obviously altered. We drew and coloured them. The class teacher became very enthusiastic at the writing possibilities that this threw up and is keen to explore the theme with the children - altered stories, shaped books etc.

3d supporter

Tried making one of the footy supporters that I've recently sketched. The first pic is after bisque firing, the second is with glaze applied. 

 

It might be a week or so before he gets the final firing as both I and the children need to make other stuff to ensure a full kiln.

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.

 

first 'proper' firing

The new kiln was 'burnt-in' before xmas and this week I had the chance to play around with some proper clay (not the air-drying stuff) and have a go with the glazes. The first pic is a 'before firing'. All of the glazes are gloss, hence the reflections in the second pic.

 



Some lovely colours. I've marked them up so that we can see what each glaze will turn out like.

The first project will probably be to make some rice bowls with the y2 children that we will glaze with FN-001 (opaque white foundation) and decorate with SC76 (the mid blue). The glazes are non-toxic and food-safe so I'm hoping the children will be actually be able to use them! Excited!!