Under-Glaze-A-Thon

Yesterday I finished teaching a four day summer camp of ceramics for kids in Door County, Wisconsin.  While the temperature rose to 92 degrees, we lethargically had a glaze-a-thon for the slump mold bowls, the monster mugs, and our gnome homes.  Since the ceramics summer camp was only Monday through Thursday afternoons, there was not enough time to allow our stoneware projects to dry before firing them.  What we do then, is use underglazes to add color to the clay.  Students and families then have the option to pick up the finished artwork next week, or the Peninsula Art School will ship the projects home to the art students who will no longer be in Door County. What's nice about this set up is I don't need to stay later to fire the student projects, but that also means I don't get to see the final results.

As I started class with the students, I explained to them that we would be glazing our stoneware projects, the slump mold bowls, monster mugs, and gnome homes.  We talked about how painting and glazing are different and the students had all heard of a kiln before too.  I tried to emphasize to students that there should be no clay spots showing through the colored underglazes they chose to use on each project.

We started with the slump mold bowls first.  I showed students how to get the glaze into the designs they carved into the surface of the bowl.  We then took a sponge and cleaned off the extra glaze on the higher surface areas of the bowl and glazed that with a different color. After getting some practice on the bowls, which we did first, since it was the simplest surface area to paint, we started on the monster mugs and then moved to the gnome homes which also make great candle holders.  For students who finished early, we used some of the air dry clay to make some inhabitants for the gnome homes.  Since it was the last thing we did, I gave parents and students some tips for painting air dry clay at home with a variety of paints.  Parents were appreciative of the activities we had engaged in during the week.  For a total of 10 hours of art this week, students made mobiles, bowls, mugs, and gnome homes and were good workers all week.  It was a treat to work with motivated young artists throughout the week and I can't wait to return next year.