Clay Masks _Student Work

EXPRESSIVE CLAY MASKS

Beginning 3-D Art

The kids love this assignment.  For many of them it's their first exposure to clay.  

We drape slabs over a newspaper mold to hold the concave shape as they build them. 

Requirements include tons of surface design, and expressive quality.

This is the first year I've given them a choice as to how they finish off the surface after bisque firing.

In the past it was to stain with oxides like the one below, but this year they could have chosen to sawdust fire them, then rub with metallic compounds.  So you will see a variety of both.  

Enjoy!

I loved the scale that junior Daphne Chiang worked to in this piece above, as well as the fact that she chose to add some metal embellishments that melted during the firing to add even more interest.

These next two by seniors Vinisha Kothari and Ema Shah where done in the sawdust/metallic method.

It's so fun to see all the color combos. both girls brought to their masks.

Senior Alyssa Wakamiya and junior Alice Hong both used the oxides for their finishes.  Alyssa used Rutile with Red Iron and Alice choose the Cobalt Carbonate.  Alyssa also has incorporated melting metal pieces.

These last two, done by senior Tiffany Kang and junior Bianca Tolentino, were also finished with the oxide stains.

Check out the text that Bianca brought into her design below.  

And she got lucky, her nails (hardware) stayed intact and didn't melt,  just look a bit crispy  :)