MELTING GLASS

CARVED GLASS PLAQUES

CERAMICS I

clay, glazes, & glass shards 

Here is another favorite assignment of my beginning clay kids,

these Carved Glass Plaques.

They are tedious to make and carve out,

 but oh so fun to load up with glass shards

and see the beauty of the end results when we unload them from the kiln.

Let's take a look see.

This first beauty was the work of senior Catherine Lu.

We all liked how she was able to get so many value ranges within each color.

Plus she rocked her design as well.

And how could we not love senior Christian Balbido's pup?

He brought in a picture of his dog to work from

and did a terrific job carving all those complex areas.

And junior Lina Kim made a spectacular creation as well.

She also chose a very difficult design and was able to get a lot of great movement 

within her glass shards.

Like Christian's piece,

she also painted black glaze over her walls to make the glass pop.

Senior Michelle Hwang crafted this beautiful shark,

and junior Michelle Son made the lovely piece below.

We end with junior Richard Montes and his design based on his cultural heritage,

an Aztec creature.

I really liked the colors of glass he used and the lighter raised bumps on the animals skins;

the contrast is so appealing to the eye.

LEARNING THE ROPES

COIL TRIVETS

CERAMICS I

clay, glazes, oxides, glass shards

Before I have my students build a full on 3-d Coil Pot,

I have them first learn to roll coils and try them in an Inlay assignment.

Inlay is a beautiful way to bring Surface Design into the lid of a Slab or Lump Box.

I've even had kids build it into a side wall for gorgeous results.

To Inlay means to cut away and replace.

So what senior Augustine Lee did above in his sweet home was to roll out a slab of clay,

cut away his outside design format (his house shape),

then to decide where to bring in his inlay design.

He chose two separate places,

the roof attic and the lower floor.

He cut and pierced out those two spots, 

removed the clay,

and replaced with coils,

 a slab carved out shape to later fill with glass shards in the second firing,

 and rolled balls.

He also did a really nice finish with his oxides and glazes.

The kids were also required to incorporate a repetitive stamped design into the outside border area.

You can really see above right where senior Christian Balbido carved away parts of his middle triangle so that he was able to melt glass shards into it at a later date. 

Senior Shreya Gupta (above left) asked if she could draw in her repetitive design 

instead of stamping it.

Of course.

I like to be flexible with new ideas for old requirements.

That's how and why I keep changing up assignments to keep them fresh.

Thank you Shreya!

Superstar last and this year,

junior now senior,

Dustine Ansiboy,

 created one of the most intricate and exciting designs in the class.

I also really liked how junior Liam Abalos

 finished off his piece with black glaze and milky blue glass with the little white dots in the border.

Really striking.

Another favorite was this one by senior Ashley Scott.

I admired her sense of design all year with many of her works being my favorites.

Check out the cool and various stamps she used in her borders,

and how she thought to repeat some of them inside her Inlay.

That creates Visual Flow.

 The way she finished it with the staining of the various Oxides is also quite appealing.

And the melted glass for her windows,

brilliant!

SOFT SOUNDS

CERAMIC CHIMES

CERAMICS I

clay, glaze & oxides

This has been the second year to try out this assignment with my newbie clay kids.

It's the very first time I put clay in the student's hands at beginning of year,

and it's love at first touch

ha ha

I've got them hooked for life!

And each one of my students from last years Ceramics I class (2016-2017) 

is represented on this piece.

Last year we gifted the chimes to our Vice Principal's secretary Cindy Bailey.

This year we presented it to our beloved finance secretary Donna Main.

Merry Xmas Donna!

We love you

xoxoxox

Each student was required to make 2 tiles, 

one circular & one rectangular.

Stamping was required on both as well as a stamped word of text.

Of course a hole at top and bottom for stringing.

And then as a finish,

they were required to do at least 2 glazing operations.

Many of the students chose to stain with oxides first then to glaze with Transparent,

others stained or glazed first then put glass shards into crevices.

And some did a half/half thing.

We are already planning out how to finish off this years chimes.

We are thinking half of them into the Sawdust Firing, 

the other half into a bright glaze for contrast.

Our next recipient?

It's a surprise.

I want to send out a great big thank you to senior Lynette Lee

who very patiently and carefully strung the chimes for me,

and to

Alum Jordan Joyce,

on a visit, 

who was put to work arranging them.

hee hee

ONE OF THE KIDS FAVORITE ASSIGNMENTS

CLAY MASKS

BEGINNING 3-D ART

clay, oxides & melted glass shards

Besides this being a favorite of the kids

(they love the tactile feel of the clay),

it's also a project that works so well for me as an art teacher

that I've never discarded it in 38 years.

Let's take a look see.

We start with 8th grader Dylan Lin and his exceptional design.

So well thought out in both the masks design,

but also in how he finished it off with with oxides.

Bravo young man!

This cutie was done by 8th grader Loren Kim.

Everyone loved the sweet innocence she was able to capture in her piece.

And clever 12th grader Julie Ahn carved out the mouth area

 and was able to fill it with glass shards that melted during the last firing

to compliment and balance her flower over the eye area.

Also,

 the contrast between the red-browns and turquoises is quite lovely

and so is the contrast between the smooth and the textured areas.

11th grader Lynette Lee came up with this stunningly beautiful design

reminiscent of a Chinese dragons face.

And Jillian Morris was incredibly brave to pierce out the mouth and teeth area.

This is a very delicate procedure where only a surgeons touch will do.

Why?

Because the piece becomes very fragile where the upper and lower jaw connects

(the thinness of the connection)

and will most likely crack during the making or the firing of the piece.

I also was very impressed with how she used her oxides.

I found the texture that 12th grader Daphne Wang was able to bring into this work

was extremely visually pleasing to the eye.  

My eye also loved that carved out area on the left where she inlay-ed the tiny balls.

Fantastic work Daph!

This next one belongs to English teacher Donna Hall.

Donna spent a lot of hours agonizing over her design,

as well as in the execution of it.

It was much loved and praised by all!

In fact our Principal John Briquelet was so taken with it 

that he insisted it be hung in his office. 

Donna told him he could have it until she retires in 5 years.

ha ha

One of my personal favorites was this one created by Couch Milan.

Not only did it appeal to my fussy sense of craftsmanship,

but I loved the slight asymmetry of it

 and of course the way he used his oxides.

And the special treat of melted dark red glass shards in the lower right ear is very pleasing.

FAVORITE ASSIGNMENT

CARVED GLASS PLAQUES

CERAMICS I

clay, glass shards and glaze

Probably one of the favorite assignments of the year 

are these Carved Glass Plaques done by my beginners.

They are quite a treat for the eye!

This first one was made by senior Nikita Govind,

and I'm thinking she was already dreaming of summer vacation.  :)

I really like how senior Arun Ramakrishnan combined both glaze and the melted glass shards 

for his super hero piece.

 I felt it was one of his best works this year. 

Great design Arun!!!

Senior Payal Morari was the only one who thought to fracture her design...

and senior Ankita Batra brings us stunning color combined with black glaze on her bird.

Filling all those tiny craters with glass shards took a lot of patience which Ankita has.

And junior Sitara Puliyanda cleverly hides her first name in her piece amongst the leaves.

She also has thought to move the green from light to dark...

giving a dimensional effect.

Impeccable craftsmanship and lovely designs

are the hallmark of all of junor Christine Kim's works,

like the rose above.

And let us end with senior Laarnie Barcelon's highly remarkable piece here.

Besides carving areas away for her glass shards to melt into, 

she has also sculpted in bas relief her cat woman face.

She has brought in a bit of nail polish to achieve her reds.

Finding a red glaze in cone 5 is pretty difficult.

A little bit easier at cone 10.

So seniors...

take a ceramics class when you get to college so you can fire at cone 10.

It's the best!!!!

They've got the money, the kilns and the glazes  :)