PLANT YOUR GARDENS

NATURE PLANTERS

CERAMICS I

clay, glazes, oxides & misc. plants

This is a wonderfully fun & functional assignment for the clay kiddos.

They made the planters and then for their 4th Quarter Final they were able to plant them.

Below is one of my demos. that I planted several years ago 

and gave as a gift to my son's wife's mother.

Under Mary's watchful attentive care the succulents are thriving as you can see

(she recently sent me this photo so I could see how lovely it's flower is).

So here we have last school years students out in the delicious sunshine planting their pots.

I buy them a big bag of planters mix and several small starter plants to choose from.

I try every year to have a different selection. 

I also encouraged the kids to raid Josh's succulent garden in search of the perfect plants.

And succulents are so hardy and easy to grow,

pretty much fail proof.

Here are a few of the finished planters.

I'm guessing here because I can't find the names of who made which ones so here we go.

I'm pretty darn sure the one above was made by junior Sara Ryave.

And this next one belongs to senior Catherine Lu.

Note those sweet tiny clay flowers in the left corner.

And I believe these last two are the works of juniors Richard Montes and Dustine Ansiboy.

Please correct me young ones if I'm wrong.

But aren't they fabulous?

NATURE'S FINEST

NATURE PLANTERS

CERAMICS I

clay & oxides plus planting mix & various flowers

This was the final assignment of the year for my beginning clay kids 

and once again I thoroughly enjoyed teaching the kids about planting.

Sadly,

many of them have never worked in the dirt or planted

 or felt the natural high from getting soil under their fingernails.

I recently read that the organic matter and properties in the soil is soothing to the soul.

No wonder I like to dig in the dirt so much,

and don't mind pulling weeds!

:)

We do the planting on the day of the final and give the plants a good long gulp of water

 before the kids take them home.

Let's take a look see.

Senior Eunice Shim enjoyed building the planter so much that she made two beauties.

Just look at the fabulous texture she brought to the clay's surface!

Senior Ashley Iseri took a completely different approach and rolled out a very smooth slab,

carving away her design.

Both girls only used Metallic Oxides to stain with for a finish.

Senior Lauren Kennedy choose some vibrant Coleus plants for her planter.

Lovely!

And I really like the asymmetrical design of senior Avanthi Dev's planter.

She was more interested in building up a succulent garden in her planter 

so we raided Josh's garden for some starts.

And check out this unusual piece by senior Brian Aguirre-Hernandez.

I love all the pierced holes in his design.

Perfect for trailing succulent tendrils from.

And sophomore Olivia Krueger achieved one of my favorite finishes 

on her under the sea themed planter,

staining it with Cobalt Carbonate.

Ooh,

 and this fluid looking piece belongs to me,

hee hee,

Debra Sposa.

I believe one of the kids pieces broke apart so I gifted them mine to glaze and plant.

And we end with this very pregnant bird by junior Sarah Oh.

She did half plants, half succulents for her piece.

All these planters looked so terrific leaning against the outside wall of my classroom

before the kids took them home.

I always wonder how many survive the summer heat 

cuz the kids forget to water them?? 

NATURE'S BOUNTY

NATURE PLANTERS

CERAMICS I

clay, glazes & oxides

We end the beginning clay kids with these cool planters 

that were supposed to revolve around a nature theme. 

Besides looking at the neat designs,

also check out the great finishes they came up with.

On the day of the Final we had a Planting Party.

I bring in soil & a variety of annuals & perennials for the young ones to choose from.

And of course I give them a lesson on plant care.  :)

We all loved senior Jonathan Hsu's undersea adventure on the front of his planter.  

And the way he glazed it really feels like the octopus is moving thru the water.

His buddy,

 senior Jonathan Gong,

 also did an ocean theme,

and I also really like how he used the oxides and blended Red Iron with Cobalt.

Senior Archana Vancheswaran went all out with both her design and glazing.

Really eye-catching!

And junior Manav Gandhi surprised us all with this fabulous work.

Bravo Manav,

I love how decorative it is with the inlaid shards of glass!

Junior Nathan Lam,

who always brings us a super fun & unique design, 

did not let us down.

Love how he contrasted the oxide staining with the glazed eye portion.

And junior Brian Hu,

first time on the blog?,

applied this large and scary looking spider that really lookss like it's climbing into the planter.

Look closely and you will see sitting on the ground 

how junior Cathy Huang has strung & dangled charms off the bottom of her planter.

What a wonderful idea!

And junior Annie Oh brings in her sculptural talents with this large skull-like winged creature.

WOW!

We end the day of the Final with Jonathan , 

Annie & junior Howard Lin caring for & watering their planters.

I love that I was able to capture this shot of them admiring

 and checking out all the pieces as they drained.

Farewell young pups,

you all were a most challenging group to work with,

but because of that I will always remember you guys and wish you well.

Speaking of that,

I'm dying to know how you are getting on at West Point Aaron.

When you can,

 catch me up.

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

NATURE PLANTERS

CERAMICS I

clay, glazes, oxides & plants

With silver bells and cockle shells all in a row.

I think that's how that nursery rhythm used to go.  :)

Well,

 we've got rows of planters,

 that's for sure.

In fact,

 the row was so long it had to wrap around the corner.

The young ones worked to a nature theme,

thumping and dragging their clay slabs for added interest and organic purposes.

This project was their 4th Quarter Final,

and on the day we met I brought in soil and plants for them to choose from

after their planters had come out of the glaze firing.

The results were noteworthy as you will see.

This first one belongs to senior Laarnie Barcelon,

and I believe she brought in ceramic watercolors pigments

 as well as nail polish to give it a sparkly appearance.

I'm going to have to take a guess at this one.

I have three.

They are either seniors Ankita Batra or Eduardo Jacinto,

or possibly junior Jamie Kim.

Let me know you guys!!

Senior Payal Morari created this amazing work of art above,

combining all the glaze applications she learned this year.

And seniors Nikita Govind and Poonam Bhakta made these two lovelies,

giving them a red iron oxide stained finish.

This very pretty planter above was done by junior Eryn Burnett,

and below we have the work of super star 8th grader Claire Chung. 

All my 8th graders were delightful this year,

working their hardest to create pleasing pieces like Julia Ruiz and Chloe Chang.

And this last one was a traffic stopper by junior Christina Hur.

Way to end the year Ceramics I,

it was such a pleasure to teach you the art & craft of clay.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

NATURE THEMED PLANTERS

CERAMICS I

clay, glaze, oxides, soil & plants

These mini gardens were planted on the day of my ceramic student's final.

My going away present to the class were a selection of sun and shade plants along with soil so that they could plant to their hearts content.

The kids slab built (mostly thumped and dragged) their planters to specific size requirements so that at least 2 seedlings would be able to thrive.

Many of my students have never done any gardening so I gave them a brief lesson in the planting, care and propagation of the plants they chose.

I just wish I had thought to take pix of them at work, and the care they took in the handling of the seedlings. 

So sweet!

I'm just hoping they remember to water them thru this hot summer we're having!

This first beauty by senior Anne Allan had a bas relief  lion face on the top hanging portion, and was quite striking and a class favorite.

Two of my personal favorites were made by senior Neha Jain (above) and Nicholas Tudor (below).

Neha used the thump and drag technique to stretch out her stamped slabs for tons of visual texture while Nick used a rolling pin for a super smooth surface that he stamped with buttons.

Nick also brought in his own cacti to plant for a very dramatic look while Neha's choice in flowers gives hers a softer feel.

These next two we works of art were created by seniors Jocelyn Kim and Lacey Thach.

Both girls stained their entire planters with Red Iron Oxide then hand painted Transparent glaze in specific areas for high contrast and focal points.

Above, juniors Yasmeen Pardo and Sameera Ahmad have also made very cool pieces.

Yasmeen loves to embed metal into her clay pieces while Sameera twists clay coils to catch the eye.

And finally senior Norris Khoo builds a clever turtle shell for his planter and glazes it so that all his textural elements are showcased.

Wonderful work Norris and all of you!

Now go give your gardens some water!!

Nature Themed Planter - My Work

One of my favorite things to whip up for the students are these planters.  They only take about an hour, and you never know how they will turn out.  I use a lot of thumped and dragged pieces to make them with.  This last year one of my favorite students, senior David Lee, lost his planter when it cracked during the drying and firing phases, so because it was the end of the year, he didn't have time to make another.  So I gave him the one I'd made and he glazed it so that he could have a glaze grade on the assignment.   I was very pleased with how it came out.  He chose to stain it with red iron oxide and then he highlighted the flowers by putting a bit of glaze on them.  Thanks David for making my work look great! 

Nature Themed Planters - Student Work

For the Ceramics I students final project I always have them make clay planters.  Since gardening is one of my favorite hobbies, I love to pass that love onto my class.  Fior their going away gift I buy them each two plants and some soil and on the day of the final, WE PLANT!!!

This year senior Lilith Huang made my favorite one with the leaves and butterfly.  She finished the piece by staining with red iron and cobalt oxides.  

I buy lots of plants for the kids to choose from, and I think the Alyssum that Lilith chose was lovely with her design.

In this next one above senior Andre' Martin stained with rutile on the backboard and red iron on the planter with just a hint of turquoise and white glazes on his flowers for a very cool look.

These next two were both done by senior Nikki Shah.  She made two because her first one on the left cracked really bad and she wasn't sure if she could save it or not.  But luckily she did and both were very nice looking.

A close of the stamped , thumped and dragged clay.

This last one by senior Mehar Maju was also a favorite. Love the asymmetry of it and the way she finished it off  with the staining and glaze.  Wonderful piece Mehar!

Nature Planters - Student Work

These are the ceramics planters that belong to my Ceramics I students.  They completed them for their 4th Quarter Final. On the day of the final they were able to pick either a shade or sun plant, and then learned how to pot their plant, and care for it.  Here's hoping they are still alive!

I'm crazy about this first one and the glaze application that sophomore Aman Patel used on his planter.  So cool!

And below we have this lovely, delicate looking planter by sophomore Ann Munoz.  I really like the thin edges and how she pulled them inward to create a lot of movement around the rim.  And when that sweet little dianthus grows larger, it's going look so good.

One of my favorites was this one above by senior Lorena Morales.  She used a combination of rutile oxide stain with turquoise glaze for a fabulous look.  And boy oh boy is that petunia going to love it's new home.

Below junior Stella Park also used both oxide and glaze to finish hers off with.  And the stain really shows off all her fun textural details.

And in this last one senior Andy Hwang picked the perfect plant with it's foliage to go with the leaf prints in his clay work  Nice job all of you!

Nature Inspired Planter - My Work

This was my demo piece that I did for my Beginning Ceramics kids, and I really liked how it turned out. The bird in the center was a result of a hole that occured while I was thumping and dragging the clay slab to stretch it out.  So I took advantage of the rip and inlayed a piece of clay from behind to seal it and when I turned the slab over the tear took on the shape of a bird.  I love when stuff like that happens because it pushes me to go further with my designing.  So I added a twig with leaves and stamped a hole for the bird's eye.  On the back side I put a dedication to our out-going principal, Patricia Hager, and gave it to her as a going away present.  Good luck Patti in your new school district, I'm going to really miss you, and so will the kids.  You were an amazing woman to work under and with.  Love you!!