This is the final week to see the 5th Annual Clay & Glass exhibit at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts. The exhibit closes with a final afternoon tea on Sunday July 17th from 2 – 4 at the gallery.
I have two installations from my Bone Series included in this exhibition alongside 12 other talented artists all working in clay or glass. It is a beautiful exhibition, I hope to see you there!
Join me:
Healdsburg Center for the Arts
130 Plaza St., Healdsburg, CA
July 17th 2 – 4
Teachers, start planning your fall clay projects now with these five fun classroom tested projects you can do with your kiddos! In collaboration with art teacher extraordinaire Kathy Barbro, my Create with Clay PDF Book 4 is now available for $5 in the Art Projects for Kids online shop.
PDF FILE INCLUDES INSTRUCTIONS FOR:
• Sunflower
• Bear
• House Numbers
• Burgers
• 3D Letters
The talented students in my Summer Sculpting Workshops used this great lesson from Ceramic Arts Daily to create handbuilt hexagonal lidded containers. We used a paper template to cut out the main shapes and then attached the walls together and built the lid in the same way. They cut a half circle key to keep the lids from sliding off and then embellished the pieces with decorative cut outs and knobs. The challenge was to keep the walls straight and corners angled just right, I think they did a fantastic job with this project! Thanks to Ceramic Arts Daily and Don Hall for sharing this idea!
When I was teaching at elementary schools, I was rarely given a classroom to work out of, which meant that I had to haul clay, tools, projects and examples classroom to classroom. Over the 10 years that I taught ‘art-on-a-cart’ style, I developed an organized system to make it work without making a million trips back and forth. Here are a few ways I was able to stay organized and mobile…
Rather than use a cart, I preferred to use a hand truck to move all of my clay class supplies around campus. I also like to find old wooden wine crates to carry my supplies in and I attach drawer handles onto the short sides for easy lifting and carrying. I could put 25-30 plastic cutting boards (which are each students work area), a hard plastic tub with a lid filled with clay tools and examples of the project we’re working on for the day all into the wine crate. That box goes onto the hand truck first, then I would pile a 25lb bag of clay on top for each class I had that day and I’d carry cardboard boxes that I’d put all of the students projects in. For me, this became the easiest way for me to haul all that heavy stuff classroom to classroom. If I was teaching back to back classes, I would leave the box of finished projects in the classroom so I could move onto the next class. At the end of the day, I’d return to collect the work and move it to the kiln room to dry and fire. In the kiln room, these cardboard boxes could be stacked since they are designed to fit and lock together, which made it space efficient and easy to keep each classroom’s projects together.
Costco is a great place to collect boxes that are strong enough to carry clay projects and are stackable for easy storing. I like to find the cardboard boxes that were designed to carry something heavy like melons and it’s even better if they are waxed on the surface since the boxes will last longer holding wet clay.
Typically I could fit 25 – 30 small projects from each class in one box and the box would be labeled with the classroom number and/or the teacher’s name on it for easy sorting. When the pieces came out of the kiln, they could be sorted right back into the correct labeled box. This system made it a bit easier to sort 300+ projects back to the correct student.
Keeping track of every student’s piece of art is a tricky task especially when things are going from the classroom to the kiln and back again and when you have some pretty cryptic handwriting in clay. If the kids are old enough and able, I would have them write their names on the bottom of their project and also their classroom number. If the kids were younger, I would have the kids bring me their finished project and I would write their name and room number on it for them and then place it in the cardboard box. I admit that over 10+ years, a few projects seemed to of disappeared into the abyss like a sock in the dryer but with this labeling and boxing system, the majority of projects found their way back and forth to the kiln and back to the correct creator.
Anyone else have other tips for a mobile clay classroom?
Here’s this week’s share from the Cruz Family:
“I am amazed by how each piece is intricately made. And, these two pieces look like they were meant to be together. One is growing and exploring out of its shell. The other one is still nesting and carefully watching.
I love seeing where my art ends up and hearing why you connect with a piece, if you have some of my work that you’d like to share, please email me! Thanks for sharing!
Flashback to 2009 when we sculpted our own star shaped mylar balloons and marched in the Aptos 4th of July Parade with them! Happy 4th of July Everyone!
Here’s the monthly wrap up of everything going on at the studio…
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We (meaning Nate!) have built the interior walls that will separate the clay areas from the non-clay areas of the studio. These huge walls went up this past weekend and will be sheeted with plywood soon, they will make a beautiful space to showcase art on. The top will be covered with a thin plastic to help keep out the clay dust while still meeting the fire code. We also got some doors from Habitat for Humanity’s Restore, which was a great way to recycle old building materials and support a great organization. Looking forward to starting to move some things over to the new studio soon!
There are officially no spots left available in our summer sculpting workshops at Earth Art Studio! But, if you or your kids still need to get your hands messy in some clay this summer, Good Life Ceramics in Santa Cruz has everything you need. They also offer sibling discounts, so sign up today to get some creative studio time in this summer!
Also, be sure to check out their gallery space, I have pieces from my Nest Series on display there alongside a number of other beautiful functional and sculptural clay pieces by local ceramic artists!
Good Life Ceramics is a welcoming make-your-own ceramic art studio. Our doors are open to all from seasoned ceramic artists to first-timers. With guided projects for walk-ins, a fully equipped studio for members and the option to reserve the studio for private parties and corporate offsites, individuals are able to experience the beauty of clay.
3717 Portola Drive
Santa Cruz, CA 95062
831.515.7560 | GLConPortola@gmail.com
Over the weekend, my favorite set of twins cashed in on their christmas gift from us – a glass blowing class from Viscosity Glass in Boulder Creek California. Husband and wife team Scott Graham & Cristy Aloysi, took my niece and nephew through each step of the process so that they could create their own glass float. It was a hot day to be in a hotshop but they did great heating their glass, adding color and shaping it.
I picked up their floats the following day after they had cooled slowly in the kiln overnight and the results are beautiful! They have more classes coming up, so be sure to reserve a spot! You can see and buy their work online and locally, and you can visit Cristy & Scott’s studio this year for Santa Cruz County Open Studios Art Tour too!
