Clay in the Classroom: Keeping it Clean

When you talk about bringing clay into a teacher’s classroom, you can see the cringe creep across their faces as they imagine the amount of clean up involved in making these clay projects. But after over 10 years of teaching clay in other teachers classrooms, I’m here to tell you that it’s possible to do clay projects and not make a huge mess.

First, each student gets a board to work on at their spot. This board helps keep them, their desk and their project contained. In the beginning, I had canvas covered wood boards that were stacked into a wooden wine crate, but it was heavy to cart around and the crate only fit 20 boards. So I switched to using plastic cutting boards from Ikea. They worked great; they were affordable, durable, lightweight to carry classroom to classroom and easy to clean.

Clay in the Classroom: Keeping it Clean | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

The other key to keeping the classroom clean is to not use slip (clay and water mixed together into a muddy slurry) when attaching clay parts together. Generally, slip is used as a ‘clay glue’ and the proper attaching technique is to score both parts of the clay you want to attach, then paint on a little slip and smooth the parts together. Slip and kids are a messy combination and I found that just scoring the clay and blending, really did the job, which allowed me to eliminate using slip in the classroom altogether. To remind the students that they still needed to score their clay thoroughly, I dubbed the technique: ‘scratch-to-attach’ as an easy way to remember this crucial building step. If student’s clay becomes a little dry through the building process, I bring a spray bottle of water that I can give each project a little spray as needed, keeping the water mess to a minimum.

Once all the projects are finished and it’s time to put away all the clay tools, I ask students to make a ball from all of their remaining clay bits and return that to the clay bag. I ask them to brush any remaining dust or crumbs of clay into their hand and dump that in the garbage or into the clay recycling bin if you have one and then return their cutting boards to the designated box. Once that’s done, they can use a big sponge to wipe down their desks and double check for any clay that may have fallen on the floor. At that point, your classroom should be clay free and students can get back to books.

Sculpture IS: In the Garden OPENS!

Join me at the 10th Anniversary of Sculpture IS: In the Garden, this Thursday June 9th from 5-7pm at Sierra Azul Gardens in Watsonville. The garden is filled with pieces from every medium and style. The exhibit is up through October 31st, Sierra Azul is located at 2660 East Lake Ave, Watsonville across from the fairgrounds.

Sculpture IS: In the Garden Opens! | events | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

My Art, Your Space: Arias-Kolb Family

Last summer these two sculptures from the Bone Series were hanging out on a shipwreck under the Atlantic Ocean and now they are beautifully displayed in the Arias-Kolb home surrounded by a lot of other incredible art works. I love how these pieces have a pulsating energy to them, if jellyfish had bones, this might be what they look like.

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!

My Art, Your Space: Arias- Kolb Family | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

Art at the Arboretum Opens Tomorrow!

Art at the ArboretumArt at the Arboretum Opens | events | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

May 18 – October 10, 2016
Opening reception June 1st 5-7
UCSC Arboretum

Join us for the inaugural “Art in the Arboretum Opening Reception” on Wednesday, June 1 from 5-7 p.m. in the Aroma Garden. Refreshments will be served at Norrie’s Gift & Garden Shop entrance.

UC Santa Cruz Arboretum is thrilled to partner with Susana Arias who is one of the curators of Sierra Azul Nursery & Garden’s Sculpture IS exhibits and welcome an exceptional group of local Santa Cruz artists for Art in the Arboretum “Sculpture’.

5th Annual Clay & Glass Exhibit Opens

5th Annual Clay & Glass Exhibit at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts opens

Saturday May 28th 5 – 7pm

I have two installations from my Bone Series in this show, one is suspended from the 20’ceilings and the other spread out over and 8′ wall, I’m really happy with both of these installations and hope that you get a chance to get there to see the show. It will be up until July 17th. Here’s a sneak peek…

5th Annual Clay & Glass Exhibit Opens | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

Clay in the Classroom: Recycling Clay

If your clay gets to dried out from over working it or it gets too wet and mushy to build with, you don’t need to throw it in the bin, it can all be recycled so that every bit of clay you buy can be used. Here’s how I do it in my classroom…

Clay in the Classroom: Recycling Clay | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

First, you’ll need a plaster board. If you’re recycling small amounts of clay, you could use some scrap drywall pieces with the paper removed from one side of it, if you’re recycling larger amounts, you’re going to want to make a thick plaster board. I have a board that is about 3’x 2′ with wood edging around the outside of it that is about 3″ high. You could use an old shallow drawer if you’ve got one.

Next, mix up your plaster per the directions on the bag and pour it into your frame, make sure the top is as even as possible and tap the sides of it to release any air bubbles that may have gotten trapped in the plaster. Let the plaster set up and harden, give it a few days to dry out before recycling any clay on it.

To set up your recycling system, you’ll need a bucket with a lid. I use a standard size garbage can on wheels to make it easy to move around the room and also tuck away but if you are recycling smaller amounts of clay a 5 gallon bucket might be big enough for you. Add all of your scraps of clay that are too wet or dry to work with and cover with water. Be careful not to allow tools, sponges or other studio debris to end up in the bucket, it will start to decompose and smell pretty bad. Allow these pieces to soak and break down until the clay is uniformly squishy.Clay in the Classroom: Recycling Clay | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
Then scoop out the clay and lay it in an even thickness onto your prepared plaster board. The plaster will dry the clay from the bottom and the air will dry it from the top, this might take a few days depending on the weather in your area, how hot the room is, how wet the clay is and how wet the plaster board is. You also might need to flip the whole thing over to keep the drying even. You’ll have to keep checking on it to make sure it’s not getting to dry. Once the clay is at a nice working consistancy, it’s ready to be wedged and bagged up for using again. Wedging the clay is sort of like kneading bread, it will remove the air bubbles from your clay so that your work doesn’t explode in the kiln. Here is a great video about wedging your clay: Clay Wedging 101. Also, if you happen to pick up small bits of plaster in your clay, be sure to pick these out before wedging your clay, as they will explode in the kiln. Then bag up your clay in thick plastic bags and store it until your are ready to build again. Clay in the Classroom: Recycling Clay | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

If you find your clay dried out too much on your plaster board, you can toss it back into your recycling bucket and start the process over again. Recycling clay can be a slightly laborious process but it’s definitely worth it and is a great opportunity to teach your students each step of the process and let them learn some extra credit points for helping you recycle the clay in your classroom.

Haitian Art for Sale

As many of you know, I’ve traveled to Haiti several times over the past few years. In addition to bringing supplies, doing art projects and fundraising for goats in a small village, I’ve friended artists from Atis Rezistans, Sculptors of the Grande Rue, who create mixed media work from found objects. I have three pieces of art by artists Claudel Casseus & Racine Polycarpe for sale.

The two wall pieces were made in Haiti and brought to the US as part of an exhibition at Recology’s Artist in Residence Program. They are made with carved rubber from tires, found objects and painted with imagery found in voudou style work.

The large sculpture ‘Poisson’ was made during Polycarpe’s residency at Recology from found objects at the San Francisco dump. This piece lights up from the inside and is suitable for an outdoor sculpture.

Please contact me if you are interested in any of these pieces. All sales will go directly to the artists.

About Atis Rezistans:
Grand Rue is the main avenue that runs a north-south swathe through downtown Port au Prince from Bel Air and La Saline to La Cimetière and Carrefour. At the southern end of Grand Rue, amongst the labyrinthine warren of back streets that line the avenue, is an area that traditionally has produced small handicrafts for the ever-diminishing tourism market. This close-knit community is hemmed in on all sides by the makeshift car repair district, which serves as both graveyard and salvation for the cities increasingly decrepit automobiles.

All the artists grew up in this atmosphere of junkyard make-do, survivalist recycling and artistic endeavour. Their powerful sculptural collages of engine manifolds, TV sets, wheel hubcaps and discarded lumber have transformed the detritus of a failing economy into bold, radical and warped sculptures. Their work references their shared African & Haitian cultural heritage, a dystopian sci-fi view of the future and the positive transformative act of assemblage.
The artists from Grand Rue are extending the historical legacy of assemblage to the majority world. Their use of the readymade components are driven by economic necessity combined with creative vision and cultural continuity. Their work is transformative on many different allegorical levels, the transformation of wreckage to art, of disunity to harmony and of three young men, with no formal arts training, to the new heirs of a radical and challenging arts practice that has reached down through both modernist and post-modern arts practice.

Road Trip to Healdsburg

I was invited to install two sculptures at the 5th Annual Clay and Glass Exhibit at the Healdsburg Center for the Arts. I have the parts, hardware and tools for the two indoor installations from my Bone Series all packed up and ready to go. Road trip ready!

The fun (and scary) part about doing these type of installations is that I really don’t know what it will look like until I install it. I base my plan on sketches, basic layout in my studio and the hopes that this new crazy idea will just somehow come together and look good too! I confess that I also consult my in house construction team (aka: my husband Nate) about the plausibility of these ideas too.
Today, I arrived at the gallery to find pedestals being painted, walls being arranged and the scissor lift waiting to take me up to the 20′ ceilings to start installing the hardware for the suspended work.

Tomorrow, the pieces will be installed and fingers crossed, they will look amazing! Until then, I’m enjoying the beauty of the Russian River.

Last few spots available in Summer Workshops

There are only 18 spots left in our summer workshops at the studio!

Last few spots available in Summer Workshops | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

 

Here’s the schedule and number of spots left:
Session 1: June 6 – 10 (Ages 7+) FIVE SPOTS LEFT
Session 2: June 13 – 17 (Ages 7+) TWO SPOTS LEFT
Session 3: June 20 – 24 (Ages 9+) SIX SPOTS LEFT
Session 4: June 27 – July 1 (Ages 11+) FULL
Session 5: July 5 – 8 (Ages 7+) FULL
Session 6: July 11 – 15 (Ages 7+) FOUR SPOTS LEFT
Session 7: July 18 – 22 (Ages 9+) ONE SPOT LEFT
Session 8: July 25 – 29 (Ages 11+) FULL

Learn more…