Dana Henson on tue 9 dec 97
I am a graduate student and will be teaching my first beginning ceramics course
next spring. My instructor has many fine ideas but I do not want to duplicate
her teaching format exactly. I have ideas for clay projects but would really li
to hear from any instructors out there willing to share their experience.
Also, research-type projects as well. Thanks for any advice in advance.
Dana Henson
Pam Pemberton on wed 10 dec 97
NCECA has a wonderful projects book available. Maybe look them up on the
web.
-----Original Message-----
From: Dana Henson [SMTP:G_HENSON@VENUS.TWU.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 1997 7:00 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list CLAYART
Subject: Projects/teaching
----------------------------Original
message----------------------------
I am a graduate student and will be teaching my first beginning
ceramics course
next spring. My instructor has many fine ideas but I do not
want to duplicate
her teaching format exactly. I have ideas for clay projects but
would really li
to hear from any instructors out there willing to share their
experience.
Also, research-type projects as well. Thanks for any advice in
advance.
Dana Henson
SHEATEK on wed 10 dec 97
okay, here's my $.02...i am not an instructor, but i thought i would share
with you a project i did have when i was a beginner. i had to build a slab
piece which was at least 18" tall, with a minimum of 3 lids, and a minimum of
3 textures. i also had to submit a cardboard built "sketch" before starting
in clay. sounds simple, but it enabled me to think about function,
design/composition, explore different tools and texturing techniques, think
"big" and gave me some direction before just simply staring a huge slab in the
face. i still love the piece i made ( even though i did not satisfy the lid
requirement, only 2 lids) and i learned alot from the exercise.
happy teaching-
tracy shea
Vince Pitelka on wed 10 dec 97
>I am a graduate student and will be teaching my first beginning ceramics course
>next spring. My instructor has many fine ideas but I do not want to duplicate
>her teaching format exactly. I have ideas for clay projects but would
really li
>to hear from any instructors out there willing to share their experience.
>Also, research-type projects as well. Thanks for any advice in advance.
>Dana Henson
Dana -
I have a number of guiding principles which have proved especially valuable
in teaching intro ceramics classes. First, stay VERY LIGHT on the technical
and research. Instead, emphasize the hands-on experiential aspect of the
media. Second, give assignments which encourage the students to bring in
personal and autobiographical information. Third, don't do ANY throwing, or
at least not until very late in the semester. Students need to become very
familiar with the workability and responsiveness ofclay before they are
properly prepared for the challenge and frustration of throwing. Fourth,
always have overlapping assignments, so that the students may go back and
forth between a number of different projects, in order to accommodate drying
between different working stages.
My assignments evolve over time, but currently the following are some of the
things I do.
I tend to place considerable emphasis on ancient and tribal clay in my intro
classes, including burnishing, terra sigilatta, and bonfire-firing. At the
start of the class we do pinch pots, plus we do small (6" to 10" diameter)
coil pots started in a puki (dished bisque-mold, as used by Southwestern
Native Americans). These pots are usually sanded when bone dry, coated with
terra sig, and burnished or polished.
Early in the semester I also assign a life-size coil-constructed
head-and-shoulders bust in terracotta. It constantly amazes me how well the
students do with this project. The inspiration can be anything. Some are
self-portraits, some are alien life-forms, some are very classical, most are
awkward, irregular, energetic, and absolutely wonderful.
Another good project is a slumped slab mask - dip single sheets of newspaper
in a sink full of water, crumple them up and wring them out, place them
INSIDE a clay bag, place the clay bag on a board, and mound up the newspaper
to approximate the desired profile of the BACK SIDE of the mask. Roll out a
slab of the desired clay approximately 1/2" thick, and slump it over the
plastic bag with mounded newspaper inside. This protects both the wooden
board and the clay slab from the moisture of the newspaper. Work the
slumped slab with your hands to begin forming eye sockets, brow and nasal
ridges, chin, etc. Trim away the flange around the mounded part of the
mask, or leave it, as you choose. Set aside and allow to stiffen to medium
leather hard consistency. Wherever you want to add clay, score and slurry
and work the clay into place very well. Encourage your students to do
whatever design they wish, but show them tribal masks, and encourage them to
aggressively abstract human and animal features. Representational masks are
one option, but not nearly as interesting as abstracted and exaggerated
masks. When the masks are stiff leather hard, turn them over on a bed of
rags, remove the plastic bag (can be reused for another mask), and carve
away all excess thickness where clay has been added. Add two tabs of clay
on the backside recessed into the upper portion of the mask, and poke a hole
through each of these tabs, to accommodate a hanging wire after the firing.
Also, I encourage the students to cut actual openings for eyes (at least the
pupils), nostrils, and mouth. It seems that masks are usually far more
mysterious and evocative when they have these openings (the eyes are the
windows to the soul, etc.). Also I encourage the use of mixed media
materials added after the firing. Holes may be formed along the edge of the
mask to add hair, yarn, grasses, etc. Sometimes we raku fire both masks,
sometimes we bonfire one of them. Last week we did a bonfiring of
terra-sig-coated masks, and they turned out pretty fine.
I always do soft slab and stiff slab vessels and boxes - working free-form
with soft slabs, and working from posterboard templates with stiff slabs.
We do a variety of covered-box approaches, but we ALWAYS make the box as a
completely closed form, and then, at the leather-hard stage, cut it open
with a razor knife, either with an irregular cut to index the lid onto the
box, or else we add a protruding strip of clay inside the box or lid so that
the two index squarely together, with no slop in the fit. Some boxes are
made on raised legs or feet. One very easy way to form raised feet is to
simply score and slurry and attach generous lumps of clay at the four bottom
corners of the leather-hard box, and when the lumps have stiffened up a bit,
trim them to a pleasing shape to form four blocky feet. Check out the feet
on Michael Simon's boxes to see what I mean.
A favorite final project assignment is a reliquary. It can be a covered or
uncovered vessel, an altar, stage, platform, whatever, as long as it is
obviously intended to hold or display a very special object or relic. The
object need not exist, although having or imagining an actual object can
inform the design of the reliquary. I always establish a minimum and
maximum size, and encourage the students to emphasize surface design and
overall narrative. I also encourage the use of mixed-media materials.
Again, I am usually amazed at the ideas which come from this assignment.
Hope this helps.
- Vince
Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Rachel Tardelli on thu 11 dec 97
I agree with Vince!!!!!
Just about to come off the newbie teacher train - but in metals not clay.
And High school and not college. But Definely keep it light hands-on, and
FUNNNNNNN. Project wise...... I also kept everything self oriented. Not
only are you teaching technique but creativity as well..... it is easier to
teach creativity if they can connect that creativity to themselves. Maybe
the research could be about the creative aspect and not the techie aspect -
that is to start with intraspective research or topics that intrique them.
A free form project may be nice midway thru the semester - this allows them
to see that they have done, what they can do, and what they can't do with
what they have learned. and it allows them (and some will be thirsting for
it) some freedom.
Best Wishes
And keep gettin dirty.
Rachel
At 02:28 PM 12/10/97 -0500, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>>I am a graduate student and will be teaching my first beginning ceramics
course
>>next spring. My instructor has many fine ideas but I do not want to
duplicate
>>her teaching format exactly. I have ideas for clay projects but would
>really li
>>to hear from any instructors out there willing to share their experience.
>>Also, research-type projects as well. Thanks for any advice in advance.
>>Dana Henson
>
>Dana -
>I have a number of guiding principles which have proved especially valuable
>in teaching intro ceramics classes. First, stay VERY LIGHT on the technical
>and research. Instead, emphasize the hands-on experiential aspect of the
>media. Second, give assignments which encourage the students to bring in
>personal and autobiographical information. Third, don't do ANY throwing, or
>at least not until very late in the semester. Students need to become very
>familiar with the workability and responsiveness ofclay before they are
>properly prepared for the challenge and frustration of throwing. Fourth,
>always have overlapping assignments, so that the students may go back and
>forth between a number of different projects, in order to accommodate drying
>between different working stages.
>
>My assignments evolve over time, but currently the following are some of the
>things I do.
>
>I tend to place considerable emphasis on ancient and tribal clay in my intro
>classes, including burnishing, terra sigilatta, and bonfire-firing. At the
>start of the class we do pinch pots, plus we do small (6" to 10" diameter)
>coil pots started in a puki (dished bisque-mold, as used by Southwestern
>Native Americans). These pots are usually sanded when bone dry, coated with
>terra sig, and burnished or polished.
>
>Early in the semester I also assign a life-size coil-constructed
>head-and-shoulders bust in terracotta. It constantly amazes me how well the
>students do with this project. The inspiration can be anything. Some are
>self-portraits, some are alien life-forms, some are very classical, most are
>awkward, irregular, energetic, and absolutely wonderful.
>
>Another good project is a slumped slab mask - dip single sheets of newspaper
>in a sink full of water, crumple them up and wring them out, place them
>INSIDE a clay bag, place the clay bag on a board, and mound up the newspaper
>to approximate the desired profile of the BACK SIDE of the mask. Roll out a
>slab of the desired clay approximately 1/2" thick, and slump it over the
>plastic bag with mounded newspaper inside. This protects both the wooden
>board and the clay slab from the moisture of the newspaper. Work the
>slumped slab with your hands to begin forming eye sockets, brow and nasal
>ridges, chin, etc. Trim away the flange around the mounded part of the
>mask, or leave it, as you choose. Set aside and allow to stiffen to medium
>leather hard consistency. Wherever you want to add clay, score and slurry
>and work the clay into place very well. Encourage your students to do
>whatever design they wish, but show them tribal masks, and encourage them to
>aggressively abstract human and animal features. Representational masks are
>one option, but not nearly as interesting as abstracted and exaggerated
>masks. When the masks are stiff leather hard, turn them over on a bed of
>rags, remove the plastic bag (can be reused for another mask), and carve
>away all excess thickness where clay has been added. Add two tabs of clay
>on the backside recessed into the upper portion of the mask, and poke a hole
>through each of these tabs, to accommodate a hanging wire after the firing.
>Also, I encourage the students to cut actual openings for eyes (at least the
>pupils), nostrils, and mouth. It seems that masks are usually far more
>mysterious and evocative when they have these openings (the eyes are the
>windows to the soul, etc.). Also I encourage the use of mixed media
>materials added after the firing. Holes may be formed along the edge of the
>mask to add hair, yarn, grasses, etc. Sometimes we raku fire both masks,
>sometimes we bonfire one of them. Last week we did a bonfiring of
>terra-sig-coated masks, and they turned out pretty fine.
>
>I always do soft slab and stiff slab vessels and boxes - working free-form
>with soft slabs, and working from posterboard templates with stiff slabs.
>We do a variety of covered-box approaches, but we ALWAYS make the box as a
>completely closed form, and then, at the leather-hard stage, cut it open
>with a razor knife, either with an irregular cut to index the lid onto the
>box, or else we add a protruding strip of clay inside the box or lid so that
>the two index squarely together, with no slop in the fit. Some boxes are
>made on raised legs or feet. One very easy way to form raised feet is to
>simply score and slurry and attach generous lumps of clay at the four bottom
>corners of the leather-hard box, and when the lumps have stiffened up a bit,
>trim them to a pleasing shape to form four blocky feet. Check out the feet
>on Michael Simon's boxes to see what I mean.
>
>A favorite final project assignment is a reliquary. It can be a covered or
>uncovered vessel, an altar, stage, platform, whatever, as long as it is
>obviously intended to hold or display a very special object or relic. The
>object need not exist, although having or imagining an actual object can
>inform the design of the reliquary. I always establish a minimum and
>maximum size, and encourage the students to emphasize surface design and
>overall narrative. I also encourage the use of mixed-media materials.
>Again, I am usually amazed at the ideas which come from this assignment.
>
>Hope this helps.
>- Vince
>
>Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
>Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
>Appalachian Center for Crafts
>Tennessee Technological University
>1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
>
Jennifer Mulligan on fri 12 dec 97
have your students make doorstops--I'm not kidding, I'm serious. This is an
important step in my syllabus. They try to make bigger and better, but
never really grasp how far they can push the clay. Assign a project of a
simple cylinder, and then have them make it taller...and taller...and
taller...until it collapses. It becomes a doorstop, and they learn an
invaluable lesson as to how far they can push the clay.
R12396 on fri 12 dec 97
Hello there,
Read your post and I'd like to ask you at what age or what grade level were
you in , when you received this assignment? Thanks kindly.
R12396, Richard, (The Clay Stalker), Ramirez
Gaydos, Frank on sun 14 dec 97
Dana Henson wrote:
>
> ----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> I am a graduate student and will be teaching my first beginning ceramics cours
> next spring. My instructor has many fine ideas but I do not want to duplicate
> her teaching format exactly. I have ideas for clay projects but would really
> to hear from any instructors out there willing to share their experience.
> Also, research-type projects as well. Thanks for any advice in advance.
> Dana Henson
Dear Dana,
What age group are you planning to teach?
Frank Gaydos in Philly
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