vince pitelka on sat 27 apr 02
Right at the beginning of the semester I have my intro students do life-size
head-and-shoulders busts by the coil method. We start out with a thick slab,
score/slurry the first coil, and then use the equatorial African twist/smear
technique with no score/slurry. After leaving the piece to stiffen up, we
score/slurry the next coil, and then go back to the twist/smear technique.
That's where you lower the coil in place on the far side of the form as you
smear it in place with a twisting motion, smearing down on the inside with
the thumb, up on the outside with the fingers, and then use a rounded wood
rib to further blend the coils together inside and out. This produces a
wall as strong as any thrown wall, and you will never get those horizontal
cracks which result from laying the whole coil in place and then smearing it
together inside and out.
As we build up the busts we always add two internal walls from front to back
that will approximately allign with the edges of the neck. As someone else
pointed out, that keeps the front and back walls from spreading. It also
provides good support for the head.
I have no specific requirements other than size on this assignment. The
inspiration can be a self portrait, Porky Pig, Darth Vader, the Qin
terracotta army, a robot, or an amoeba. I show lots of slides for
inspiration.
The only thing I can say in general about the results is that most of the
students love this assignment, and many of them produce forms that far
exceeded their expectations. They had no idea that they could work so
large, so it is a real confidence booster. After they do that assignment,
they have no problem at all with an 18" coil pot.
Handbuilding is a great way to teach intro to clay. Once they are
comfortable with handbuilding, they can graduate to the wheel so gracefully.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
Home - vpitelka@dtccom.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
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