1st Grade: Pinch Pot Creatures

Clay is always a favorite in the Art Room. The excitement levels sky rocket as kids enter and see all of the tables covered and the tools out. Ceramics is an art form that has been practiced for 1000s of years all over the world. Ancient peoples have been digging clay from the earth to make tools and vessels to help them in their everyday lives. 1st Graders, however, discovered how functional pieces can also become something much more.

This project is one of 2 that focuses on taking a functional, everyday object and transforming it, with a bit of imagination, into a new and unique work of art. (The other focuses on weaving, another ancient art form.)

Students first created a simple bowl from a ball of clay by pinching the ball from the center. Such a bowl is called a pinch pot, due to the nature of its' construction. Once formed, we discussed how we would be changing the pinch pot from an ordinary cup or bowl into an animal. The pinch pot serves as the body, and students constructed heads, legs, tails and any other necessary body parts to create the rest of the animal. We reviewed hand building techniques, such as coils, slabs, and slipping and scoring to attach the parts. In some cases, the pinch pot ceased to be functional anymore, and became a decorative sculptural piece, while some could still be useful in holding and storing items.

In keeping with our theme of changing the functionality of an item or material, we used watercolor paints to add color, instead of glaze, which is normally used to decorate pottery. 

A layer of Mod Podge was then added once the paint was dry to give the sculptures a shiny, glossy finish. 

To see all of the Pinch Pot Creatures please visit the Student Galleries page on my website 

https://sites.google.com/site/mrsrart/student-galleries. 

Please keep in mind that each class works at a different pace. Work is published to the website upon completion. If you don't see your child's work on the website please check back later.