Upon our return from Spring break, the Art students traveled to the Spirit of the West Museum in Scottsdale to admire their artwork selected for display during Youth Art Month. Although our visit was short, the students made the best of touring the Museum to learn about other artists and Western Art. Youth Art Month is a national celebration of the artworks of students throughout the country. The selection process here in Arizona is quite competitive and I’m proud that our Ash Fork students’ works were presented. Pictured are students with the works they created.
Following the trip to the Museum, the Art classes have been very busy during the past few weeks working with air-dry clay to create pinch pots and coil pots. Pinch pots are created by taking a glob of clay, rolling it around in the palm of your hand to form a ball, then sticking your thumb into the center to make a big hole. The walls of the clay need to uniform in thickness, then the shaping begins. One class made Animal Pinch Pots, the other classes made Coil Pots. The requirements for the animal pots included adding at least three attachments. For the coil pots, several “ropes” of clay were rolled and gradually layered one upon the other. Once all the pots were dried, the students painted them, followed by spraying them with an acrylic glaze. Animal pots produced included a happy-faced monkey (with his own bananas) a Koala bear, a turtle, and a very mythical creature. The final Coil pots included a layered intricately coiled bowl, a heart shaped pot with inside coils, one with hearts surrounded by coils, and lastly a detailed cowboy boot complete with a spur.
