I was inspired to teach this lesson after seeing these beautiful sculptures on Pinterest, from the Italian website http://www.biavatibottegadellestelle.it/ - La Bottega Della Stelle.
I was taken with the simple fish forms and textures, and I really wish I had some of those beautiful neutral glazes, but no luck this late in the year, so we opted for bright tempera. Maybe next year!
We built these in one session - we started with a thick pinch pot and flipped it over and added a variety of coral, seaweed, starfish, and other details. Then we formed a slab and added details to both sides to create the fish. Lastly, at the end of our 45 minute session, we poked holes in both using a wooden dowel and a slight stirring motion to enlarge the hole for shrinkage.
After a bisque firing, we painted the surfaces with liquid tempera and added a bit of hot glue. They turned out beautifully!
She named this one "Emo Nemo" - clever! Haha
I love these - and I really like the addition of the sea plants/life on the bases! My 5th graders are making souvenir bowls a la your lesson right now :) miss you heaps, Hope!
ReplyDeleteThese are great- I might try them with some air dry clay I have floating around as I don't have a kiln. Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteThese are really cute :))
ReplyDeleteI'm sure my little cousins will love doing these. Now I just need to get some sculpture supply.