Raku Workshop at Marygrove College, Detroit

I was recently invited to bring a small number of my 3D Art students to Marygrove College in Detroit for a Raku Workshop. I selected eight of my best students to participate. We had two sessions, a week apart. The first session was for building our pots; the second was for doing the actual raku glaze firing.

 

Marygrove instructor Jim Lutomski showed the students a quick method of building a pot from a slab by wrapping it around a cardboard tube.

Session two: Glazing and Firing

Many thanks to Jim Lutomski and Marygrove for this awesome workshop! 
 

Beginning 3D: Felties

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Inspired by some little felt creatures (a.k.a. "felties") one of my students was making on her own last year, I did a bit of research and discovered that this has become a bit of a popular thing. Always looking for projects that develop skills, have a creative element, and are fun, I thought that this would be a good one for the beginning class. The students really enjoyed the project and did some great work!

(special thanks to Celia Eddy!)

11th Annual Spring Art Show @ AAW

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Prehistoric Venus Sculptures

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The Venus of Willendorf, 24,000 BC

Our Beginning 3D class spent some time studying the Venus of Willendorf and other prehistoric "Venus" sculptures. Students then made their own "prehistoric Venus" sculptures. First, they made maquettes (clay models). They made their own plaster blocks in paper cups, carved their sculptures, and finally finished them with thinned out acrylic paint and shoe polish. (If you're going to try this finish, make sure that the paint is fully dry before applying the shoe polish. We used both paste and liquid shoe polish.) These sculptures are all approximately four inches tall.