Student Work: Narrative Clay Tiles (+ Clay Whistles)

I love comparing student work from years past.

Each year, my students totally surprise me

 with their creativity and unique take on the projects.

Thank heavens, too! -- Otherwise this whole teaching gig

could get a little stale real quick.

 

 

My Art 1's have been working on their narrative clay tiles,

a lesson I teach every year in this course.

 

The lesson is based on the artist David Stabley.

He is a contemporary ceramic artist whose work

depict dream-like narratives.

 

In this assignment, I ask my students to focus on several elements of art,

but the main element is SPACE.

Students create a composition that contains a

FOREGROUND, MIDDLE GROUND, and BACKGROUND.

The subject of the composition is determined by each student but

they were instructed to come up with a personal story

{real-life, make-believe, fantasy, or dream}

to illustrate on their tile.

Students were taught basic ceramic techniques while creating the clay slabs.

Each tile was designed to have relief

{areas that popped out and areas that were indented}

to further empahsize the illusion of SPACE.

After the tiles were fired in the kiln,

students painted their tiles with acrylic house paint.

Here are several examples from this year:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clay can be challenging to teach due to the extended time

each tile must spend in the kiln while being fired.

To keep my students engaged while their tiles bake,

I gave them the opportunity to create clay whistles.

This is usually met with more enthusiasm by the students

than when they create their tiles

and I just love the end result.