LE: Coil Cups

Maeve and Eleni forming coils for their cups

Stefy

Xavier

Max

LE learned how to make pots out of air dry clay. The first step was to roll a clump of clay into a ball and rub it between two hands to form a long snake-like cylinder. Students formed these into multiple spiral shapes and held them together with a coil on the top and bottom. Then they filled in the gaps with smaller balls of clay, attached the ends together and added a base. When the cups were dry students painted the inside and outside with acrylic.

UE: Calavera Necklaces

To commemorate The Day of the Dead coming up on Nov. 2nd, students made calavera (skull in spanish) necklaces out of clay. We first discussed that The Day of the Dead should not be confused with Halloween. It's a special day where people in Mexico celebrate and honor lost loved ones. They believe that the spirits of their lost loves ones visit earth on this day and they welcome them with festivities, food and prayer. Sugar skulls and skeletal sculptures are popular decorations. Although skulls and skeletans are normally associated with Halloween, Day of the Dead calaveras are adorned with colorful clothing, flowers and bright festive patterns. After our discussion and a quick demo, students made a basic skull shape out of clay and painted it with acrylic.