Coil Pots and the Wheel at Claywerks

Last week the kids were given homework to look at different types of coil pots. They were to notice how the pot could be made with coils, but how at the end it didn't have to LOOK like it was made with coils. However, all the kids' designs retained their coil look. Ian decided to make a coiled cobra multi-purpose vessel. Here he is working on his cobra head.

Of course, Ethan went with a dragon. He had a little help from the Claywerks owner who is teaching their classes.

Evyn is designing a salsa bowl with a snake head on top. Ian helped him form the head of the snake, but he did all the fine-tuning.

Every time I tried to get a photo of Amber working on her pot, the lady was doing the work on it, so I never got one of Amber. This is Amber's coil cup, complete with handle and twisted-braid top. In case you can't tell, this cup is meant for milk.

Now a quick lesson on the wheel. The morning started with the instructor saying they were going to do figurines, but the kids had been told to do the coil pot research, so after she did her talk on figurines and announced they would get turns on the wheel with one-on-one instruction, she changed tracks and put them to work on the coil pots. It was a bit confusing in the beginning. At any rate, they finally got their chance to learn about the wheel. She did a demonstration, showing them how to throw the clay, how to center, and then how to make the hole in the middle and draw up the pot. Unfortunately, I didn't realize they were all getting a chance at the wheel until after three of them were finished and Ian was sitting down.

Ian did fairly well. He had an uncentered piece of clay thanks to his siblings, but was making it work.

Looks professional, huh?

Still lots of work to do. They still have a slab pot and figurines to do, as well as glazing and painting of their works of art. We may have to go back for that part, but not sure. Two classes left to do it all, and possibly more wheel work.