Pottery Camp

I love making art out of clay, so I jumped at the opportunity to go to a summer pottery camp. Clay allows my creativity to run wild.  Given a lump of bland, uninteresting clay, I can turn it into a dazzling serving plate, a favorite cup, a miniature pool scene complete with deck chairs and a cool shade-filled cave, or a useful rain gauge for my yard.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the name of this camp, “It’s a muddy world”.  To be honest, it sounded a little gross to me at first.  I was wondering if I’d get to make anything interesting at all.  I needn’t have worried, because I ended up learning about the pottery of ancient cultures around the world, and creating works using ancient techniques, while adding my own personal flair

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he second country was Japan and I made a lantern.  Our teacher had cut out four rectangles and a square out of a light grey clay. I  cut designs into the rectangular pieces, with the needle tool.   Real ancient Japanese lanterns had Kanji characters, but I just did a pattern of diamonds on two of the faces, and left the other two faces blank.  Some kids did more elaborate designs, like bamboo or a panda.  Using the square piece as a base, I scored and slipped the four rectangular design pieces around it, to make the lantern.  ​

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Our final project was an Egyptian piece.  We had the option to make either a scarab beetle or a candy dish. I chose to make a candy dish. We used a large square stamp with cutting edges to cut out a square from a 1/4” slab, and peeled off the edges.  Then I chose patterned stamps, including a snowflake and one with stars and crescent moons, and pressed them around the edges of the square.  The next part of the process was very interesting.  I took a large sponge, put my flat plate on it, and got a large solid square stamp. I pushed this stamp gently in the middle of my flat plate, and then released it. The dish had formed, with a patterned rim.  This candy dish is my favorite of the three projects.
The last day of camp was spent painting my creations, and chatting to my new friends. I accidentally broke two of the rays on the edge of my sun mask, when I was preparing to paint it.  I painted the broken pieces like the rest of the rays and was planning to glue them back on after the works were fired.  However, when I went to pick up my finished  projects, the broken pieces weren’t there.
I really want to find an after-school pottery class that fits my schedule this coming school year, and I am willing to give up some other activities if needed.

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