Y'all. When I opened the kiln this morning (which I had no right doing as that big ole lug was still flashing 600 degrees), I let out a squeal. Who snuck into the art room and put a bunch of cute-ified chameleons in my kiln?! I mean, really. Can you even handle...THIS?
I know I can't. I'm so excited to share these with the kids next week. Their hard work sculpting and glazing paid off. Here's the video that I created to teach my sweet third graders this fun lesson:
The kids have loved this lesson! Having taught art (and clay!) for nearly 20 years, I've learned a thing or two along the way. My biggest tip for those working with kiln-fire clay: LET THE FINISHED PIECES DRY FOR LONGER THAN YOU'D EVER IMAGINE.
I was always led to believe that the reason clay exploded in the kiln (and I've had my share of 'splosions) was because of air bubbles. I call baloney on that theory. The reason there are explosions is: the clay is still WET. I allow my clay projects to dry in the kiln room which is both hot (due to the kiln) and well ventilated (as they should be) for TWO WEEKS. That's right, you heard me. Here's the deal: if there are any water molecules in the clay, as they are heated up in the kiln, they begin to move, faster and faster, until they cause an explosion. However, if you wait...every last one of those water molecules will evaporate and diminish your chance of breakage. One way to test and see if greenware (unfired clay) is ready to be fired? Touch it. If it feels damp, even slightly, it is still holding water and needs to dry. The problem is...if your students' clay projects are thick (and some of these chameleons were very thick!) there might be water trapped within the clay project that you cannot feel with touch. My suggestion? Fire on the slowest setting possible. This will help air out the clay before ramping up to firing mode. In other words: When in doubt, DRY IT OUT. Can someone please help me off this firing soap box?! It's hot up here!
Now, when it comes to glazing, that's a whole 'nother story. Glazed pieces can be fired on the fastest setting as they have already been fired once and are not going to explode. In case you are curious, I use Cone 06 clay and glaze.
I don't always glaze with my students. After all, two firings is super time consuming. However, I do think that the glazing experience is important for kids to be exposed to at least once. It's truly magical. Imagine: little pieces of glass that are going to transform your dull clay project into a shining, sparkling masterpiece!
My favorite glazes are Mayco's Stroke and Coat. I love their color variety. I did order some of their Jungle Gems to add a bit of spots and sparkle to their projects...and I was a touch disappointed. I don't think I shook the bottles up enough because I don't see too much of the spotted and speckled effect. Perhaps my next crop of chameleons will be more speckled as their glaze is near the bottom of the bottle where all the glass has settled.
This lesson is NOT featured in my book...which is why I can share it and the video for free with you here. Many of the project directions from last year's art show were not shared here...because I was under contract with the book publisher. Little known fact: when you are writing a book, they "own" the rights to your ideas! All that to say...all of the lessons I share in the book have not been released here. So 52 NEW art projects for you and your kiddos...that can be used with both no-kiln and kiln-fired clays!
ALSO...in case you didn't know, I've been hosting weekly #creatingwithcassie craft nights right here. Currently, we are felting but next month, we are exploring clay!
If you'd like to join the fun and explore some fun new materials, pick up your clay kit here...no kiln required!
Now...this is just the beginning of clay themed posts as I've declared the month of May, the month of CLAY! So brace yourself...lots of clay posts ahead!
If you've been hanging around this here blog for a bit, then you know I've been hosting a weekly craft night right here with the focus being on felting. In order to lead the craft nights the best that I can, I've been pushing myself to explore the one area of felting that I'm not super comfortable with: wet felting. Y'all know I'm all about the needle felting...but this wet felting stuff is a bit of a learning curve. So far, I've wet felted a beaded necklace, a clutch and now this matroyshka doll. Here's how:
One thing that you have to commit yourself to when it comes to wet felting is that it is time consuming and requires patience. This is not something you can rush. The felting process takes time...in fact, it took me probably 45 minutes to an hour from start to finish to complete the wet felting process. After drying out over night, I was able to start needle felting.
This also proved to be pretty time consuming...but I do love needle felting. That being said, I had originally planned to make another doll to fit inside this one...but I don't know if I'm ready to make that kind of time commitment!
Like I said in the video, when I started needle felting, I didn't go into it with much of a plan. I really wanted to focus on the patterns on the clothing: dots, stripes, flowers.
The beauty of needle felting is that it really helped to form, shape and stabilize the doll. I was concerned that when I removed the wooden form, the entire doll would collapse but it remained relatively solid...but the needle felting really proved to make it solid.
Now, getting the diameter of the opening of both the top and bottom of the doll did prove to be a little tricky. To make them the same, I did have to do a lot of needle felting around the rim of both to get them to be the same width.
Creating the flowers and patterns was really my favorite part.
I thought the doll should be wearing an apron which is why there is a blue tie in the back.
After felting the doll, I realized that I could felt around any number of objects floating around...so when I spotted Easer eggs at the grocery, I decided to give them a go! I know y'all probably have a ton around your house too. This is a much quicker wet felting project then the doll, that's for sure. Here's a quick video on how I did it:
I've got a lot of felting videos currently up on my YouTube channel that you might want to check out. I've also been posting one minute felting videos on my Instagram if you are interested.
I totally had intentions of needle felting the other egg as well...but that went out the window with the second matroyshka doll. On to the next best thing!
Looking forward to seeing you all this Wednesday at 8pm CST for our next craft night right here!
During our Intro to Wet Felting session, we learned how to do a little ziplock baggie felting. This one was created by artteacher. Once the wet felted piece dried, she cut it into a heart. I love her colors!
In case you missed the wet felting fun last Wednesday night over here, it is archived both on my Facebook page and on my YouTube channel. We had a whole lotta wet and sudsy fun all the while creating a wet felted piece, felted beads, a felted container and buttons! We managed to pack in a lot...an hour just isn't long enough. But I do love that those participating keep on creating long after we say goodnight. In case you missed it, here is our Wednesday night session:
Of course, it's never too late to join the fun. Sue told me that orders for felting kits are still rolling in which has me so happy! Here's a link to where you can purchase, if you are interested. Again, all previous craft nights are archived both here (subscribe!) and here (follow!).
And don't forget that we'll be continuing this crafting fun in May with Clay!
Supplies for that workshop can be picked up here. You can still join the fun without the supplies, of course.
Now, on to everyone's fiber creations!
Don't you love this needle felted Friday by the_doodle_birds? It would make a great pin or even an image on the back of a sweater! LOVE the flowers.
Look how productive echopaitsel was that night? Love the beads. I think everyone's take-away that night was that wet felting is pretty labor intensive!
How sweet is this colorful needle felted number by mrsdow_artroom?
Can you even believe this? It's so beautiful, I think it needs framing. You should be proud, parkesphoto!
So, um, I just might have to track down mmmelllodyyy, raid her closet and steal this sweater. I am IN LOVE!
Last week, visualpraisestudio covered a hat in needle felted birds...and this week, she's covered even more. I love the talent in our craft night group!
There is a definite learning curve when it comes to wet felting. Work to fast, and the fibers felt at different speeds and might result in something unexpected (read: not what you'd hoped for). Working slowly is the best bet. That being said, never ever just throw away your felted creations. They can always be recreated into something far more interesting than you'd ever imagined. I love these earrings by alison.m.klein!
I love that the fam is getting in on the felting action! Check out this sweet cat being needle felted by kmmckinney's daughter.
Artroomblog has taken to needle felting...and entire coat! I know how taxing that is, kudos to you, Lee!
Jtheen is a week ahead of us, she's already started creating needle felted sculptures! How fun is this sweet and colorful bird?
Me being a sucker for bright colors, y'all know I love this dog by mrsdow_artroom! I see an art project based on this one, don't you?
This Bob Ross by the_doodle_birds made me so happy when I saw it. Adorable!
This masterpiece looks like it should be in a gallery. I can see mommaplouff creating a whole series of these beauties, don't you?
Another stunner by parkesphoto. I love the three dimensional look of this piece.
Check out these artist-inspired pieces created by Jan Marie...can you guess the inspo behind each one?
If you didn't believe that we got a lotta work done on Wednesday, Ashley Bruce has done a bang up job breaking it down for you!
Gemma has something so beautiful here. I love the organic nature of her piece.
When jtheen shared this needle felted cat, I was super stoked since it looks so much like my cat Asha. In other news, there is a book called Crafting with Cat Hair that my mama picked up for me. My cat leaves behind a lotta hair...but I don't know how I feel creating with it!
I want this on the back of a super hero cape! Love this, the_doodle_birds!
Everything about these needle felted numbers by mommaplouff make me so happy. All done with a single needle too!
Amandakaiser211 needle felted this adorable French bulldog. I am loving the color choices.
Tell me this isn't the baddest thing you've ever seen? Meganhallenbwck this is the best!
My buddy Earl Delong snapped step by step photos of his street-art inspired design. I know his students are gonna love this!
Check out this busy bee! Sarah Shumaker, you are killin it!
And this by Ms. Schmidt cracked me up! I mean, what else do you do with a wet felted piece besides make it into a crazy hair day portrait? I think students would LOVE this idea!
As you can see, we are having a whole lot of fun on this felting adventure of ours. Thank you so much to all of you who have been joining the fun! Remember, you can still join in anytime. If you'd like me to share your work here, just remember to use #creatingwithcassie. Have fun stabbing stuff!
Need a happy and colorful project for your kiddos that reviews the elements of art, introduces the artist Sandra Silberzweig and allows them to explore the messy and fun medium of chalk? Well have I got a project for you! Here's the lesson video...
Please forgive the quality. I filmed this video at school using my iPad (I normally use my camera) and the iMovie app. I really love filming short clips this way as it's lightning fast! However, when I watched the video back on my laptop, I noticed the quality was not what I had hoped.
I get asked often about making a video for the art room. I created this video last year at about this time when I was just starting to get my feet wet with filming. I use almost all of these techniques still so if you are interested in creating filmed content for your kids, you might find this helpful!
Back to the lesson: I'm doing this project with my second grade kiddos. This will probably be the last project for the year as they still have a couple of their clay projects, hot outta the kiln, to paint. We are going with a Pet Shop theme and my students created these birds:
They have all come out of the kiln so cute! I purchased some florescent paint, feathers, beads and wire for us to embellish them. I noticed on the bottle of paint I purchased that it says it works in black light...so now I'm on the hunt for a black light for the art show. How fun would that be?
All that to say, since we are going with a Pet Shop theme, any final projects created will feature animals or fish! My students are using 12" X 18" paper (I used half that in the video) because I wanted big, bold and colorful art. On the first day, we traced the template and did the glue drawing, all in 30 minutes.
I am going to rethink my black glue recipe for next year. I use tempera paint and Elmer's Glue All...but I think the paint is too thick as the bottles sometimes get clogged. Next year, I'm going to try using India ink as my buddy Ginger uses. That being said, I do kind of like the variety of thick and think lines that the glue produces.
Y'all know I've caught the Black Glue Bug this year. Check out what third grade created:
And fourth grade:
What I love about chalk work is how vibrant it is.
We have a couple more days of work left on these lovelies so I'll keep you posted on what happens next. Until then, enjoy your long weekend!
