View Larger Image Making a patriotic self-portrait in clay is a fun and creative way to celebrate the July 4th holiday that’s enjoyable for kids of all ages.

July 2, 2007

Patriotic Self-Portraits are a Celebration in Red, White and Blue

by Ceramic Arts Daily | Read Comments (0)

This week we celebrate the upcoming Fourth of July holiday by creating a patriotic self-portrait in clay—complete with an American flag. Next, and because nothing goes better with your July 4th picnic than chips and dip, we’ll show you how to make a terrific holder the next time you want to keep your snacks on hand instead of on the floor. Finally, what better way to finish your creation than with a bit of red, white and blue glaze? So, we’ll also show you some of the most popular “patriotic” glaze recipes that appear in the free handbook, “33 Tried and True Glaze Recipes.”

Striking Patriotism: Creating a Self-Portrait in Clay
Working with 50 fourth graders, I explained the lesson. They were to make a self-portrait, in clay, carrying an American flag. I asked the students to create a figure that showed pride and “struck” a pose that modeled an example: head held high, back straight and hand holding a flag raised above my head.

From a lump of clay, I demonstrated one method of shaping a figure. A clay base would be needed to stabilize the standing figure. Clay supports, squeezed from other pieces of clay, were also needed to prop up the figures, and possibly raised arms, while the clay dried. These supports were not connected to the figure or base and were later removed.

Each student received a small flag. They used these while modeling their figures. Some students chose to thrust the flag forward, others held the flag with both hands, close to the body. One student carried the flag over his heart, while another supported a flag in each hand raised above his head.

Both fourth-grade classes met together again for glazing once the pieces were bisqued. I reminded them that these little sculptures represented self-portraits and should be glazed accordingly, with correct hair color and skin tones (the school is multicultural). But for the clothing, I suggested patriotic colors. With small brushes, more than one student rendered an American flag on their clothes.

Presentation of Colors
When the pieces were taken from the glaze kiln, the flags were reinserted into the holes made in the clay. They radiated a sense of pride. The students had transcended their feelings into the clay, making these some of the most remarkable student works I had seen in 25 years of teaching. Each sculpture was like a pill of pride, and like medicine, they seemed to raise the spirits of everyone who saw them.

Project Notes
On projects like this, I don’t teach traditional methods of connecting clay using scoring and slipping. I have found elementary students often turn their projects into a sloppy mess when slip is used. Instead, I make sure the clay I purchase is quite soft. This usually allows good adhesion on parts, although I check each piece when the student finishes it. Toward the end of the class, I place cups of water on the worktables that students may use for connecting dry pieces or smoothing the cracks.

This lesson used Amaco liquid underglazes. The red was from the Velvet series, V-383, Light Red. A clear glaze was brushed over the top of the underglaze and fired to cone 04. The flags were purchased at a store that sells party supplies.

Craig Hinshaw is an elementary art specialist in the Lamphere School district in Madison Heights, Michigan. E-mail comments to Craig at craighinshaw@hotmail.com.

Editor’s note: Excerpts from an article that originally appeared in the January/February 2002 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated were used for this newsletter. The original article was written by Craig Hinshaw. Photo courtesy of Kristin Smith, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.

Coming Wednesday… A Fourth of July celebration wouldn’t be complete without baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and…chips! Next time we’ll take a look at how you can make a terrific chip and dip that combines snacking form and function.