The plate as a canvas

Arts & Activities, Feb, 2005 by Toni Chambers

MATERIALS

* Plaster (for plate forms)

* Shallow bowls or plates to mold plaster

* Newspaper

* Masking tape

* Clay

* Clay-working tools

* A variety of glazes and under-glazes

* Digital camera for record keeping (optional)

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* be able to create a three-dimensional plate form from clay.

* study ceramic art history or the formalist principles and elements of art and apply the information in a plate design.

* be able to discuss and evaluate the process and results of their work using appropriate terminology.

* record data about the process and results of the project in a journal along with a photo record.

The evolution of the arts curriculum in the schools has been greatly forwarded by the suggested art standards of the National Art Education Association (NAEA). These recommendations expand the arts by encouraging a discipline-based approach to teaching.

Some art teachers, looking at these recommendations, might feel that their usual classroom approaches are being threatened by the new standards. Rather, they should view the recommendations as a format for including studio work, aesthetics, criticism and art history as part of their current program. This combination, for me, has enriched the total art experience.

I teach ceramics which, at first glance, might appear to be a difficult subject to adapt to the same standards as drawing or painting. Customarily, ceramics has been taught in a purely utilitarian fashion, stressing the skills of pottery construction. I first began with very limited resources of experience, making the usual approach impossible. Lacking wheels, space, or even running water, I looked around for some way to make the program work in my situation.

Eventually I embraced the discipline-based format, stressing art history, criticism and aesthetics, along with the traditional pottery techniques. One such unit that can focus on either history or design, I call "The Plate as a Canvas."

MAKING THE PLATE Making the Plaster Plate Form: To make a plate form, pour plaster into any shallow dish. If the dish is less than 4 inches deep, add a clay wall around the rim of the dish before pouring the plaster. This will create a deeper form and add the needed strength. For easy release, a thin coat of liquid soap or WD-40 can be rubbed on the dish surface.

Making the Plate by Hand: Plates are easily constructed by draping slabs on a plaster plate form. You actually build them upside down. Roll out clay between 1/4- to 1/2-inch sticks on a cloth-covered board, lay a round or square pattern over the clay and cut out the shape with a ceramic needle. Drape the cut slab over the plaster form and press it gently down with a damp sponge. Smooth the edges.

Mark and score a foot ring about halfway between the rim and the center of the plate. Make a coil for the foot and attach it to the scored area. Smooth everything with the sponge and let the whole thing dry to leather hard before removing it from the plaster. Smooth and clean all the front surfaces and then set it upside-down onto a newspaper-covered board to dry. Fire it when dry.

Making the plate by wheel: There are some commercial plate-mold forms that are made with a key to fit a potter's wheel. One merely drops the plaster form over the key and drapes the clay slab over it. The turning of the wheel facilitates cutting the rim and forming the foot.

FINISHING THE PLATE (For the following, students should have a reserve of bisque-fired plates.)

Option 1. Designing the Plate with a Focus on History. Making the historical design (see sidebar).

1. Select a historical period of time, a particular culture or a country to present to the class.

2. After discussion, presentation and demonstration, have students design an appropriate plate pattern. I have students prepare their designs on 15-inch square pieces of sandwich wrapping paper (available at wholesale restaurant suppliers). It is strong, resists moisture and translucent.

3. Have students transfer the designs to their plates and finish them using appropriate materials.

Option 2. Making a Plate with a Focus on Formalist Design. Making a formalist design (see sidebar) using the elements (color, line, shape/form, texture, space, value) and principles (balance, emphasis, proportion, movement, rhythm, repetition and pattern, variety, unity) of art:

1. Select a principle or element of art. Discuss, demonstrate and practice with it.

2. Have students design an appropriate plate face, using the selected principle of element.

3. Transfer the design to the plate and finish it using paints, glazes, under-glazes or stains.

ASSESSING THE WORK It is a valuable experience for students to write in their portfolio about each piece: what they liked or disliked, what were the challenges and what they learned. Most importantly, have them address what they would do differently if they repeated the assignment. I have a digital camera that allows me to take weekly snaps of finished work. Students provide their own disk and print out photos to accompany the journal entries.