from Birdbaths to Bowls - Brief Article

Arts & Activities, May, 2001 by George J. Reitbauer

After inheriting a new classroom and curriculum, I found myself with the challenge of incorporating a huge surplus of supplies into a new class structure. Faced with what looked like a ton of plaster-impregnated gauze, I decided to incorporate personal sculptural techniques into a class project.

I had previously rescued an old ceramic birdbath from a scrap pile headed for the local landfill. I liked the negative space in the birdbath, and had been using it to drape clay slabs for large ceramic plates in my personal work. I decided to develop a project around these inherited and found materials.

Students were grouped together in teams of two. Each pair would create a strong yet lightweight, primitive-looking bowl. The bowls would then be decorated individually with researched cultural motifs.

Each team began by cutting a stockpile of approximately 300 one-inch strips from the rolls of plaster-impregnated gauze. They used old scissors, cutting the strips over newspaper drop cloths. Students learn that bigger pieces save construction time, but control and smoothness of the curves and edges are lost when large pieces are used. The material can also be torn, but it creates lots of dust. The cut strips are piled and placed into plastic bags.

Next, pairs of students drape a plastic-covered bowl with gauze strips. The process is similar to using papiermache over a form, but the results are much stronger. The plastic covering acts as a release layer between the plaster and the container. We avoided pressing the gauze onto the backsides of the containers in order to prevent locking the bowl inside the draped plaster.

The three-coat process becomes a team effort as students communicate with each other, discussing every detail. This process of dipping and draping is repeated using the remaining stock of strips. Soon the rough form of a bowl has been created.

Once the bowl is dry, the draped form is removed from the birdbath. Students clean and strengthen the edge of their plaster bowls. They trim off any hanging gauze and then wet the dry pot with a squirt bottle.

To achieve a thicker look, we turn the bowls over and add more strips to the back. The sprayed water helps the new plaster stick to dried plaster.

The plaster needs a seal primer coat before final decoration. We use any latex wall paint we can find, mix it together in pleasing personalized colors and coat both sides of the bowl. Students bring in old hair dryers, which speed the drying process so that both sides can be primed during one class period.

The bowls are now ready for decoration. At this point, students begin to treat the bowl as a canvas, using acrylics to express a cultural motif. I discuss primitive cultural imagery and reasons for decorating the container. This is also a good time to discuss the concepts of theme and variation including variety, unity and counter-motif, as well as decorative painting techniques. Any primitive or advanced culture from the past may be used as the theme.

Because the finished bowls have a large "footprint," they need wall hangers for display (see illustration below). Using heavy gauge wire and pliers, students bend two wire shapes--similar to capital W's with curved tops. These wires wrap around the back edge of the bowl from the top to the bottom. Two thick rubber bands commandeered from the high school office hold the hangers together.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The bowls are displayed in our school lobby. Students are quite proud of the finished bowls. I've heard many comments from teachers and even the occasional administrator, but it is always neat to hear new students ask, "When do we get to make those bowls?"

SUPPLIES

* Newspaper (to cover the table)

* Large open-shaped birdbath (far draping)

* Garbage bags (to separate the plaster from the bowl)

* Plaster craft material (to drape into container

* Plastic container (to dip wet gauze)

* Acrylic paints and brushes (to paint bowl)

* Latex wall paint leftovers (to prime bowl)

* Heavy gauge wire (to make hangers) Pliers (to bend wire)

* Rubber bands (to connect hangers)

George Reitbauer teaches art at Annville-Cleona High School in Annville, Pennsylvania.