Moving along: sporting clay - making art with clay with a theme of sports and transportation - Brief Article

Arts & Activities, May, 2002 by Peter Hiller

Three-dimensional art work is almost always a smash hit with junior-high school students and, when it involves clay, it's a surefire winner. In this case, the project speaks to what many of them love: outdoor sports.

It was while viewing an art exhibit about surfing that I found the inspiration for this idea. The show featured a wide variety of work by artists who were all drawn to the theme of surfing, and who used a variety of media to express their visions. Combining clay waves with cartoon characters was one artist's interpretation of the wonder of riding waves in the ocean.

No sooner did I propose this idea to my students than they were full of creative thoughts extending the theme. We live near the ocean, so surfing seemed to be a natural subject, but it was clear that my students were interested in other "means of transportation" for their projects as well.

It was inspiring to hear their ideas about other variations on the project. Snowboarding, skiing, skateboarding, dirt biking and body boarding, among others, all came up as ideas for the assignment, much to my delight.

The most challenging part of the project was finding a figure that could go with the terrain. Most students were able to find small toy figures--like fastfood "Kid's Meal" prizes or Lego[R] figures--that could be used without incurring any expense. Of course, they could make their own figures from clay as well, but there was something intriguing about the combination of clay and plastic. The use of both hand made and machine-made components added interest to the project.

The actual creation of these sculptures was accomplished by a rather simple clay-slab technique. Each student needed to plan the forms that their work would require, such as waves, hills, a half-pipe, and so on. After rolling out the clay, they needed to find a means of forming it and then supporting the sculpture while it dried. Next, it was necessary to make the means of transportation--a surfboard, a skateboard, skis--also from clay, in a scale that would match the figure and the terrain.

After glazing, the work was fired, and all the pieces were put together after the clay had cooled. If the figures had not been glued to their means of motion, they could be returned to their place of origin once the projects were taken home. This was convenient for students who had borrowed figures from one another.

This project was an exciting addition to our "Hall Art Gallery" and, immediately, other students were asking when they could make theirs.

Peter Hiller teaches grade 1-8 art at All Saints' Episcopal Day School in Carmel, California, and is a Contributing Editor for Arts & Activities.