Luminaria

Arts & Activities, Dec, 2004 by Sandi Pippin

A fun and challenging clay activity is making a "luminaria." A luminaria is a container that holds a candle. When the candle is lit, it will glow through the openings in the clay.

My eighth-grade students were given the assignment of creating a luminaria. These students had previous experiences: using clay and all three methods, of clay construction. We began by demonstrating the pinch, coil and slab methods of construction. Any of the construction methods, or combinations thereof, could be used to solve the creative problem.

The students needed to know the height and width of their candle beforehand and plan to make their clay construction a little larger in order to hold the candle. This would take into account the fact that the clay would shrink upon drying and firing.

Many of the students started with the slab method. They wrapped a piece of PVC pipe (3-inch diameter and 12-inch height) with newspaper, so the clay would not slick to the PVC pipe. Then they rolled out a slab about 5/8-inch thick. They checked to see if the slab would easily wrap around the pipe and then used a straight edge to cut out an appropriate-sized rectangle from the clay.

They wrapped the clay rectangle around the newspaper-covered PVC pipe and attached the edges together--creating a cylinder--by scoring and applying slip to both sides, then used a ruler to gently flatten the seam. The clay/PVC pipe was covered with a zipper-type plastic bag overnight so that it would not dry entirely. About 1 inch of the bag was left open for the clay to become leather hard.

As it began to dry to a leather-hard consistency, the clay could be removed from the pipe and the newspaper. Additions could then be made to the main structure. If the clay was allowed to dry completely on the pipe, the clay could not be removed from it.

Some of the students began to cut negative areas out of their clay cylinders, using bamboo skewer sticks and plastic knives for this purpose. Some students rolled clay coils and attached them to their clay cylinder with the score and slip method. Others rolled slabs and cut positive forms out of the slab to attach to their clay cylinder. Again, the forms were attached with the score-and-slip method.

The problem of creating the luminaria also involved creating one that was safe. It was important for the candle to sit on a level surface and not turn over when it was lit. Students could create a dish for the candle to sit on with the slab method. Candles need oxygen in order to stay lit, so many negative areas needed to be cut to keep the air flowing. Another option would be to create a lid that could be removed when the candle was lit.

Rough edges were smoothed out with small pieces of green ScotchBrite[TM] scour pads (this material can also be found on the bottom of utility or kitchen sponges). This is done very carefully, while the clay is in the greenware state.

Once fired in the kiln, the students had a chance In glaze their luminarias. Some students encountered construction problems along the way and were encouraged to creatively solve the problems and follow the project through to completion.

Everyone was successful and, like their luminaria, the students glowed with pride.

MATERIALS

* Clay

* Canvas cloth

* Newspaper

* Masking tape

* Rolling pin

* PVC pipe or other similar tubing

* Scotch brite green scour pads

* Slip

* Glazes

* Bamboo skewer sticks or plastic knives

* Gallon-size zipper-lock plastic baggies

* Ruler

* Kiln

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* design and create a style of candle holder known as a "luminaria."

* use different methods of clay construction to create the luminairia.

* understand that greenware is extremely fragile.

* learn how to glaze bisque-ware.

VOCABULARY

* Bisque

* Coil

* Fire

* Glaze

* Greenware

* Kiln

* Leather hard

* Luminairia

* Pinch

* Score

* Slab

* Slip

Sandi Pippin teaches art at Truitt Middle School in Houston, Texas.