Use form and decoration to create a hand-built plate using clay techniques incorporating relief and carving to tell a story.

1. Paper and pencil for sketches
2. Clay
3. Clay tools
4. Paper Plates
5. Plastic bags
6. Glaze

Need these materials? Visit Blick!

Assignment Process:
1. Sketch and conceptualize a theme/story for your plate**. It should be detailed and well thought out. Research your subject matter, think about how you will incorporate texture and relief. Sketches should be shown to the teacher before you are able to get clay.

2. Roll out a rectangular slab of clay. Your slab should be thick so you can carve into it, at least the thickness of your pinky finger or ¾”.

3. While the slab is flat, use a paper plate to trace the shape of a circle. Use a knife or needle tool to cut out the circle. Then, place the circle in the plate to form a gentle curve. This will also help support the clay as you work.

4. Using the clay tools to carve and add texture, carve your designs into the plate.

5. Where there are areas of relief, use Score, Slip & Secure to attach any clay.

6. To be sure that the clay does not become too hard throughout the carving process, wrap your plate in damp paper towels and plastic bags.

7. Once the front is complete, remove the paper plate. Use a damp sponge to gently smooth and clean the back.

8. Carve your name and block into the back.

9. Once the piece is done, let it harden to become Greenware. When it’s ready it will be fired in the kiln where it will now become Bisqueware.

10. Apply glaze to the front of the plate only. It will be fired again and becomes Glazeware.

11. You will be graded separately on the sculpting and the glazing. A separate glazing rubric will be provided

**Suggested themes are: Fairy tales, movies, a dream you had, your personal life journey

Students will be assessed based on the attached rubrics.

Prior to creating this project, we will have a "Clay Play Day". This is where students will all get some clay to "play" with and we will review and talk about how to use and create with clay. We will go over the rules of clay, attaching techniques (Score, slip & Secure) and how to used the tools.

[9-12 Proficient] Students conceive and create works of visual art that demonstrate an understanding of how the communication of their ideas relates to the media, techniques, and processes they use

[9-12 Proficient] Students apply media, techniques, and processes with sufficient skill, confidence, and sensitivity that their intentions are carried out in their artworks

[9-12 Advanced] Students initiate, define, and solve challenging visual arts problems independently using intellectual skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation

[9-12 Advanced] Students communicate ideas regularly at a high level of effectiveness in at least one visual arts medium

[9-12 Proficient] Students evaluate the effectiveness of artworks in terms of organizational structures and functions

[9-12 Proficient] Students demonstrate the ability to form and defend judgments about the characteristics and structures to accomplish commercial, personal, communal, or other purposes of art

[9-12 Proficient] Students create artworks that use organizational principles and functions to solve specific visual arts problems

[9-12 Advanced] Students create multiple solutions to specific visual arts problems that demonstrate competence in producing effective relationships between structural choices and artistic functions

[9-12 Proficient] Students reflect on how artworks differ visually, spatially, temporally, and functionally, and describe how these are related to history and culture

[9-12 Proficient] Students apply subjects, symbols, and ideas in their artworks and use the skills gained to solve problems in daily life

[9-12 Advanced] Students describe the origins of specific images and ideas and explain why they are of value in their artwork and in the work of others

[9-12 Proficient] Students describe meanings of artworks by analyzing how specific works are created and how they relate to historical and cultural contexts

Narrative Plate.pdf
GlazingRubric.pdf