Following journaling, the recommended art of the week is ceramics! This form of art has been appreciated for milenia and has now taken on many forms. This is also a practical art that can make plateware or useful containers. So here’s how you can start at home or here on campus!
The professional way of ceramics requires a kiln, which is like an oven for ceramics to make sure it hardens slowly enough to prevent cracking or breaking. But since I’m assuming most don’t own a kiln at home, you may think you can’t do ceramics now. But there are other ways that you can do in your own bedroom! One way is air dry clay. This alternative resource is similar to typical clay, but instead of needing a kiln to dry it, all you need is a hair dryer or some time. Then, if you want to color your pieces, you can get glaze like professional ceramicists use, or just regular paint will also do the job. So you don’t need a full studio in your garage with a kiln and hand wheel to try ceramics, just a quick run to Target and you’ll be set.
With ceramics you can make nearly anything. You can turn it into a business with jewelry or small trinkets. Or you can make useful stuff for around the house, like bowls or organizers. In our Enochs Advanced Ceramics class they even make life size animals! This is all to say that anything you may need or want to make, you can do with practice and patience! So you can even use ceramics to save yourself money, because instead of buying that $10 jar at Home Goods, you can now make it yourself at home!
As I mentioned before, our school even has a ceramics class. This is a great elective to take for your VPA credits, as well as to learn a very interesting artform. In this class you get hands-on ceramics experience, as well as learning all the important vocabulary. You’ll learn the difference between bisqueware and greenware, and that scoring isn’t just in sports! This is a wonderful opportunity for anyone interested in ceramics as an art, and once you take the beginners class you can continue on to the advanced level in future years.
A very hands on and beautiful art, ceramics is definitely worth the try. So whether it’s finding lessons somewhere, buying some air dry clay, or signing up for our own ceramics class here on campus, I highly recommend getting your hands on some clay and seeing what you can make!
