Snowdrifts and a cat.

Sunday morning we drove to Weyburn Saskatchewan, about 8 hours from here, to visit Jim’s Mom in the hospital. I have always lived in the north, but it has been a long time since I have seen snowdrifts like we saw in southern Saskatchewan.  There has been record snow falls for the region and it shows. We were driving beside snow drifts that were in some places 6 to 8 feet deep. I am not sure how they found the road to clear it.  They ploughed out the side roads and again, how would you know where to go when it is all one big snow bank?  I saw a truck in a field and all you could see was the roof and a few inches of windows. Some drifts were as tall as the roofs on the farm houses.  

We got there in time to help Mom move out of the hospital into a yet smaller room in a senior’s home more equipped to look after her.  There was only space for items that were very important to her as the room she was moving into was very small. We took a larger shelving unit for all of the family pictures, her lift chair, bedside table, a few things for on top, her clothes and a few incidentals. . We also took her shelf made from apple crate boxes.  Years ago before cardboard boxes, fruit came in wooden crates and many people, including my parents, used them as shelves, either stacked or nailed to the wall. When she got married her apple box shelf unit was their first piece of furniture. Two apple boxes stacked one on top of the other.  She has had those shelves for over 60 years. The last thing of importance we took was a clay cat her youngest son made in school.  

The cat is great little door stop cat.  He did a good job, but as far as I know, it is the only thing he made in school out of clay.  It is sad that even back then, clay was not that readily available for students to work and play with.  That is why we, The Clay Teacher, are trying to get clay back into the class room  and back into the hands of children, so one piece does not have to be that important.  If Ed had made a number of cats, his mom could have had lots to choose from to carry around with her for years, and Ed, after all those cats, would make one kick butt cat.  I didn't think to take a picture of the cat, but since it has been around for the last 40 years, I am sure I will see it again and have a second chance to take its picture. How many clay treasures are out there? How many kids during their school years only get to make one or two things out of clay that are now a family keepsake? When we say Every Day is Clay Day, just think how great that would be!

Cindy Clarke
The Clay Teacher

funclayprojects.com
http://everydayisclayday.com/

Spring Break...

Thursday at Neil M Ross was their last day of school before Spring Break. We were mask building with the Grade 5’s.  WOW what a lot of energy.  The kids were soooo excited about the workshop, Easter, time off and the last class of the last day.  It was fun, busy and noisy but fun. They did some great work.  We have worked with them before in other grades and we will work with them again in about a month. The teachers there make us feel so welcome and the kids make us feel like rock stars. We got hugs and high fives. Sometimes I think we have the best job going. We play with the kids, make friends with the teachers, we help the kids do some really cool stuff and have a blast doing it, and at the end of the day, we get paid to play.

                                                     

                   

Friday we were at Bissett School, their last day and we made Mughs. The same energy, the same great welcome except for the rock star status because these kids had not had us before, the same energy for all but one boy that didn’t want the time off.  He said he would rather be at school than just hang around the house. Being busy at school is fun and doing nothing at home is not. He was a great kid, I am sure he still is, he seemed older than his years and I would expect him to go far. We go back to Bissett after Spring Break with another Grade 6 class.

                                                                                                       

I spent today in the studio getting samples ready for Folk Fest.  Every year we like to be vendor at Edmonton Folk Festival http://www.edmontonfolkfest.org/.  We have been vendors there for the past maybe 5 but 4 for sure, years. They go by so quickly and it is so easy for me to lose track. The vendors are juried every year and just because you were there last year does not guarantee you will be there again. I like to make some fun and funky pieces as well as all the usual production pottery suspects. As much as I enjoy being Mrs. Clay, I also enjoy time alone in the studio with my radio friend CBC and create. Here is a little of what I have been working on.

                                                                                                       

              

Tomorrow we are off to Weyburn Saskatchewan to help Jim’s Mom move from the hospital to her new room. She has been having some health issues and we will help her move. I don’t think she will be able to move on Monday, but we will make sure all her stuff is in place when she is ready. When we get back we have to get the income tax done.  That is one job I don’t enjoy very much. We will get the pots ready for Folk Fest, we have some workshops and workshop work to get fired, the basement to be organized, kits to build…… maybe we should find the boy who said is bored during Spring Break and put him to work?? 

Those who are on Spring Break, I hope you have a great holiday, relax, stay busy and have fun!

Cheers,

Cindy Clarke

The Clay Teacher  
 http://funclayprojects.com/
 http://everydayisclayday.com/                                                                            

How do I get people to read what I have to say???

Today we went to Evansview.  It is a small rural school about 100 K west of here.  We are doing the entire school body, K through 6 over two days.  It’s the third year in a row we have gone  to work with all the students and every year we have done the Air Dry Method.  There are still a lot of people that think decorative pieces need to be fired.  I was talking to a group of kids before the workshops started. They all remembered us from last year. I asked them if they still had the things they made last year, they all did but one boy. When I asked him what happened to his camel, he told me it broke.  After a bit of conversation, he told me it broke when his dad moved the TV and it fell on the floor.  That is not a problem of Air Dry or fired, either way clay won’t bounce worth a darn.

I sent out my March News Letter this morning before we went out of town. I am not sure how to get people to read News Letters, emails or blogs for that matter. My letters, on a good day,will have about 15 to 20% open rate. I try to make them interesting with pictures of new projects, painting tips,  new products available and what we are up to. Like when we went to Toronto to The Canadian Toy and Hobby Fair to introduce our Craft Kits and got found an agent to promote them. Today I had pictures of six new projects just in time for Mother's and Father's day and I reminded teachers of the Teacher Pack class kits we introduced at the conventions. At convention they were very interested so I thought they would like to be reminded, however, they have to read the email. I think the people that have The Clay Teacher come and visit them would benefit from the News Letter. I know everyone is busy, but I do wish they would read them. Here are the new projects from the News Letter. 

 

 

 

Here is the Teacher's Pack. It is a kit that the teacher can have a workshop in their class anytime they like. The kit has everything they need to make the projects along with fun, step by step instruction how to.


Now we are moving into streaming http://everydayisclayday.com/. With streaming you can have a  a Clay Day where ever and when ever you like. We are doing our best to make every day Clay Day!

If you would like to on my mailing list, just let me know, cindyclarke@theclayteacher.com

Cheers,
Cindy Clarke
The Clay Teacher

Work by the students of Sterling North Edmonton Campus

It was a windy, snowy cold day here in Edmonton. A good day to be in the basement where we couldn't see the day and take some pictures. Here are the pictures of the work the students did Sterling North Campus I mentioned last week. The Grades are 3 through 12 and they all started with the same sized pinch pot and went from there. The beaver on the right was made by a Grade 3 boy who didn't know it was an advanced project.  They all did some very cool work.

                         

 

     

Cheers,

Cindy Clarke

The Clay Teacher

The same.... but different.....

Yesterday we were at a rural school and worked with the entire student body, Grade 3 through 12, all 17 of them. It was a wonderful day. We were there last year and again this year with basically the same workshop….. do what you like.  It is both fun and challenging to direct 17 people in 17 different directions all at the same time.  We all started with a pinch pot and went from there. I will have pictures Friday or Saturday to show you just how well they did. We are firing their work and the projects are in the basement drying.  There was a boy in Grade 3 that made a beaver using a method we usually only teach to student Grade 7 and up.  We didn’t tell him it was an advanced project, and he did just fine. It is a private, religious school and the children lead sheltered lives, but what a great bunch of kids.  Nice, polite, fun to joke with, they worked very hard and did great work. We don’t make a lot of money doing one workshop a day for 17 students, but what we don’t make in profit, we make up for in the sharing our art with the kids.  It feels like we really give them something, they really enjoy it.  

Today was a great day as well, but with a much different energy. The morning started the same as most, two workshops of 20 students back to back. They were Grade 1 and we made The Madonna and Child for Mother’s Day.  We didn’t get any pictures, it was busy and sometimes we just don’t. When we do Air Dry, if the workshops are busy and pictures are not taken, the projects stay at the school and the opportunity is lost.  The afternoon however, was a little different than most. We did two Grade 2’s at the same time, forty very excited children in one classroom all making Light Houses. Again, they were a great bunch of kids but with a very different energy than yesterday afternoon with 17 quiet older and self directed students from the private school. These guys today were a little on the wild side, but in a great play with the clay kinda way. It was very flattering. We worked with them last year and made same Madonna and Child and they all remembered us and many remembered our names, Mr. and Mrs. Clay.  Some remembered our silly jokes and rhymes we use to teach the lesson. These kids saw us for 90 minutes a year ago and they knew us, we got hugs and smiles it was great.  How many things in the past year have they been told and forgotten?  Sometimes, either a large class or small, we feel like we are making a difference, these kids really had a blast with the clay. We didn’t get pictures of the Light Houses either because they were Air Dry as well and with about 50 people in the classroom all working and talking at once, it was a little intense.

Tomorrow, two classes of picture frames for Mother’s Day. Again….. pictures to follow on the weekend.

Cheers,

Cindy Clarke

The Clay Teacher

On line video streaming for schools.....maybe??

The Clay Teacher is branching out of the classroom and into video. We have put some of our workshops on DVD in workshop format and sell them in a kit, www.funclayprojects.com. These kits are for home use and anyone with the kit can make two complete sculptures. All our workshop kits use the Air Dry Method of finishing. We want to continue making the videos and include in our product line a complete data base with all our workshops and much more information for students K – 12 all available through on line streaming. I think it would be wonderful for teachers and students to have access to clay workshops and all the information about using clay they want anytime they like. We have decades of experience working with clay www.outofthefirestudio.com and years of experience presenting workshops as The Clay Teacher so I thought that the school districts would jump on the chance to have clay workshops available for their students for pennies a workshop, however, I was wrong.

As The Clay Teacher we go into the schools and work the students and charge $7.50 per student for a one time Air Dry clay experience. If the same school had access to our videos and could stream the content, that same workshop would cost that same students pennies and they could have the workshop as often as they like. When I approached some school districts today over the phone, they did not see it that way. Most said they had our type of in school field trip and/or the Artist in Residency Programs and it would not be necessary. Schools, with the help of grants from the provincial government, pay artists for a residency thousands of dollars for a one or two week program. The last number I heard in passing was $7,000 for a 2 week workshop. For a school of 200 students that would be $35 per student for a once a year program. A streaming licence would sell to a school of 200 students for $200. If the same school streamed the program, picking and choosing from a large selection of information, that same exploration in clay would be cost $1.00 per student, not for two weeks, but a whole year of play.

I spent most of the afternoon talking the people in purchasing for a number of school districts and got basically the same response. They did not see the value in online streaming when there is the Artist in Residency and in school field trips. I simply don’t understand how, with all the cuts in education, they don’t see some value to on line streaming, getting the information for pennies instead of big bucks and putting clay back in the class room on a daily basis. I had one woman say flat out “Oh I would never buy that”, as if I was promoting dead spiders or something. I bet the students in that district would like her to buy that.

We have always wanted to make every day Clay Day.  We started making these videos with that in mind but I had no idea how hard it would be to sell the idea to others.  I wish they could see the faces of the students who do get to play in the clay and how much the process of creating three dimensional art fills them.  Not only does it help with the fine motor skills, it touches and nurtures the artist that is in everyone.  Almost everyone has an artist hiding inside that is wanting and waiting to be free. Everyone, with the exception of the lady that said she would never buy it.  I am not sure what happened to her inner artist, perhaps if she got to play more in the clay as a child she would not have let it go.

Until next time.

Cindy

The Clay Teacher