Storytellers in Clay Marcella Saoud [email protected] Theme of lesson: Art and Communication Objective: To create a sculpture of a person based on someone that is good at telling stories. Art History Connection: Helen Cordero, Pueblo Indian artist References: Poster, Helen Cordero, Storyteller and Children Book, Helen Cordero and the Storytellers of the Cochiti Pueblo Wooden figure model Supplies: Earth clay, modeling tools, clay mats, slip or water, glazes or acrylic paint Length of lesson: 2 lessons, 50 minutes each. Prior to this lesson students have learned about earth clay and the process of making sculptures in clay. Beginning in Kindergarten, they have made at least one project in earth clay. Beginning in 1st grade, they learn to make figures in playdough and modeling clay so that they have practiced manipulating clay. Prior to this lesson, students learned about body proportions and spent one class period making 5-­‐minute gesture drawings of a model (student in an action pose) Helen Cordero, Storyteller with children, early “Do you know someone who is a good storyteller?” I tell my students 1970s. about my grandpa, who loved to tell stories. He would sit quietly in his chair, while we all visited around him. Then someone would say, “Hey, do you remember that time when…” and he would start telling his version of the story. Everyone would gather around him to listen. He would have us in stitches laughing! We just knew that when he started to tell a story it would be good! Do you know someone like that? (Students may have a story to share. It is often an uncle that’s funny, or a teacher who gets really animated when they read a book, or even a preacher.) Then I ask them to imagine a time with no t.v., no wifi, not even a library of books to read. The storytellers that we know might be our best form of entertainment! Show students the Helen Cordero artwork and analyze the work. What do you see? How do you know the largest figure is a storyteller? How are the listening figures posed? Tell students about the artist. Helen Cordero is a Cochiti Pueblo Indian. She is a Native American artist from New Mexico. (Show them New Mexico on the map) She was born in 1915 and died in 1994. She used clay from her home in New Mexico to make storyteller figures based on her grandfather. She painted her sculptures with a yucca needle and fired them in a kiln pit in her backyard. Today we are going to make a sculpture that tells a story. Think about a storyteller that you know. Make a sculpture of that person. Think about ways you can show who the person is. Will they be reading a book? Playing a guitar? Will they be sitting down? Will there be a kid hanging onto them? Demonstrate creating the storyteller figure. Remind students how to score & slip so that their pieces don’t fall apart. Tips and techniques Have a plan FIRST! You can’t smash it and re-­‐do it over and over like playdough. It is starting to dry just sitting in front of you. If you smash it, it will get harder to work with. If you are not sure what to do, try sketching it out first (I will let them use scrap paper rather than their sketchbook so that they don’t get clay all over their sketchbook.) Don’t make little skinny things that stick way out! “You need to be able to get this thing home without it breaking!” Try to make things that are about as thick as your pinky finger. Hollow out very thick clay! Solid blocks of clay won’t dry evenly and may break in the kiln. Poke a hole through anything thicker than an inch. Rather than making a huge ball of clay, try making a pinch pot. Don’t cover your sculpture with slip! You will make a muddy mess and your sculpture will have a rough texture when it dries. Did you score & slip???? Try gently pulling on your sculpture’s arms and legs. If they come off easily, you didn’t score & slip. If someone gives me theirs and says, “Be careful! The legs are about to fall off.” I tell them, “Then they definitely will fall off when it dries! Go put them on better.” After bisque firing, they can be glazed or painted with acrylics. We chose acrylic because they wanted more control over flesh tones and hair colors. Denilson Hernandez, Storyteller figure with guitar (Uncle), 2015. Earthenware clay, acrylic paint. Fourth grader at Taylor Elementary. Shrdhdha Shrinkanth, Storyteller figure with book, 2015. Earthenware clay, acrylic paint. Fourth grader at Taylor Elementary. Artist: Artwork Title: Medium: Artist Statement: Artist: Artwork Title: Medium: Artist Statement: Artist: Artwork Title: Medium: Artist Statement: Homeroom: Homeroom: Homeroom: Find this rubric on TPT.