A ceramic program at camp can be an exciting and expanding experience
for campers. Camp is a perfect environment for introducing children to
clay and the thrill of forming, decorating, and firing. However, a successful
ceramic program at camp demands practical proven procedures and expedients
to manage and process a large quantity of small clay objects neatly,
quickly, and safely.
The Program
Camp Louise in western Maryland is a resident summer camp for girls
with a very popular pottery program. The camp hosts about 1,300 children
during eight weeks of summer. About fifty to seventy children per day
attend pottery — and about thirty-six days of the whole summer
schedule include pottery as a daily activity. A typical class will have
ten to fourteen girls — four at electric potter’s wheels
and the remainder creating hand-built pieces — and lasts approximately
fifty minutes. Three persons supervise and instruct — one full-time
potter, a full-time assigned counselor, and a rotation of guest artists
or adult helpers.
Hand-built forms include salt and pepper shakers from pinch pots, coil construction,
and a variety of slab items including conventional plaques, plates, mold, and
free-formed cylinders, and occasionally an imaginative, fanciful, and creative
piece within the guidelines for the class. Instruction at the wheel concentrates
on forming the dome of clay and pulling up the clay wall to form a cylinder.
Some girls elect to form a plate at the wheel.
Practice and experience have demonstrated a need to process and fire
both greenware and glazed bisque objects quickly to clear the limited
storage space and to return the completed object to the camper. The Camp
Louise pottery program strives to be sure that all campers create a piece
to take home — a piece that the child is proud of and the family
keeps as a memory of the camp experience.
A Practical Approach
Camp Louise has developed several practical approaches to streamline
the process. The following various procedures and expedients have evolved
over time to create a ceramic program that is efficient:
1. Standardize raw materials.
Use wet stoneware clay and commercial premixed glazes and underglazes in a
selection of assorted colors. Campers pick their own colors to decorate their
pieces with brushes. A bucket of transparent glaze is available for dipping
mugs and bowls when these will be used with food or beverages. Mugs, plates,
and bowls where the surface is in contact with food or the mouth must be
coated with a food-safe glaze — however, be careful to leave the bottom
or foot free of glaze to avoid bonding the object to the kiln shelf. The
camp uses about 2,450 pounds of clay and about thirty-six pints of assorted
glazes and underglazes during a season.
2. Dry and fire slowly.
Dry all hand-built and wheel-thrown greenware immediately — both glazed
and unglazed — overnight in the kiln, with bottom thermostat set on lowest
heat. Boost temperatures in increments during the second day to complete firings
in less than two days. Camp Louise has four kilns — which permits a rotation
of two kilns at a time. The loss rate for pieces that are quick dried in the
kiln is estimated as one object in 360 items, about seven items for the whole
summer. The loss during bisque firing is mild because the piece breaks in place.
The loss during a glaze firing is explosive and can be attributed to pieces
being too thick and potential thermal shock being too close to the electrical
filaments.
3. Glaze immediately.
Glaze hand-built, wet greenware immediately — bypassing the intermediate
and separate bisque firing. Many campers have only one assigned class so such
projects must be formed, decorated, and completed in one class. Unglazed objects
are bisque fired to Cone 04, and all glaze work is fired to Cone 4. Firing
glazed greenware to completion at Cone 4 frees up some scarce kiln capacity.
Glaze quality of single-fired objects is good.
4. Use bats.
Use masonite bats on electric potter’s wheels, and have the campers pay
particular attention to trimming wet clay while pulling up the pot, cylinder,
bowl, or dish. If this is done properly, there is no need for subsequent trimming
of leather hard objects off the wheel — aside from sanding cutting edges.
A wire can be used to cut the bottom loose from the bat. The wet clay piece
is left on the bat; the bat is removed from the wheel head; and the piece remains
on the masonite bat for quick drying.
5. Accelerate drying.
Accelerate drying of pieces on bats overnight. This allows you to remove the
green pots from the bat the next morning — the pieces can continue
drying on a ware cart. The bats are now ready to be used again for the next
day’s work. You can accelerate drying by putting the bats in the kiln
room to take advantage of the warmth and, if space permits, put bats on the
lids of kilns that are percolating at the lowest heat. If any kiln is empty,
a cone is set to allow firing of the top thermostat at lowest heat. As each
ceramic piece is dry enough to release from the bat, a new bat with a wet
piece is placed on the lid. Pots generally have smooth bottoms. Such pots
are loaded and bisque fired on the second day — meaning a three-day
turn around. Camp Louise has thirty bats in service. Bats shrink slightly
as a consequence of the heat, but you can rehydrate the bat by simply washing
the surface.
6. Incorporate guest artists.
Incorporate a rotation of guest artists into your program. Local artists and
teachers introduce fresh artistic perspective and a personalized portfolio
of mature projects to retain and challenge children’s interests — particularly
the repeaters at camp. This year at Camp Louise guest artists introduced
clay puppets from slab, rattles from pinch pots, fanciful animals with a
combination of slab for the torso and coils for the limbs, and replicas of
flowers and bouquets.
7. Take advantage of free time.
Invite campers to return to the clay studio during their free time to glaze
bisque ware, especially those pieces that were wheel thrown.
8. Determine work flow.
Design the flow of work around work stations — separate stations for
hand-building, glazing, and temporary storage for unglazed and glazed greenware
and glazed bisque objects ready for loading in the kilns. Children can move
their own items on simple wood slats from station to station.
9. Use novel materials.
Campers can use polymer clay for sculpting on the final day of camp sessions
when the projected schedule does not permit conventional firing of ordinary
clay. Polymer clay can be oven fired for a timely return of completed objects
to the children.
10.Improve standard tools.
Use a single, large, and heavy canvas drop cloth to cover each complete hand-form
table top to roll out clay slabs so several campers at the same table do
not have separate small drop clothes shifting and crinkling to distract them
and to rearrange periodically. One drop cloth can be used for red stoneware
on one side and for a beige stoneware on the reverse side.
An Experiment in Process
The ceramic program at Camp Louise continues to be an experiment in
process. Because the campers have less than fifty minutes at the potter’s
wheel to form and pull up clay, the camp is experimenting with both concurrent
demonstration and execution and consecutive demonstration and execution.
Effectiveness of such instruction seems to depend on campers’ ages,
with the concurrent demonstration more effective with younger children.
Additionally, the camp has used stoneware with different levels of grog
for wheel throwing. Clay with more grog retains its shape longer; clay
with less grog has less resistance when pulled. Children with no experience
often massage the clay too long and do not pull up the clay within the
requisite two to three pulls before the clay collapses. For them, clay
with more grog works better.
Camp Louise continues to examine and re-examine its facilities. Hand-building
and glazing are done outdoors in the shade — where the work area
is more than adequate. This outside work area is adjacent to the pottery
building where the potter’s wheels, kilns, and stockpile of clay
and glazes are housed. Fortuitously, the weather cooperated this past
season. In the event of rain, indoor work space is very limited. Because
of this, the camp is expanding the inside work area — renovating
a room as an inclement work area and fabricating shelving to display
completed bisque. This new shelving will free up table space to use for
pieces ready for the kiln.
Another idea under consideration is the training, development, and
encouragement of home grown apprentice artists to lead a pottery program
as counselors. These young artists — high school juniors and seniors
who might be interested in participating in the camp’s CIT program — will
assure the camp of an adequate staff at pottery. With more time spent
at the pottery, proper training, greater responsibility, and love for
clay, these young counselors in training would have the enthusiasm, creativity,
and motivation to lead the pottery program. There is certainly demonstrated
interest and skill in pottery — many of the campers continue to
participate in community and scholastic clay programs as a result of
their introduction to pottery at camp.
Camp Louise — with good planning and organization — offers
a very popular pottery program — a program that encourages creativity
and teaches an intriguing artistic technique. The children leave camp
with an appreciation of the fine arts, a boost in self-confidence and
pride, and a beautiful ceramic piece to take home to their families.
 |
|
 |
A
Pottery Program for Summer Camp
Camp Louise enjoys existing facilities — including sufficient
covered and open air work areas, ventilation, electrical system,
plumbing, and accessibility to living areas and other camp activities.
The camp pottery has evolved — with the help of the author — into
a prototypical academic or professional studio with much the same
mechanical and electrical tools. To maintain and grow a sophisticated
pottery program, a camp needs an experienced potter, ceramic educator,
or an assertive advanced art student in terms of proposing engaging
projects and using these professional tools. The ceramic program
at the Camp Louise facility is designed to inspire creativity and
self-confidence and benefits from a very cooperative and collaborative
senior management. The camp enjoys repeat campers, and it is an
engaging challenge for the pottery staff to provide new and challenging
assignments each year to satisfy the expanding interests and attention
of these children and adolescents.
As resources, there are excellent textbooks on handbuilding
and wheel techniques — along with suitable projects.
Another great resource at the camp is the visiting artist
program. These artists inspire innovation and growth in
both the studio and program.
Equipment, tools, and materials are supplied by a single
retailer/distributor in nearby Baltimore. The camp has
four large electric kilns, four new Brent electric potter’s
wheels, and the requisite pottery tools found in typical
supply catalogs. The camp uses wet packaged local Standard
stoneware clays Cone 4 to 10, wet packaged non-toxic Campbell
stoneware glazes Cone 4 to 6, American Art Clay Company,
Inc. Cone 6 underglazes. Camp Louise makes periodic capital
improvements and is introducing a Scott Creek four-inch
mechanical clay coil extruder into the program this year.
Costs to consider to sustain an existing pottery program
include:
| Salaries for lead potter, assistants,
and counselors |
| Utility costs for water and electricity |
| 2,400 pounds clay — approximately $650 |
| 36 pints glaze — approximately $240 |
| Miscellaneous tools and supplies — approximately
$300 |
| Costs for maintenance and custodial care |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
Originally published in the 2004 May/June
issue of Camping Magazine.
|
