Draft

Instructor: Daykin

Written Instructor: Daykin

Written Communications                                             Christine Bowser

Process Analysis Final Draft                                 
11/5/13


                                                                                                         






                                   How To Make A Clay Wrapped Vase

When you are doing an art project there are quite a few steps involved in the process.  Making this vase is a perfect example of talent and my clients ability to show how determined they are to present themselves not their disability.  I often try to come up with elaborate looking projects that you think that you might not be able to make.  I pick these kinds of projects because it can be a confidence builder for people who think that they aren't able to do anything complicated.  The materials that you need for this project is a clear glass vase, acrylic paint, sculpey clay, and glaze.  When it is time for class I set a vase in front of every participant in the group.  Today I am working with Ann, Stacey, and Malcolm.  I talk to the group about what we are going to be doing and explain to them step by step the process we will be taking to finish our activity.  My group is full of chatter and excitement, bursting with energy to get started.

           They go over to the shelves where we keep our splattered paint shirts and they put them on.  We walk down the hall to the multi-colored, stained sink and  scrub the vase's down so they are  clean. They pat them gently dry with paper towels to finish-- being careful not to drop the fragile vases.   When  we are done with that we take them back to the art room.  The first step is finished, and now we are ready to move onto the next.

The second step is to paint your vase any certain color that you want.  For this we will paint them black so they add extra contrast against the vibrant colored clay.   Ann, goes over to the paint cupboard and gets out the black and silver paints.  While she is doing that, Malcolm gets out the paint brushes and paint palates.  Stacey and I, in the mean time, are  setting wax paper on the table in front of each persons spot.    Ann and Malcolm are able to paint independently, but Stacey will need hand-over-hand assistance.  I keep an eye on the other two of my group while I get Stacey ready to paint.  I placed a special grip with a Velcro strap on the paintbrush to make it easier for her to hold.  I gently place my hand over hers and guide it to the paint tray to dip it in the paint.  We go back and forth from paint tray to vase until it is fully covered like a black sky.    

After the paint is dry we streak them with a bit of metallic silver paint to give them a little more dimension.  While we are waiting for the black and silver paint to dry, I went and got the clay out of the cupboard.   After the paint is dry, we put on a thin coat of glaze so the paint will set and it won't flake off.  Ann and Malcolm take our three vases over to the drying shelf arguing with good humor over whose vase looks better.   I gently remind them that everyone's project looks great and no one's is better or worse.  

The third step we do while we are waiting for the glaze to dry.  We take out our Sculpey clay that is a rainbow of colors.  We all work the clay in our hands till it is warm and soft.  Ann and Malcolm start working independently cutting out circles, triangles, squares, and swirly shapes.  Stacey and I use the special grip again with a clay tool this time and cut out our shapes together.    Once we have all the shapes ready we are ready for the fourth step of our project.   I let Anne and Malcolm place their shapes of clay anywhere and anyhow they would like all over their vase.  I place Stacey's shapes onto her vase and she helps me pat them on so that they will not fall off.   There is no rhyme or reason to this step the only thing I try to tell them is not to put the same colors next to each other.  After that I just let their intuitive and creative nature take over, I want them to feel in charge of their masterpiece.

      Then we come to the last few steps of our project, Stacey and I place all three projects on a cookie sheet.  Ann carries the cookie sheet and we walk to the cafeteria so that we can bake them. I then showed Malcolm how to turn the oven knob to 275 degrees. He then took the cookie sheet from Ann and placed them in the oven.  I show Ann how to set the time by taking her finger, hitting the timer button and then moving her hand over to the numbers, enter fifteen minutes.  We sit around a cafeteria table talking about our current project and what projects we might like to do in the future after this one is done.

After the vase is baked and cooled it is time for the very final step of our project.  We go back to the art room and sit around the table in the same spots that we were in before.  Ann and Malcolm take their brushes and put a thin coat of glaze over the smooth and bumpy parts of their vase.  Stacey and I again work together for this final step my hand lightly guiding her hand over her patterns of clay.  This glaze takes about fifteen minutes to dry; then the masterpiece is complete.  All three of my participants are beaming and talking about whom they want to show their project to and whom they want to give it to as a gift.  Another project finished, confidences boosted, and lessons learned, this was another great class of any normal day.