Eighth Graders Create Beautiful Ceramic Tiles in Art Class

A boat on the water, a red panda in a tree, the Manhattan skyline, bunkbeds at sleepaway camp…those are some of the subjects that Briarcliff Middle School eighth-graders have chosen to depict in their new ceramic tile projects with art teacher Jessica Dubin.

“Each grade level at the school typically does one clay project in art class each year and for the eighth-graders, creating a tile that is about something that is special to them, or relates to their interests, makes a nice memento,” Ms. Dubin said.

Students began the project by learning about ceramic tiles and viewing examples. They designed their own tiles by first completing a chart to help come up with ideas.

To complete the chart, students had to answer the following: “If I were a ____ I would be…”

“The lesson combined creativity and critical thinking while allowing students an opportunity to express themselves,” Ms. Dubin said.

Students had to come up with five objects: a landmark building or structure, an animal, any shape or object, a design element or principal, or something in nature.

For each of those five items, they wrote what the symbol is, sketched an image of it, and also explained in words how this symbolizes themselves.

Next, they had to plan two versions of the project. In each version they combined three or four ideas from the chart.

Once they had the design, they began working with clay, creating relief, which is building layers with slabs of clay.

“We use a slip and score to attach pieces of clay together,” Ms. Dubin said. “Slip is made by mixing clay with water. It becomes a sort of glue for two or more roughened pieces to join.”

Bradley was depicting a scene from his sleepaway camp. He carved out little squares from his clay slab.

“I’m making bunkbeds,” he said. “It’s my last year of sleepaway camp.”

Kristie was making a tile featuring red panda on a tree.

“It’s my favorite animal,” she said, as she added a branch to the tree.