Project: Pinch Pots
This week at SJYA I planned on introducing a project that would take one day to complete since i knew i was going to be out of town Wednesday when i would visit next. I brought clay and tools, and showed the guys the pinch pot method that i had first shown a group during one of my first visits. This group was new and had not yet done this method of creating with clay and found it to be fun. Once i demoed the task they were all exited saying they wanted big cups and bowls so they could drink and eat cereal from. One of the guys who was enthusiastic about making a cup also wanted to make a bowl with a lid. I helped him with thinking about how to make all the pieces which he would reply "can you do it for me?" with me answering "nah you can do it, i believe in you" and pushing them to create it on there own so they could have a better understanding of how to build with clay. One guy built a cup then smashed it back down and proceeded to make a pipe "for tobacco".. which i assured him jokingly it was not going to be fired and would pry go missing once it left the building. He kept making a pipe and telling me that i needed to keep it and fire it and bring it back. One guy was really interested in working with clay and told me he had done pinch pots in school before, and was fun to him. He didn't need my help the whole time, other than reminding him about scoring and slipping contesting pieces, even though he knew how to do that pretty much. His bowl turned about really well and very smooth as he was observant of his craftsmanship and continued to make it look really finished. Another guy told me he was leaving in a week and that we would not see him again, he said he was going to be a rapper once he got out and that he was going to make it. For some reason this student stood out to me than a lot of the rest. Not only was he really good at rapping, which he showed us during our meeting time, but he seemed to have determination and some sort of insight or focus of his future. I tried to leave him with encoring words and the idea of pursuing his dreams and making right decisions which he assured me he would. I ended the class with giving Oreos to the two students who drew images last week and did a random raffle for the last pack of Oreos between three guys. They thanked me for the snack and class was over.
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