Fifth Grade Clay Masks

Fifth grade has just finished up a lesson inspired by masks created by Georgia artist Kimmy Cantrell. Students were required to create an asymmetrical mask using both additive and subtractive sculpture techniques. In order to correctly add features, students also had to score, slip, and blend the added pieces properly. You can always tell when they don't do this correctly, because you'll find spare pieces in the kiln after a firing!

After the masks were fired, the students colored them with crayons and painted them with watered-down India ink, and then removed the excess ink with a paper towel to get this effect (thanks Kim for the tip!). We added nails and wire as an added interesting touch, but unfortunately, the wire ended up being too thin and disintegrated during the firing. The kids really enjoy adding a nails in such a way that turns their artwork into a weapon, so you always have to be on the lookout for that!