Harry S Truman High School

Crafts Design students WORK hard.  Designing a useful object is an incredible process.  The many steps of brainstorming, planning, making patterns and finally production and then perhaps decoration can sure pay off.  Patience, planning and and a willingness to learn and risk something new. 

 

The 2010 Fall Craft Design students completed books which are on display in the Truman Library - where else? !

The latest achievements are wall mirror frames done

in the ART DECO style.  

 

 

 

     

 

2009 fall designs included crewel pillows.

     

 

And clay vessels.  ....

Here you see the kiln loaded and ready for firing.

What do you know about clay?

 

It's mostly made of pulverized rock.

Clay shrinks about 10% from its original size when being built to its final size after firing.

The kiln (sometimes pronounced kil), can get up to over 2000 degrees in temperature.  Our clay fires at about 1800 degrees.

The first time greenware (that's dry clay) is fired, it comes out hard and less fragile as bisqueware, ready for glazing.

It's the sand or silica in glaze that gives is that beautiful glassy shine.  The high heat melts the sand into glass.  Perhaps you saw the movie Sweet Home Alabama where metal rods were placed in sand, and when lightning hit them, the high temperature created beautiful glass sculptures at the base of the metal rods.  That's the same process happening out in nature.

Here are the results: Photos to Come soon.