Clay

Students in Hoover High School's ceramics class use their skills to make decorative items.Henri Marukyan built a clay replica of one of the Twin Towers and carved out the excess clay from the "crashing" airplane protruding from the side of building. "I wanted to make something in remembrance of 9/11," the 16-year-old said. Henri's clay sculpture is actually a container with a removable lid that may be used for storing small items. Students in beginning ceramics class at Hoover High School constructed functional and decorative containers out of clay for their class assignment.

Chatter filled the air in a Hoover High School ceramics class as students sculpted on potter’s wheels and moved between workstations Thursday. The atmosphere was busy and productive but simultaneously calming, junior Katherine Brouwer said. “It’s my most relaxing class of the day,” she said. “When you’re pounding the clay, it gets the stress out.” Thursday’s beginner class was making clay boxes that had to incorporate a natural theme, a task that some students had excelled at, one crafting a multilayered bonsai tree onto the lid of his box and another using a lizard-shaped form, as if one had crawled onto the lid. “It helps the students to think spatially, as opposed to working on a [two-dimensional]

A nude model sat in classic repose, surrounded by seven student sculptors Wednesday in a studio at Brand Park. On pedestals in front of each student were pieces of clay in various forms of completion all looking much like the model who did an amazing job of holding still. The students were taking a sculpting class from Laguna Beach School of Art scholar John Alcantara as part of a series offered through the city of Glendale's Recreation, Parks and Community Services Department.

By the time the Roger Barkley Community Center is done with them, students in its Fun with Clay class will be miniature sculptors, having made pots, small sculptures and picture frames. The 3- to 5-year-old students got their first taste of the art Tuesday during the first class, learning basic techniques and working with a small piece of clay. During the six-week course, students will learn techniques like pinching -- molding clay between two fingers -- and the slab method, in which a block of way is sculpted with a chisel.

What started as a clay lesson turned into the large statue of the eagle now resting in front of the auditorium at Valley View Elementary School in La Crescenta. Made entirely of clay secured to the frame, the eagle was presented to the school as a gift by the sixth-grade class of 2002. The students spent all year working on the statue, each making one of the clay tiles placed on the base. The tiles are personalized with poetry, messages and drawings written by each of the students.

Students at Crescenta Valley High School use clay, wire, wood and even pantyhose to build sculptures.Little clay pigs sat on the wings of student Aaron Lee's sculpture of an airplane. Aaron sculpted his airplane using polymer clay and put the finishes touches on his project by making a stand. The 17-year-old senior got the idea for the sculpture by listening to Pink Floyd's song "Pigs on the Wing." "Every time I hear the song, I get this image," Aaron said. "I feel like I can translate it into a sculpture."

Judy Seckler Glendale High School ceramics teacher Christine Rose is getting her wish "to make sure there's clay everywhere at the school." A dedication was held Thursday in the visual and performing arts quad for a clay tile mural created by Rose's 25students, part of the only academic-art team in the district. Student Marine Tamazyan, 17, was chosen to make the dedication. "I stressed over the details," she said, having worked on sections of the mural.

Janine Marnien LA CRESCENTA -- Nick Unruh carefully brought a vase into creation while other students glazed pieces they had already made during an after-school clay class Wednesday at Valley View Elementary School. It was Nick's third time throwing a piece on the pottery wheel set up -- along with a kiln -- in the kindergarten area of the school. "It's hard," said Nick, a fifth-grader. "You can't make it too thin and you have to shape it so your fingers don't get caught."

Azucena Garcia used a thin paintbrush to smooth out the clay she used to make a heart-shaped necklace. Garcia and her fellow-students in the Ceramics Club at Glendale High School dedicated their Friday afternoon to painting jewelry pieces shaped out of clay. "This club is for people who want to work with their hands," club advisor Christine Rose said. "A lot of clubs meet at lunch to work on community service, but the Ceramics Club is for students who have an interest in ceramics."

On Sunday, for the 18th consecutive year, the Ceramic Castle in Glendale hosted a Christmas celebration and gift exchange for patrons and friends. Fifty eight people were invited to the dinner, held in the work room where ceramic classes at the shop normally take place. To make room for the elegantly decorated dining tables, a Christmas tree and gifts, owners Ellen and Bill Francis stored several work tables in the back room. “We've had as many as 80 people,” said Ellen Francis.

“You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it.” - John Updike At the West Coast Mud Slingers exhibition at the Brand Library Art Galleries, a selection of California-based artists with varied backgrounds and styles bring to life their intimate yet vastly diverse relationship with ceramics. The title of the exhibition, which is curated by Ricky Maldonado, borrows its name from ceramics lingo; a “mud slinger” is someone who crafts pottery or uses a potters wheel.

In the 21 years since Ceramic Castle opened, droves of customers have made this bastion of clay and painted imagination their creative home. Operated by Ellen and Bill Francis, the shop claims customers who've been regulars for up to 20 years. On a recent Tuesday morning, several regulars were at work painting clay objects, many of which were gifts, in a weekly workshop. Thelma Agras, 82, was painting a bride and groom cake topper for a relative's wedding when the head of the groom detached and fell, drawing several laughs.

For centuries, artists and critics have argued the merits of form versus function in not only the art world, but in everyday life. It is often difficult to determine the specific role that art plays in our society when many pieces found in museums lack any discernible practicality. While aesthetic choices almost always play a role in which sculptures or paintings become priceless works of art and which are labeled junk, artist David D. Gilbaugh of La Crescenta has discovered a way to ensure that his work is appreciated beyond merely pleasing the eye. Gilbaugh is a sculptor who works primarily in paper clay, a forgiving type of clay that lends itself generously to a broad range of movements and positions.

A group of academic standouts took on pottery Thursday at Jefferson Elementary School, with varied results. Students in the school’s Gifted and Talented Education program have been participating in after-school pottery classes for the last three weeks, which have been a joy, they said, even though some were more suited for books than art. “I like it even though I’m bad,” said 9-year old Erica Garcia, who was painting...

Two women new to the pottery field are getting a chance to show their work alongside professionals in an upcoming show in Burbank. Burbank resident Philleen Meskin took up ceramics about two years ago, and Heather Rosenman of Glendale has been taking ceramics classes for 2 1/2 years. Meskin and Rosenman are members of the American Ceramics Society Southern California Design Chapter and will have their work in the President’s Show opening on Monday at the Burbank Creative Arts Center Gallery.

Kaye Hartman?s roses are a rich scarlet, and they never wilt. They produce a sweet scent, more like sugar and vanilla than floral essence. They?re silky to the touch, but if held in sweaty hands, they?ll melt. That?s because Hartman?s flowers aren?t really flowers at all. They?re hand-crafted plant replicas, made with an edible, clay-like product called gumpaste and sold to wedding cake makers and brides across the country. ?Surprisingly, it?s a pretty big industry,?