Getting to know YOU

Pinch Pot Self-Portraits

4th Grade
2 or 3 45 minute classes
Learning Objective:
Students will create pinch
pot people out of two smaller
pinch pots. Students will master
clay skills such as forming a
pinch pot, attaching clay pieces
together using the slip and score
method, and how to properly use
glaze. They will also learn
additive and subtract techniques
in clay construction. Students
will base their pinch pot people
off of themselves and decorate
their pinch pot in manner that
tells their audience something
that they like to do. This process
will contribute to the students
Figure 1: Teacher Sample
forming of his or her identity
within the larger context of their community.
State Benchmarks and Standards VA:Cr1.1.4a: Brainstorm multiple approaches to a creative art or design
problem.
Va:Cr2.1.4a: Explore and invent art-making techniques and approaches
VA:Cr2.2.4a: When making works of art, utilize and care for materials,
tools, and equipment in a manner that prevents danger to oneself and
others.
VA:Re.7.2.4a: Analyze components in visual imagery that convey
messages.
Context-Background Information:
Clay Vocabulary:

Additive to attach clay pieces together, to add clay

Subtractive taking away or carving into clay

Wedging - Method of kneading clay to get rid of air pockets in the

clay.

Slip and Score - To rough the surface of the wet clay in order to
attach another piece of wet clay. A liquid form of clay that holds
clay pieces together.

Leather Hard - When wet clay has dried somewhat but still damp
enough to be joined to another piece of clay.

Underglaze - A colored liquid clay that is

applied to Greenware and sometimes
Bisque, then coated with Clear Glaze.

Bisque - Unglazed clay body fired to a

low temperature

Pinch Pot - Created from a single lump

of clay. While holding the sphere of
clay, press the thumb into the center of
the ball, halfway to the bottom. While
revolving the ball in one hand, press the
walls out evenly with the thumb into the inside and the fingers
on the outside. Smooth the surface with a damp sponge.

(http://www.lakesidepottery.com/HTML%20Text/Methods%20of
%20Handbuilding.htm, accessed 1/20/15)
(http://www.americanceramics.com/html/ceramicvocabulary.html,
accessed 1/20/15)
Self-Portrait References:
Frida Kahlo
(1907-1954) Born in Mexico City
revealed psychological responses to adversity
o at six years old she contracted polio which left her with a
deformed right foot and the cruel nickname, Peg-leg
Frida
o a streetcar accident in 1925 left her disabled and changed
the path of her life
o married Diego Rivera, led to many affairs
Figure 2: Frida Kahlo "Self Portrait
'Self Portrait with the Portrait of Doctor
with the Portrait of Doctor Farill"
Farill', 1951
1951
o later in life her spinal injuries
worsened and she was bound to a wheelchair

this is a double portrait, where Kahlo sits in her wheelchair

holding her brushes and palette adjacent to her painting of
her surgeon Dr. Farill
o "My painting carries with it the message of pain ... Painting
completed my life."
o the heart on her lap replaces her palette suggesting the
crucial role painting played throughout her life
(http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/portraits/frida_kahlo.htm,
accessed on 1/27/2015)
Van Gogh
painted over 30 self-portraits between the years 1886 and 1889
used portrait painting as a method of introspection
Self Portrait in Front of Easel - 1888
o an easel, identified himself as a painter
o painted self-portrait because he couldn't pay a model
o complimentary colors/ contrasting color scheme
(http://www.vangoghgallery.com/misc/selfportrait.html, accessed on
1/27/2015)
Judith Leyster
Self Portrait (c. 1635)
painted herself next to an easel
o claim that she was a painter
o at this point in time woman werent normally accepted into
art academies
o Leyster was an exception and was proud of her career
took on male apprentices and ran a workshop
art smock is actually an expensive dress and is used to express
her middle class social and economic status
(https://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth200/artist/cons_fem
_art_id.htm, accessed on 1/27/2015)
o

Materials:
Clay - 1 pound per kids
Forks or pin tools
Slip in water buckets
Canvas for tables
Plastic bags
Wire tool
Spray bottle
Glaze
Paint brushes
Water buckets
Box for transportation to kiln

Process:
Day 1:
1. Introduce the lesson with a brief PowerPoint discussing the selfportraits of Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, and Judith Leyster. This should
be done using visual thinking strategies so that students are able
to understand that putting objects in an artwork help tell the
viewer more about the person portrayed.
2. Demonstrate around a table how to make two pinch pots and
attach them together to make a person. Reinforce how to slip
and score the head to the body.
3. Explain how to add details to the person by additive and
subtractive techniques. Remind them to slip and score when
attaching clay.
4. Have students return to their seats and begin working for the
remainder of the class time.
5. Have students brainstorm while they are working what objects or
clothing they would like to add to their pinch pot person to tell
their classmates and the teacher what they like to do.
6. Have the students write their name and class on the back of their
pinch pot person.
7. If they finish early, have them write a artist statement about the
activity they choose and the objects that they attached to their
person.
8. Clean up with 5 min left of class. Students will leave their pinch
pot at their table but will clean up all supplies.
Day 2:
1. Have the pinch pots fired and ready to be glazed at the front of
the room. Demonstrate how to properly use the glaze colors.
2. Students will use the rest of the class time to careful glaze their
pinch pot people.
3. If they finish early, have them write a artist statement about the
activity they choose and the objects that they attached to their
person.
4. Clean up with 5 min left of class. Students will leave their pinch
pot at their table but will clean up all supplies.
Evaluation:
Did the student use art materials and tools safely and
responsibly to communicate experiences and ideas about
themselves?
Did the student use the visual characteristics and organizational
principles of art to communicate an activity that they enjoy?

Did the student create a pinch pot self-portrait that used clay
techniques properly?
Did the student demonstrate exploration of different clay
techniques and methods?

Rubric:
Participation:
3
Comments:
Craftsmanship:
3
Comments:
Creativity: /3
3
Comments:

/3
2

/3