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Wheel-ThrownMimbre Bowlspresented by Amaco®

and Tracy Gamble, studio potter

In this lesson, students will explore NativeAmerican pottery traditions, specificallyfocusing on the Mimbre style, using animaland human imagery with geometricpatterns for decoration. They will begin byusing the potter’s wheel to throw andtrim a bowl, then decorate withMimbre-like personal symbols andpatterns using Amaco Glazes. A baseglaze will be applied first, followedby a majolica glaze using the potter’swheel to apply decoration. Thecompletely designed bowls will beglaze fired and transformed into functionalart.

This is an advanced wheel throwing projectthat has a prerequisite of wheel throwingskills for a small vessel using two pounds ofclay for a 6" diameter x 3" tall bowl form, orfor a medium-sized vessel using 4–6 lbs ofclay for an 8"–9" diameter x 6" tall bowl form.

Grade Levels 9-12

Process

1. Wedge clay, center clay on a bat on thewheel head and throw a bowl shape usinga wooden rib to shape the floor and wallsof the bowl; level the rim and then finish itwith a chamois gently wrapped on the rimto smooth. Cut bowl from bat and let bowldry on the bat until leather hard.

2. Center hardened bowl on the wheel headand attach it with three cocktail sausage-sized wads of clay. Trim foot into bottomof the bowl using a trimming tool. Trimbowl so that floor and walls of the bowlare all the same thickness. (For this project3/8" is a good target thickness.) Trim clayaway from bottom of the bowl to leave afoot ring that is large enough to supportthe bowl and is also visually pleasing tomatch the size of the bowl. The footneeds to be tall enough for the bowl torest on the foot and not on the bottomcenter of the bowl.

Materials

Amaco® No. 67 Indian Red EarthenwareClay (30506-3050)

Brent® Potter’s Wheel

Brent® Pressboard Bat (30016-1014)

Wooden Potter’s Rib (30358-)

Wire Clay Cutter (30327-1018)

Potter’s Needle Tool (30308-1005)

Chamois (04957-1057)

Amaco® Matt Glaze, Opaque White(30419-1076)

Amaco® Mojolica Gloss Glaze, Black(30429-2026)

Blick Scholastic Red Sable Fan brush,size 6 (05945-1006)

Holbein Bamboo Brush, size 4(05409-1004)

Blick Scholastic Red Sable Script brush,size 4 (05568-1004)

http://www.dickblick.com/zz055/68/http://www.dickblick.com/zz054/09/http://www.dickblick.com/zz059/45/http://www.dickblick.com/zz304/29/http://www.dickblick.com/zz304/19/http://www.dickblick.com/zz049/57/http://www.dickblick.com/zz303/08/http://www.dickblick.com/zz303/27/http://www.dickblick.com/zz303/58/http://www.dickblick.com/zz300/16/http://www.dickblick.com/categories/potterywheels/http://www.dickblick.com/zz305/06/http://www.dickblick.com/zz305/06/

3. Slowly air dry the bowl. Bisque fire thebowl to cone 03.

4. Plan and sketch design for Mimbre-typeglaze decoration during the drying andbisque firing of the bowl.

5. Wipe bisqued bowl with a damp spongeto remove any dust or particles. Applybase glaze to bowl with fan brush. Applythree coats of matt white glaze andallow each coat to dry before brushingon the next coat.

6. Lightly sketch symbol onto base-glazedbowl with a pencil using a template fromearlier planning and sketching (Step 4).

7. Use a bamboo brush to apply just onecoat of black majolica glaze on top ofthe matt white glaze creating a Mimbre-like silhouette for the symbol. To applypatterns around the top of the bowl andon the rim, use the potter’s wheel as abanding wheel. Center the base-glazedbowl on the wheel and rotate the wheelslowly, once or twice for each line in thepattern, while pressing a thin, scriptbrush with black majolica glaze on it, tothe bowl. A banding wheel can also beused.

8. Glaze fire the bowl to cone 05.

Copyright © 2006 Dick Blick Art Materials. All rights reserved.

National Standards

Content Standard #1 — Understanding andapplying media, techniques and processes

9-12Students conceive and create works ofvisual art that demonstrate anunderstanding of how the communicationof their ideas relates to the media, techniques and processes they use.

Content Standard #4 — Understanding thevisual arts in relation to history and cultures

9-12Students describe the function and explorethe meaning of specific art objects withinvaried cultures, times and places.

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