Oh boy.  Sometimes not all the projects turn out right.  And sometimes, it is because of the art teacher.  This definitely was the case with this Nativity.  I felt real bad messing up baby Jesus and His family.  Let me explain.

Let me make this clear, we were in a hurry.  We had three weeks until the end of the quarter to complete this project.  Well, most of you know, you make the project in one week. It dries another week.  The students glaze third week and in the kiln the project goes!

I guess my biggest mistake was thinking that we did not have to slip and score the project.  I felt like that it would be easier to glaze if the Holy family was not permanently fixed to the base.  Wrong!  We should have slipped and scored all parts.  The students could have easily glazed around most of the inside of the bowl shape.  Students are awesome at cramming glaze here and there and destroying bristles on a paintbrush!  

How did this go down?

I played this video for the kids so they would have something to go by. Click HERE for basic Nativity instructions

As I said earlier, we did not slip and score.

The students wrote their name/grade on back of the Nativity.

The Nativities dried.

The students glazed the Nativities one color.  Let me say this…If you let the middle school kids use all different colors of glazes, you usually get into a hot mess.  As most of you know, the color of the glazes when you are putting it on the clay will be very different than how the glaze eventually fires out.

All in all, I was pleased with this project.  We always have fun when we do Nativities.  We have baby Jesus’ head falling off and rolling around the room.  Joseph’s arm falls off and that is a problem.  Lots of funnies as the project progresses.  

The students always love doing a Nativity.  Parents get excited when their children have art the 2nd quarter of school.  They have come to expect some type of Nativity from their kids.  Many of the kids are aware and put all their effort into making their Nativities.

Note to self.  Start earlier.  Slip and score the Holy family.  Do your own video.

Have a l?k!

??????Nativities GONE WRONG ??????

It was a long night, so they all took a nap?

Mary turning a cartwheel?

Joseph tripped over the donkey and knocked Mary down?

Mary trying to give Joseph a hug and trips over her gown?

Joseph went out to talk to the owner of the inn and Mary dozed off?

No words.  Well, maybe a few.  This was a new kid and I think that she did not realized that glaze was permanent.  So, for fun she made a foot.  Do you see it on the left?  And yes, there is a small snowman on the right.  The family is in there somewhere, but they are a little whopper-jawed too.  And yes, whopper-jawed is a word and it means crooked, out of place, damaged, broken.  Whopper-jawed describes this project to a T.  And yes, “to a T” is a saying that has been known to be related to a t-square.  Everything relates back to art in some kind of way!

A group view:

A Bob Ross from a sweet student that decided to “plop” down in the middle of the mess!

Well, that’s that.

?, 1965