Fifth Grade Chihuly Bowls

    In Fifth Grade, we looked at the works by artist Dale Chihuly.  We discussed how his work looks abstracted and has form.  We watched a video that documented works that Chihuly has in Seattle, Washington in a botanical garden.  We also watched a video where some glass artists showed the glass blowing process.  The students loved looking at all of his intricate pieces and the colors, they also enjoyed seeing how glass can be created in different shapes and sizes.

  We took our learning and created our own Chihuly inspired bowl.  First, we took a ball of newspaper about the size of a softball and taped it so the form was held.  Then, we rolled clay into a slab and draped the clay over the newspaper ball.  Our hands were used as tools to shape the edges of the clay.  We let the clay dry over the newspaper and then they were fired.  The students were then able to glaze them however they wanted, patterns, one color, etc...

Here are some of the end results, they were all so beautiful!