By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Children are getting their hands dirty as they explore the art of ceramics this summer.
Jennifer Younger, Hays High School art teacher, offered three ceramics classes at Hays High School through the Hays Arts Council.
Children ages 6 through 12 were broken into two classes based on their age to explore hand building figures or pots. Youth 11 and older could enroll in wheel-thrown pottery.
Student modeled their figures or threw their pots last week. All students will paint or glaze their pieces this week, so they can take them home at the end of the two-week session.
Students learn about the different properties of the clay and how it is affected by the moisture. Younger took them through the steps of building and curing their creations, including the first bisque firing in a kiln, glazing and then the second firing.
“It is a lot of processes they learn, and they really catch on quick,” she said. “It is really cool to see what they can come up with and how creative they are.”
The wheel-thrown class is a “crash course.” In Younger’s high school class, the students spend two weeks just learning how to center the clay on the wheel.
“For as young as they are, they do really well,” she said. “Sometimes they get frustrated, but we spend weeks in school practicing this and learning this, so they are really doing awesome.”
Younger explained why she thought exposing children to art is important.
“It helps with their creativity. A lot of them are able to use it as an outlet. I feel it is really important,” she said. “It is not quite as serious, and they can let loose and just be creative and use their imaginations. I think that is important in this day and age with all the stressors and high expectations. A lot of kids really enjoy this, and they are able to produce a lot of great things.”
Eleanor Bittel, 11, of Hays, was working on a pitcher on Thursday morning. This was Bittel’s first attempt at throwing on a wheel.
“I have been wanting to do this for a while,” she said. “I have done the hand clay a couple of times, but I have wanted to do this for a really long time.”
She talked about what she learned in the class.
“In this class, I learned that you need strength, because when you center it, you really have to move it and model it,” she said. “It is also sometimes frustrating because it will collapse on you, and you have to start over sometimes. But I really like it. I am really enjoying it.”
Darci Dreiling, 13, a TMP-Marian student, also was taking wheel-thrown pottery for the first time.
“I learned not to be frustrated, she said as she trimmed a pot on Thursday, “because you can always build it up and make it into something new.”
Janet Hugunin, 13, Victoria, is in her third year of taking wheel-thrown pottery through the HAC.
She talked about what she has learned through the classes.
“How to work with the clay and center it and making it even so you don’t have any air bubble in it so when you fire it, it doesn’t explode,” she said.
Hugunin enjoys doing other types of art in her free time.
“It is really calming to me,” she said. “It is something that if I don’t have anything else to do, I can do art … It is just fun to do.”
Students also will wrap up HAC Acting and Theater classes this week with public performances on Friday morning at the 12th Street Auditorium.
There are more HAC youth classes offered through July and a Plein Air Painting Workshop for anyone 16 and older on June 23.
See a complete schedule and information on how to enroll at the HAC website or you can visit the Hays Arts Center downtown at 112 E. 11th St.