SAuclair
Birdhouses
Directions:
We will be using slab to create a large cylinder, which will be the main part of a birdhouse. Using more slabs, we will make a “floor” and “roof” for our birdhouses. Consider using a puki to form these pieces.
All birdhouses must have a PULLED HANDLE on the roof so that our birdhouses can be hung from a tree.
Your birdhouse can be finished in one of the following ways:
- It can imitate a tree. For example, your birdhouse could have an acorn as part of its handle with an oak leaf appliqued to the edge of the roof. The rest of the birdhouse surface is scraped to give the impression of rough bark. Consider all the variety of trees: Maple, Oak, Chestnut, Fir, Willows, Dogwoods, etc.
- It can imitate a piece of Architecture. For example, your birdhouse could look like an outhouse, castle, shack, mansion, a Victorian Gingerbread, firehouse, gas station, Chinese restaurant, school, skyscraper, tenement building, barn, log cabin, an adobe, an igloo, etc. Your birdhouse could also mimic a famous building like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Taj Mahal, The Guggenheim Art Museum, etc. You could research an architect, such as Frank Lloyd Wright or Gaudi and recreate one of their buildings as a birdhouse.
Bronze Vessels
For your next assignment, we will be using slabs to construct a vessel. Ting vessels of the Shang Dynasty were used in various ceremonies, especially funerals. These vessels were designed to hold something of value. The designs were based on animal and geometric forms. Some designs show a symmetrical human mask. Late Shang designers used zoomorphic motifs with quadrupled reptiles, birds and insects.