Telling Tiles: artful collaborations. (Special pullout section).

"Visual and verbal modes of learning can indeed be woven together in the classroom. Language need not and should not be separated from its initial component. This way, all types of learners can be benefit."

--Jan Olson, Envisioning Writing: Toward an Integration of Drawing and Writing, 1992.

Grounding the Tradition

The Telling Tiles problem is designed to depict a child's story. There are many examples of similar types of narrative work throughout history. Cast bronze plaques were used by the Kingdom of Benin to record great events and victories won for the land by its people. A contemporary example, would be Marsha McCarthy, who engraves white talc clay tiles with folk art and mythology.

To complete their products, students make tiles using the additive relief process. Students apply pattern, repetition, and overlap to transform their final sketch into a shallow relief.

A wash of India ink is added to increase the contrast and improve visibility of the relief.

Drawing on Clay

The Materials:

* Transfer paper and pencil

* High talc body earthenware clay

* Incising tools such as an engraver's stylus or scratchboard tools

* Foam for a working surface

* Sandpaper and face mask 

* 3 soft brushes: for clay dusting, underglaze application, and dye application

* Underglaze

* No. 2 brush for touch-up

* Dye or India ink

* Paste wax for finishing the surface

* Shoe polish brush

* Stiff polishing brush

* Polishing cloth

The Process:

1. Roll clay to 1/4" to 3/8" slabs.

2. Cut slabs to desired tile shape.

3. Dry tile to bone dryness.

4. Sand edges and smooth surface.

5. Transfer drawing onto clay.

6. Carve tile using a foam base.

7. Fire tile at cone 06.

8. Underglaze tile: brush on underglaze; allow underglaze to dry; rinse off underglaze under water, rubbing the surface lightly; touch up any uneven areas.

9. Fire the tile at cone 04.

10. Apply dye or India ink and let tile dry overnight.

11. Apply paste wax lightly. Let it dry to the touch.

12. Polish tile using a stiff brush. Finish the process with a soft cloth.

Troubleshooting:

* If clay cracks while carving, be sure to check that a base of foam is in place to cradle clay and keep pressure even.

* If underglaze does not adhere, add a small amount of vinegar.

* If wax turns gray, drying time was too long or application too heavy. Rewax and rebuff.

* If too much underglaze washes off, dry completely and repeat process.

* If underglazed surface looks gray, use fine sandpaper to remove underglaze before firing.

* If mistakes are made while carving, small repairs can be made with a mixture of vinegar and clay. Wet the surrounding area with vinegar.

* If hot spots are encountered, coat the area with vinegar, reapply the underglaze, and carefully remove with a wet sponge.

Tips for Working:

* Use liquid nails for mounting tiles on another surface.

* Underglaze mixture should be the consistency of light cream.

* Underglaze for touch-up can be thin.

* Dyes become darker when waxed.

* Dark, underglazed areas add interest. Backgrounds might be carved out.

* Fire larger pieces around the edge of the kiln shelf.

* Beach sand on surface of kiln shelf allows for movement during firing.

Telling Tiles:

Grounding the Storyline

In the art studio environment, Bill Aldrich presents students with several models for beginning the planning of a myth or story. To approach this artful problem, students begin by brainstorming a list of different myths and fables that they know about, and progress to a story web worksheet. Next, a story frame is used as a means to help generate a personal myth. Students usually begin with a map, and then progress to the story frame, moving onto a sequence chain. This last stage gives students a chance to transition from words (on the chain) to images in their sketchbook. Then they begin sketching ideas that will help visually narrate their stories.

Renee Sandell is professor of Art Education at Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. Maryland.

Barry Shauck retired this past June as instructional facilitator for the Visual Arts from the Howard County Public School System and director of the Young People's Studios at the Maryland Institute College of Art, to accept the position of assistant professor of Art Education at Boston University.

How the Elephant Got Its Trunk

Once upon a time, there was a young elephant named Bill with a short nose. All elephants had short noses then, and he was very curious. He would always ask his friends and relatives pointless questions like why things are the way they are and so forth. One of his questions was what crocodiles ate for dinner, and he asked everyone he met--which got very annoying after awhile. Finally, his older brother got fed up and said, "Why don't you just go to the crocodile's home and ask him yourself?" This sounded like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, so the young elephant started on his journey to the crocodile's home, the river.

His journey was an extremely long one with jungles to go through, other rivers and ponds to cross, and rocks to climb over. Eventually, after a two-week journey, Bill reached the crocodile's home when it was just about dinnertime. Hearing Bill's arrival, the crocodile slowly crept out from his watery house. "Who dares bother me? I'm hungry and want to eat!" Bill decided that it was the perfect opportunity to ask him, so he announced, "I'm Bill, a young curious elephant, searching for answers. Please tell me, what do you eat for dinner?" The crocodile licked his lips at the thought of eating and dinner. He decided to tell this curious elephant but only if he came very close so that no one else would hear. Bill, young and naive as he was, saw no harm in doing so and got really close to the crocodile's ear. Suddenly, "SNAP!" The crocodile had caught hold of Bill's nose with his teeth! "Little elephants," growled the crocodile. "I eat elephants for dinner!" Realizing his mistake, Bill began to pull at his nose to get it loose, but the crocodile had a strong hold on it. Bill's nose began to stretch and get longer every time he pulled. Gaining all his strength, Bill made one tremendous pull and freed his nose. But now, his nose had been stretched into a long trunk.

As the years went on, all other elephants began to be born with long trunks instead of the original sort--short stubby noses. Eventually, every single elephant on earth had a trunk, all because of one curious elephant named Bill.

--Heidi Schurter, Grade 8

Artful Collaborations

Telling Tiles: The Art Problem

The Telling Tiles strategy begins with brainstorming, webbing, and listing. A discussion is held about the content of folktales and mythology. Students design a personal folktale based upon a story web plan. The story frame is posed as a challenge that includes an encounter in sequence. A number of rough sketches are made. Beginning with thumbnails, ideas are refined until four 9 x 12" (23 x 31 cm) roughs can be produced. These are done simultaneously so that students can discover the sequence. The image sequence presents itself as the work evolves. Students seek opinions from the teacher and their peers to check viewers' perceptions.

An existing folktale or myth is chosen, which serves as the basis for original writing. The result might be a synectic hybrid storyline, a folktale with reworked characters, or a completely original myth.

Some fundamental experiences were built into the problem-solving process:

* Using a sketchbook/journal as a record for problem solving; and

* Applying research gained through sketchbook studies.

Students were asked to apply knowledge of the formal qualities of art, while using creative thinking strategies to develop personal solutions in:

* drawing, by combining observational studies with images drawn from imagination, memory, verbal description, and experimentation; and

* sculpture, through the analysis and application of the ways tools and techniques could be used to make a three-dimensional form that illustrates a story.

Marsha McCarthy: About My Work

My work is less about technique and more about ideas--ideas about our individual and collective experiences along the road; ideas from the past and the present from folklore and contemporary philosophy. It's about finding just the right blend of language and imagery to express those ideas. And of course, it's still about the joy of working with clay, like a kid making mud pies. What could be more wonderful?

My work and ideas are tied to my move to the country. Reflecting on past events, I analyzed my life and decided the pace that I had been living wasn't what I wanted. I treasured my friendships with people, my animals, seeing the seasons change and being able to experience that change process every day. My work is basically about relationships. I hope to impart to my audience the ability to stop and reflect and think about their lives. I want them to consider what they're doing to others and to the earth. I'd really like to see someone take those thoughts and inspirations away from an encounter with my work. refired and finished with natural dyes, waxed, and buffed.

Artist's Reflections

"Bill Aldrich's work teaching students about the approach I take with clay gives me goose bumps. It makes my heart fill, and gives me even more confidence ' as an artist. From the in-service teacher workshop, he's taken what I've learned over the years from my teachers and given it to his kids. Bravo!"--Marsha McCarthy

Teacher's Reflections

"I was inspired by the workshop that Marsha conducted, asking us to combine the visual and the written. It offered a way to challenge students to cross that difficult barrier, transforming the written word into something visual. Our tiles with a tale continue to provide students with a means to combine image and text."--Bill Aldrich

Questions That Guide Instructional Practice

* What components and qualities might folktales, myths, and stories share?

* In what ways does the written word offer artists content choices for their forms and imagery?

* How have images made by artists ended up being "telling" images--images that narrate or convey a story?

* How are personal life stories and folktales or myths alike? How are they different?

Artistic Behaviors and Visual Concepts

* Artists often base their work on written stories.

* Artists often assess master approaches and sequential processes that contribute personal meaning when making works of art.

* Artists who act as storytellers often mine their own writing, drawing upon previous knowledge and experiences.

* Line can be used to emphasize a center of interest and motion.

* Compositions can be arranged to sequence images as chapters for telling a story.

* Visual texture can be used to provide an illusion of detail, or tactile texture can be used to reveal expressive qualities in raised and lowered areas.

* Form can be altered to dramatize narrative content.

Interdisciplinary Connections and Resources

When students discuss the characteristics of folktales and myths, an easy connection is made to the content of language arts. Designing myth tablets provides students with an opportunity to use their foundations of individual knowledge, and to broaden and deepen their own personal response and meaning, by putting their ideas and feelings into a personally commemorative and permanent art form.

McCarthy's hand-built vessels and tiles are incised before firing with imagery that reflects her interest in nature, primitive art, mythology, storytelling, and the environment. The pieces are then underglazed,

Bill Aldrich has been teaching ar at Mayfield Woods Middle School in the eastern central region of Howard County, Maryland. Bill taught for two years in South Africa for the Peace Corps, establishing a ceramics studio for his students and community support.