I have experienced being in clay class for four semesters of my high school career. Sadly, when I received my schedule for this school year, I found that I wasn’t enrolled in a clay class. Now, I have an intermediate video class, which is located in the hallway that the art rooms are located in also. Mostly everyone knows that the students in the video class get to go out into the school to actually videotape their pieces of work. The point that I’m getting to is that I always pass by the clay class, and I kind of miss creating my clay pieces, so I decided to go to the class and get a little helping of this class that I am missing.

The class was working diligently on the wheel, their hands busy perfecting the pottery they created. I sat down to talk with a couple people to find out what they created in the class, and also to ask them their views on this elective.

I found that the latest project was folk art. Students creating folk art might be inspired by one of the following three ideas: cultural/historical, personal thoughts on family, or contemporary image based on every-day life. I asked Marcy Rodrigue what she had done for this project, and she said that she made a hamburger. She explained: “The hamburger is based on every-day life; it has to do with things going by so quicklykinda like fast food.” She also said that she enjoys clay class because “we get to use clay.” Another student, Nick Blanchette, made a hotrod. He chose to make his image based on every-day life. He explained, “Working on and being around hotrods is a hobby of mine that I like to do.” He enjoys clay class because, “Basically, if you get an idea you can make it, and it’s very – ‘hands on’.”

A few of the students are taking more of an independent approach, not really giving any direction to their pieces of art. Alex Salterio told me he made a blue pot with a white top. I’m not quite sure if his piece could be defined as folk art. I was informed that it broke in the kilnthose kinds of mistakes happen. It has happened to me before, and it’s kind of upsetting. While commenting on the class, he said, “It’s awesome!” Halsey Copp informed me that he created a lawn tractor. He said he liked clay class because, “I like the freedom of being able to create art in an unstressful environment.” I was happy to hear that my peers liked creating art in clay class. George Dutkiewicz proudly told me that he made a jack-o-lantern.

When I explained to Halsey and George that the other students were creating piece with a story from history or something that has happened, they quickly told me that they could make a story including both of their pieces. They said that one day a man was riding a tractor, he fell off, hit his head on a pumpkin seed, and he now has a jack-o-lantern for a head! Nice one, guys!

Next, I had a chat with Zack Fingerhe informed me that he made a log cabin. When I asked him if he liked clay class he said, “It is hard to enjoy because I’m not the slightest bit artistic.” Well, all I have to say is that Zack has got the view on his artwork all wrong, because when I took a look at the log cabin he had created, it didn’t seem to be inartistic at all. It had a style of its own, and the form was, well, in the shape of a log cabin!

Lastly, I had a chat with the teacher of this class, Ms. Motycka. She exclaimed, “It’s a great class. It’s fun!” She finds that she is impressed with the artwork her students make. She is also pleased with her students’ improvement. She likes to see the way the students start out struggling, then get their own style, personal aesthetic, and grow as artists. While chatting with Ms. Motycka, I learned that she has 20 years of experience in art, but never intended to have a career in art. She went to college for creative writing, and was told she was a lousy poet. Soon after, she dropped her creative writing major, and took art on as her new major. Motycka’s favorite type of art is fiber art. That means that the artwork has surface and texture you can see and touch. Motycka taught art in Connecticut for nine years, and in Yarmouth for three years before teaching at P.R.H.S. The art classes, which Motycka teaches here at Poland are Drawing and Painting, Clay I, II, as well as independent studies in those classes. She mentioned that she would definitely teach photography if it were a course offering. Motycka says she thinks learning through art is a nicer alternative to learning (in the more traditional ways) because students can experiment with their art. She explained that by looking at things and touching things we can explore and discover the way we as well as others view the world as artists.

My visit to the class was refreshing; I enjoyed talking with others about their pieces of art, and seeing what the talented students had created. I know I will miss the class when I leave Poland High.