by Andie Drummond

Mounds of clay sit in Lisa Dibble’s room waiting for STA Ceramics 1 and 11 students to press into it to form their own creations. Whether it is spinning on the wheel, or sitting on the table, STA girls have the chance to make works of art out of clay. The students make teapots, vases, sculptures and many other things.  Some of these pieces have received awards such as the Scholastic Gold Key Award and Silver Key Award. The students enrolled in the classes have spent time and energy into creating pieces with their own to hands.

Sophomore Shannen Freeman took Ceramics 1 last semester. When she was creating her sculptures, she was very indecisive about how she wanted her pieces to look. When she was creating her teapot, she changed her mind twice.

‘It was interesting,’ Freeman said. ‘I mean I would start making [my teapot] and I would change my mind and try to form something else.’

When Freeman started working on her teapot she did not expect it to take two months to create. It took that amount of time because she wanted everything to be right. She wanted the texture to be smooth, the formation to be unique, and the overall outlook to reflect on how much time she put into the piece. Freeman feels clay is not just something you can play with like play dough from preschool, but art medium that can transform into something original.

‘We can do many things with the clay [other] than just playing with it,’ Freeman said. ‘Sometimes things might not turn out the way you had planned and you might have to re-think how you are going to make your piece come out the way you want.’

Sophomore Meka Kelly feels that ceramics has opened a door for her in art that she did not know before taking the class. Now she creates art with her own two hands. With the opportunities given to her from Dibble, Meka has learned ways to create pieces that she is proud of.

‘I chose ceramics because I thought it would be fun and interesting to learn about something new,’ Meka said. ‘I am not an art person at all but I decided to try it anyway. I did not know anything about ceramics before I did the class everything I have learned is new.’

Senior Maegan Kelly has been taking ceramics class since her sophomore year. Her knowledge of ceramics has grown over the years that it has taught her to make award-winning pieces. She was awarded this year the Scholastic Gold Key Award for one of her teapots. Even though she has been an award-winning artist, Maegan feels that one of her downfalls in the class is not cleaning up after herself. Meka also agrees with Maegan on this being their least favorite part of the class.

‘I usually make a big mess and never want to clean [the clay] up,’ Maegan said.

The class has taught these three girls that ceramics is more than just messing around with play dough. It is about the time it takes to create works of art with your own hands. This idea about using your own hands to make something is the foundation for the class