Islamic Clay Tiles

Grade Level
Grade 6+

Anticipated Time Period
Two hour lesson

CT State Standards
Content Standard 3: Content
Students will consider, select and apply a range of subject matter, symbols and ideas.
Content Standard 4: History and Culture
Students will understand the visual arts in relation to history and culture.

Unit Goal
Students will study the art of the Middle East
Objective
Students will identify the characteristics of Islamic Art
Students will create a ceramic tile with motifs found in Turkish art
Vocabulary
Stoneware clay
Slab
Relief Sculpture
Score, Incise, Carve
Kiln, firing, bisque, stoneware
Template
Motif
Islamic Art
Iznik Pottery
Glaze
Underglaze
Texture

Materials
preliminary sketch completed in math lesson/pencils
Stoneware clay, rolling pins, pin tools, modeling tools
Clear glaze and underglaze
Brushes & water
water soluable marker
Motivation/Initiation
Students will view examples of Iznik tiles and see examples of the process: wet clay, bisqueware, glazed stoneware
Procedure
1. Students will bring to the art class their original symmetrical design on white paper
2. Roll out slab of stoneware clay, creating even thickness in slab.
3. Trace paper pattern with a water soluable marker.
4. Lay paper pattern, marker side down, onto clay slab. Press marker design onto clay
5. Students will use modeling tools to incise or carve in their relief designs, exploring various textures, patterns and designs.
6. Clay tiles will dry slowly in the art room for one week and then be placed in the kiln.
7. Students will use underglazes for coloring their tile, covering with a coat of clear glaze. Tiles will be fired to correct temperature.
Extension Activity Assessment and Evaluation:
Rubric: based on creativity, concept, work ethic, craftsmanship, and glazing

Year One: A wonderful year with virtual collaboration!

We finished our unit on Turkey and The Middle East. This has been year one of a two year collaboration between Highcrest School and Long River Middle School. What a wonderful time we each had learning about Turkey and Islamic Art, Religion and Culture. We had a terrific time at the "Meet and Greet" at Highcrest school. Our Islamic tiles came out great! So many wonderful designs. Thanks for a great year everyone!

Office for the Arts at Harvard

Ms. Avery and Mrs. Kopecki attended a three day workshop entitled "Tile and Mural Design and Construction" at the Office for the Arts at Harvard over a course of three Saturdays this past January and February.



The course was led by Dr. Wasma'a Chorbachi, an Art History professor at Harvard University and explored a range of mathematical concepts related to tile design using animal, floral or geometric motifs. They learned many new techniques and design skills as they worked on both raw and fired clay tiles.
The course explored construction methods, decorating skills and principles of Asian, Islamic and European design.












Dr Wasma'a Chorbachi has provided them with a wealth of learning and practical knowledge for their unit on Turkey.

Connections, Connections!

Recently Mrs. Kopecki and I spent a lovely spring day in Boston. With no real agenda in mind, we let our feet do the walking around this historic city and we ended up making quite a few Turkish connections! First stop was lunch at The Kabab House of Boston on Kilby's street, Liberty Square. There we enjoyed some appetizers from the meze bar and shared a Kofte Kebab, which is a mix of lamb and mixed beef patties with rice and mixed salad. Delicious! Next, we stopped at the Granary Burial ground where we saw the graves of several famous Americans such as Paul Revere and Samual Adams. Then we walked around little Italy and had to stop for an afternoon cappucino, before hiking it to The Museum of Fine Arts (for the after 4pm FREE tour of the permanent collections.) After making our way through the ancient East Asian collections and Egyptian collections we found the Islamic wing and found a display of Iznik Pottery as well as other Koptic Korans and Islamic ceramics. We also were excited to see some contemporary pieces by our Islamic Tile professor from Harvard, Wasmaa Chorbachi! She designed some beautiful pieces. Before leaving the museum we were able to buy some Iznik tiles from the museum store! Too cool! (For I never bought one while actually in Turkey).
After hiking it back to the Boston Commons, with a short dinner stop along the way, we ended our delightful in Boston. Though we came to Boston with no plan in mind for the day, we saw and did quite a bit and made lots of connections with our many previous travels and experiences. Life-It's all about the connections!