Exploring Micro Beauty With Clay

Gathering fallen flowers or foliage is an experience which comes naturally to children. Through their lens, beauty and colour is found in places often overlooked by adults. They can find the tiniest of flowers in strangest of places, which they treasure and shared with other. Small petals which can be just as stunning as those flowers which grown into a large bloom which can't fit in the palm of a child's hand.

In order to extend the child's fascination with these micro buds and petals, clay is the perfect material to create a lasting imprint, then when the clay is dry it can be painted in the original colour of the subject matter. Native flowers are best as the flower and stem can hold it's colour long after it's dried out. But as it's the child who is making the discovery of a micro beauty, it can be any flower.

Step One - Invite the child to create a ball using a piece of clay.

Step Two - Once the ball takes formation, invite the child to place it in the palm of their hand. One they feel comfortable with the weight of the ball, invite the child to press both hands together. This should flatten the ball and they can start manipulating the shape out further to provide a flatter surface.

Step Three - Invite the child to place their flowers on top of the clay surface, then gently press down on the flower and stem. This can be done with leaves or any other foliage the child wishes to extend their interest in.

Step Four - Once the child is happy with the connection between the clay and flower, it's time for the tricky part. Using clean hands and patience, the child is invited to remove the subject matter without leaving any traces behind. They need to be delicate and slow down to ensure the only thing left is an imprint. You may like to introduce some tool to assist the children with the process.

Step Five - Once they have removed the subject matter they can leave the clay to dry or simply break the clay down and repeat the process again with various flowers or leaves.

Once completely dried it can be painted with a water based paint and spray with a gloss enamel or if you have a kilm it can be fired, glazed, then fired again.

Personally it looks gorgeous just the way it was after Step Three.

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