Robert Arneson
Ceramics
Robert Arneson
• DOB-1930
• Nationality- American
• Medium- Ceramics
Robert Arneson
• Worked as a cartoonist for a local
newspaper in California.
• Arneson loved making art about society
and the world around him.
Robert Arneson
• He continued drawing during this time
period of his life and stayed away from 3D
mediums such as ceramics/clay. This was
his least favorite class!!!
Robert Arneson
• He attended Oakland in California and
received his MFA. (Master of Fine Arts.)
Highest degree you could receive in the
art world!
Robert Arneson
• Began developing his own artistic style as
a ceramicist
• In the 1960’s Arneson was known as the
“Father oF Funk.”
Funk-an art movement inspired by
popular culture that used an unlikely
mixture of materials and techniques,
including found objects.
Robert Arneson
• During the Funk Movement Arneson
continued to work with clay and other
found objects.
Losing His Marbles
• Date: 1965
• Materials: Clay, Glaze, marbles and other
found objects
• Artist: Robert Arneson
Robert Arneson
• In his later years in life he was diagnosed
with cancer. During this time his artwork
took a much darker tone. He later lost his
battle to cancer in 1992.
Robert Arneson
Robert Arneson
Robert Arneson
Robert Arneson
Fatal Laff
Robert Arneson
General
Nuke
Robert Arneson
Robert Arneson
Family and Friends
Robert Arneson
Pollock
Word Wall Terms
What is clay?
Clay is decomposed fine
particles of granite-type
rock.
Ways of working with clay
• A coil is a rolled
“wormlike” piece of
clay. It can be
stacked on top of
each other to form
objects.
• A slab is a flat piece of clay
• The pinch method is using the fingers
and thumbs to pinch the clay into
shape.
Preparing the clay for use
• Wedging: the process of folding clay over,
working it with the heel of the hand to get
a uniform consistency and rid it of air
• Just like kneading bread dough!
• Gets rid of air bubbles so clay does not
explode in the kiln
• Slip is liquid or watered down clay.
Used for joining 2 pieces or
smoothing surfaces.
Joining two pieces of clay
• Score and slip the process of putting
cross-hatch marks and slip where two
sides come together
• Seals clay together
• Plasticity is workability; flexibility.
This is clay ready to be sculpted with.
• Leather-hard most of the moisture is
gone
• less plastic
• good for building
• Greenware a completed
bone-dry piece of clay
• Has not been fired in the kiln
Tools
• needle tool a pointed tool used to
score and cut clay pieces.
• loop tool a tool with a loop at the
end used for “scooping” out
excess clay
Modeling tool
• A tool used to smooth, mold, and move
the clay into its desired form
• kiln an oven used to fire clay
• Our projects will be fired at ~2000 degrees
• Bisqueware clay that has
been fired once.
glaze
• a glass-like paint used to cover the surface
of a piece of clay. Becomes glossy and
shiny in the kiln.
• used to decorate, strengthen, or
waterproof a piece of clay
ADDITION IN CLAY
How would we get these
additions to stay fixed to our
clay box?
RELIEF (SUBTRACTION) IN
CLAY
What tools could we use to
subtract clay from the surface?
• Needle tool
• Loop tool
Template
• A piece of paper or cardboard that shows
what size and shape your clay piece will
look like
• We cut around it so that clay slabs are all
the exact same size