Last week we turned our thoughts to a very different time and a very different place: 210–209 BCE and the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, to be precise.
Before he died, the Emperor had craftspeople create a Terracotta Army for him which consisted of thousands of soldiers, chariots and horses which were buried with him and who were to protect him in the afterlife. Not one to tolerate boredom, he also had made various acrobats, strongmen and musicians to keep him entertained. What would have made the afterlife much more enjoyable, was if he could have packed some of the Afterschoolers in there with him. We liked the idea and got to work making our own terracotta army!
We started off by sketching out some of our ideas. What would we look like as terracotta warriors?
We then rolled our sleeves up and started to sculpt with clay, just as those craftspeople did in Ancient China. We paid special attention to facial expressions and postures. It wasn’t long before our clay figures were dry enough to be fired in the MMS kiln, HOT MAMA, and out they came – transformed and ready to be glazed!
Once glazed they will be back in the HOT MAMA kiln for a second firing, after which they will be complete and we will have our own fabulous array of magical warriors keeping watch over the studio… expect more pictures next week!