By Riley Fontana
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Westwood Public Library (WPL) has a large variety of programs for the Halloween season. It recently invited Pop-Up Art School to run a clay bobble head workshop. This after-school craft invited kids of all ages to come and create their own custom bobble head.
Lisa Walker ran the program and walked everyone through each step to creating the perfect bobble friend. She brought with her two examples to help get the creative juices flowing showing off a spooky black cat and a skeleton. The possibilities were endless with participants creating witches, ghosts, bunnies, clowns and more. These creations did not have to be Halloween-themed but many people opted to go that route.
This craft is very straightforward for anyone with air-dry clay and acrylic paint. The first step is creating a small pinch pot that rounds in at the opening to form the head of the bobblehead. Participants got creative with their shapes depending on what they were going to make, stretching or shrinking the pot to the perfect size. The next step is to form a base, which has a bigger bottom to balance and a thinner rounded top to hold the head. Once the base and head are formed the fun part begins: decorating.
The children were taught how to create slip, a small amount of water put onto scored clay, to attach arms and hats to their bobbleheads. Lisa was walking through the room demonstrating and helping those who were struggling bring their ideas to life. She helped people think up different creatures to make and helped them visual how to attach different parts. Once happy with the design, acrylic paint was offered to start coloring in and adding details to the bobbleheads. This was the best part for the children, as they could finally see what they had in mind take form.
This is just one of countless programs Pop-Up Art School runs at local libraries. They can be found across Massachusetts teaching children and adults different crafts. Their calendar and more information can be found at https://www.popupartschool.com/. Pop-Up Art School is a can’t-miss experience when they are in town.
