How was the Mural made?

This was a big job for everybody in school. Before we started making the mural it had to be designed. Everybody in school made a picture to go with the theme of Ambleside and the Tree of life. A local artist and potter called Hans Ullrich looked at our designs and chose one by Bethan as the main design. Her drawing showed a village and a lake and a row of mountains behind.

The basic design was made full size on paper and the drawings of every child in school were stuck on to this like a big jigsaw.

When it was all put together on paper we could begin to see what it would look like.

Hans then cut the big design into small tiles that individual childen or adults could make out of clay.

How do you make a tile?

• You take the paper piece and trace the shape onto a rolled out piece of clay.
• You cut out the shape of the tile.
• You then trace and cut out each part of clay that you need to make up the finished tile.
• You stick the parts together using slip (a mixture of clay and water).
• You can use pieces of wood or stone to create interesting textures.

Hans then took the finished tiles to his workshop to glaze and fire them.

A few weeks later all the finished tiles were brought back to school to be stuck onto the wall like a giant jigsaw.

Our thanks must go to Hans Ullrich, his brother and his wife who spent many days in school helping each class and to all the parents who came in to help.