The Final Piece of the Pie

There's one thing that my kids did in 5th grade art class that I absolutely loved. Austen came home with it at the end of the 5th grade and I couldn't believe how he could create something so beautiful in just the 5th grade. It was a cherry pie. The level of detail on that pie was astounding from the carefully rolled cherries to the lattice work crust to the carefully placed circles of whip cream with the cherry on top. Not only was I very impressed with his eye for detail but I thought it was a huge credit to his art teacher, Mrs. Tiemstra, at the time. 

Austen's Cherry Pie

A few years later came Peyton's piece of pie. By this time Mrs. Tiemstra had retired and we had a new art teacher so we weren't sure if she was going to continue the tradition of having the 5th graders make these pies. We found out the good news that she was going to continue the tradition but the bad news was since it was COVID, they weren't allowed to use the kiln that year. So Peyton didn't make a pie. But Peyton was artistic so she took art classes in middle school and did join the afterschool art club so she had an opportunity to work with clay and she knew that I really wanted another piece of pie. And, one day she did surprise me with her lemon pie (I don't think it was a meringue so not sure where her idea for a lemon pie came from). But, I was thrilled to get another piece of pie. You look at Peyton's pie and it really represents how I've seen her work when we've been paired together doing gingerbread houses. She doesn't like to come up with a plan beforehand, she just likes to see where her art will take her. And, without a teacher guiding her to think about all the details of the pie, she threw all her ingredients in the bowl and came up with something that was very much her.

Peyton's Lemon Pie

Hailey knew how important the final piece of the pie was going to be so she told me halfway through 5th grade that they were working on their pies. She not only had a great teacher guiding her in Mrs. Andrilik but she also had two examples which sat on our island every day and she could study. She chose to make a blueberry pie. But she had studied Austen's as making a blueberry pie is similar to a cherry one. She rolled the clay into little blueberries and painted them after they were fired. Made a crust (not a lattice one) and remembered to put a dollop of whipped cream on the top too. She was so proud when her piece of the pie was complete. And, while I don't have all three at home yet, I'm confident that they will sit somewhere in my kitchen as a reminder of their 5th grade (or middle school as in Peyton's case) years. 

Hailey's Blueberry Pie

I love these cutie pies!