My name is Nathaniel Paynter. I am 11 years old and am an M1 student at Whitney Institute Middle School and I made a peacock.

In Renaissance Club, a Saturday art club run by our visual arts teacher, Tony DeSilva, we were talking about ideas for our clay work.

We talked about making different kinds of birds. One of the ideas Mr DeSilva had was for me to make a peacock. When he asked, I said: “OK.”

I needed clay and paint for the project. I made the shape of the peacock using clay.

I made clay spots to give it a more lifelike appearance. I wet it down to make the sure the shape was correct.

When I was sure it was, we put it in the kiln.

Once it was dry, I painted it using blue, yellow, black and green paints.

I glazed it for a shiny effect. I sprayed small tree branches blue to add some texture to the peacock.

I then sprayed the branches with an adhesive and sprinkled purple, yellow and silver glitter on them.

The feathers, which my mom got from Gibbons Company, were added last.

Creating the peacock took five weeks because I worked on it on Saturdays until the week before the Middle and Senior School Art Show.

Then I worked on it during several of my lunch times.

Mr DeSilva is really creative. He has a lot of good ideas.

He worked with both of my older sisters, Candace’ and Samaria, when they were at Whitney doing clay works.

They had pieces featured in their middle school art shows too.

I enjoyed making the peacock because it was fun making an animal.

I tried to make it as real as possible so I looked at lots of pictures of peacocks.

I enjoy working with clay. I get to make things into shapes with my hands.

It’s sort of messy but I enjoy making that kind of mess!