Unit 1 - August
Project 1 - Stamp
For this project, it took me a couple times to create the shape of a stamp that was sturdy while still being small enough to not explode in the kiln. Overall, I like the design of the stamp, but believe there is a lot that could've been done to make it better. For starters, the design is very large and thin, so I didn't have much room to add detail. I also didn't clean up the clay bits before firing, so the top of the stamp is very rigid where I carved out the pattern.
Project 2 - Relief Face
Many mistakes made when creating this project, the most noticeable being the lack of progress photos. I got too frustrated and destroyed later works before taking pictures, meaning my only photo of this project is my initial attempt. In all attempts, eyes were not carved deep enough in, causing them to bug out. On my second attempt of a sun face, It was created flat instead of round like a real face. In the attempt pictured, I made the base too thin, so it wasn't able to hold itself up, and it did not display a real persons face.
Project 3 - Underglaze Painting
My Underglaze painting is my first piece that I am able to use in day-to-day life. When painting, I discovered mistakes are harder to fix and more layers of underglaze are needed when clay is still wet. If I had finished shaping and smoothing my piece, I should've left it to dry for a class before painting. Another thing that I didn't fully do was smooth. Some pieces began falling apart, and I tried smushing them back together and didn't smooth out. Because of this, corners of my plate are more rigid and uneven.
Unit 2 - September
Project 1 - Pinch Pots
Pot #1: Pot Cut in Half
This Pinch pot was easy once I was able to get my hand inside to pinch it out. I think it got to the point of being dangerously thin, so to fix that I can either use bigger amounts of clay or keep smaller bowls. If I were to do this again, I would keep the clay sides a little thicker by using a greater amount of clay.
Pot #2: Practice Pinch Pot
Lots of practice pots made. The ribboned orange one is meant to be a halloween dish and only mistake was a varying thickness. Some of the edges are a lot thinner, while others are thicker. My beginning struggle was getting the glaze to cover all the divots, because some only ended up making very small space on the inside. My other practice pots are in my progress photos, but this is my practice pinch pot I was most proud of. If I were to recreate this, I would make the bottom wider. This would allow for a greater space for use and more room for the divots. I would also smooth out the divot tops more so painting them would be more even rather than the crooked surface they became.
Pot #3: Fitted Lid Pinch Pot
I'm very happy with the way my pumpkin pot turned out . Texture is similar to a pumpkins, which I made by using a dot tool to carve lines that I smoothed out with my finger. My only regret is not getting the lid more round. Because it only has a slight curve to it, the lid doesn't fit snugly on my pot, but the top flattened out, so it is just uneven. The inner lining on lid exists but was made too small, so it still slides around and doesn't have a clean line up, although that is also in part because of the lid curve. If I were to recreate this, I would use a tool to make a thicker lip to my lid, so that it could fit securely. I would also try rounding out my lid more so that it had a pumpkin-like shape. I would make the stem slightly thicker and longer too so that the lid would be easier to pick up.
Pot #4: Two Pinch Pots Put Together
Pot took forever to be successfully done. I have a tendency to make my pots big while equally making the sides very thin to where they won't hold up another. Once pot was formed, lots was carved off, making this not look much like two pots, except for the size difference. Eventually meant to be a second plant holder for my windowsill. If i did this again, I'd keep the sides thicker and try to only shave off in small bits. I would also keep the top curved in, so it didn't get the awkward outward lip that it became. For future plant holders, Ill make either a bigger hole in the bottom, or multiple of them for better water drainage.
Project 2 - Animals Sculpture(s)
For my animal sculptures, I decided to make a miniature snail and duck. Seeing, other projects I wish i would have created something a little larger, but I am very happy with the detailing on both my animals. I created the snail first to be larger, but once creating the shell I found I had to carve off a lot of the body to make it proportional. The antenna were a struggle to score and slip, along with making them equal. I added the small shell carvings after and I think it made the seal a lot more realistic. For my duck, creating the body shape was the hardest part. Once i got it though, making a small ball for the head and two wings were fairly easy, even though the wings are not even. If I were to recreate these, My goal would to make them larger and with more details. My duck could have black eyes and more feathered wings. My snail could have more of a sluggish body, instead of it's very round body that. it has now.
Project 3 - Relief Tile
Super fun to make, I had a few struggles with shaping and depth though. I started with a plain rectangle before carving out a sort of circle to fit the hollowed out head onto my tile. Once my head was secured, I made the arms by cutting long, thin strands of clay that i molded to make the tentacles. Since the clay was drier, I used far too much water to smooth everything out, blurring some smaller details and fully molding thiner tentacle ends into the base clay. I wanted to let it sit for one class to air dry and ended up being gone for a week, so when I got back the clay was bone dry and unable to be molded anymore, forcing my to accept the shaping and carve my pattern. I want to underglaze and use opalescent glaze for a 3D affect. If i were to do this again, I would use a ruler to create an even rectangle, and use wetter clay to begin with so i dint drown my piece. I Wouldn't have carved the head the way I did either, and I would carve it before it got as dry as it was this time.
Project 4 - Historic Piece
Inspired by ancient gondolas of the byzantine empire, I decided to make a small gondola ring holder as my historic piece. On my first attempt, I tried hollowing out the middle, which made my boat too thin and uneven to work. For my second attempt, I flattened my clay and cut out my pieces to score and slip together. This made a much sturdier ad smoother surface to mold and add my pattern too. I underglaze it brown and yellow to portray more of the natural colors of ancient cultures, rather than the more vibrant colors we have now. There isn't much I think i would change in recreating this because my second attempt was so successful. I think my only change would be mapping out the lines for my triangles before carving them, so they were more equal in shape, although the variety of size does add to the "historic" element.
