Year One Ceramics

Flowering Cactus

For this project I made a cactus. First I used the pinch pot method to make the base. Then I used a wooden tool to create the texture on the sides, and to cut out the petals for the flower. Once it was  fired I added about 3 layers of glaze to make the colors pop. Overall I am happy with how the cactus turned out. If I were to make it again I would probably make the sides look more rough where the spikes would be.

Coil Pot

For my coil pot I wanted it to make it look like there are flowers going up the pot. To do this I had big swirls at the bottom of the pot and slowly made them smaller as it got to the top of the pot. If I could do something different I would have used a lighter green on my straight coils and used a lighter purple. I also would have gotten more in the creases with the glaze. Overall I am proud of the outcome of my pot.

Candle Holder

Above is a video of my candle holder before I broke it and became very depressed.

This is my candle holder after it was fired. I am very pleased with how it came out. I love how the purple gets darker in the holes and in the "stems". If  i could redo this project I would sand it a little light so I would not break it!

For my family project I chose to make a family of elephants because elephants always stay with their family. I made an elephant to represent each of my family members. I made each  elephant with the pinch method and glazed them with metallic. I am very proud of the outcome of my project. If I could improve on them I wold redo the biggest one (the dad). When he was drying I accidentally broke his trunck so I had to use slip to fix it. When I did this I ended up making it a little sloppy.

For my large slab construction I chose to make it frog themed. I first made my frog my making a smaller slab in an oval shape. Then I laid it sideways and added legs and eyes. The I ended up making a slab lily pad to accompany it. To make this I made two lily pad shaped slabs and made a long rectangle to wrap around it. After I created that I  make a flower for the top. I am very proud with how this project turned out.

Mishima

When using the mishima technique you start of by getting your slab. After you have a surfaceyou get your tools and carve a design. Then dab the glaze into your lines. Then get a sponge and wipe off the rest of the glaze. Now you are ready to fire! (This is the technique I will be using)

(picture from https://www.amaco.com/clay_how_tos/178 )

 My Example

Sgraffito

Start off by putting your glaze over your whole peice. Have your design ready on another paper and transfer it onto your surface. Get your tool  and outline what you traced. Now scrape away all of the areas around your outline to make your design pop. Now you are ready to fire!!

(picture from https://www.amaco.com/clay_how_tos/178 )

My Example

Sprigging

Sprigging is when you make a design with thin clay and then you attach it to your sculpture/ base. Another  way  is  to  use plaster and create a mold for your clay.  After you mold it you attach it to your piece.

( photo from https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/daily/pottery-making-techniques/ceramic-decorating-techniques/how-to-use-thin-sprigs-and-carving-to-add-surface-texture/ )

My Example

Slip Trailing

Slip trailing is when you use slip to make designs on your piece. Once you put slip on your peice in thin designs it rises and pops out, which makes texture on your piece.

(photo from https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/daily/pottery-making-techniques/ceramic-decorating-techniques/slip-trailing-for-beginners-a-primer-on-a-great-ceramics-decorating-technique/ )

My Example

Impressing Texture 

When you press a design into soft clay to make a unique texture.You can also use different shapes and stamp them into the clay to make a design.

(photo from https://missbaide.wordpress.com/textural-slab-construction/ )

My Example

My Sculpture will be a coffee mug

My design will be cacti

For this project I tried to incorporate all the techniques I learned, and separate them in geometric shapes. As you can see my pot exploded. I tried to preform very intense surgery on it, but it did not make it out of the kiln.  I plan on breaking this up and turning this into a mosaic.

After smashing my already broken pot into pieces I glazed over all of them with clear glaze and touched up the pieces that lost their color. After this I used plaster to stick all of the pieces to the table. To make the edges of the table look neat, I added a design around the edge. Overall, I am very happy how the table turned out (but I still wish the pot did not break).

For this project I chose to make a pot to plant succulents in. Once I constructed my box I made a sticker that read "abby", and I put it on the side of the pot and painted over it. To glaze my pot I used sponges, which let me blend the colors where they meet. I am very satisfied with the outcome of my pot!

When you watch people wheel throw it looks pretty easy, and you might think you can make something cool on your first or second try. That is what I thought, and I found out I was very wrong. When wheel throwing, the first thing you have to do is center your clay. The first few times I attempted this I did not know what I was trying to do or how to do it. This simple task took me a while to figure out, but by the my third day of throwing I became pretty good at it. After centering you have to make your blob into a bowl (or something else) by making a hole in the top. This part always started out good for me, but as I stated to try and play with it to get the right shape it would get tricky. In my maroon pot, The swivel design happened by mistake when I messed up on trying to make the pot wider. Also, my elephant earring try was a large pot but when I was trying to fix the shape I broke the whole top half off. My blue pot is a little lopsided, but after the first two I did not want to play with it too much and destroy it. My pink pot is my favorite because I actually made what I wanted to for the first time. Overall I am very pleased with how my wheel throwing projects turned out. 

For my wind-chime I wanted to make it simple and complex at the same time. To accomplish this I make small squares and balls. To make each square unique I stamped them all with different patterns. In order to make my balls I had to put them on rods while I painted them so when I put them in the kiln they would not stick to the bottom. When I did this I had to sacrifice a few balls because they either did not fit, or they got stuck to the rod so I had to break them to get them off. Overall I am happy with how this turned out, and I would like to make another one of these one day.