Project 1 - Slab Building with Slump Mold
Planning: As opposed to my pinch pots which would usually end up not so very good, I wanted to make a cup using coil potting as I believed this would be more controllable.
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Description of Process: I started by extruding a bunch of coils (i love extruding!!) and used my hands to make the coils a bit smaller because they were too big at first. I then placed a coil down and scored and slipped it together to form a circle. With this size as a basis for the next coils I cut more and more the same size and started placing them on top of each other after scoring and slipping. I made sure to smooth out the edges as I went rather than wait until the coils were all finished being placed. This is because in a previous attempt at this I waited until the end which meant on the inside I was unable to reach to smooth out the coils which meant I had to restart. I then cut out a base to add and scoredand slipped that on. After further smoothing of the edges it was complete.
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Reflection: The main issues with it are the lack of uniformity in the sides. At some points, it juts out which is as a result of the coils not being the exact same size. Next time I would use a string or something like that to measure out a coil size and use that as the guide for further ones made, or some other system to make sure they are all the same length. I would also wedge the clay better prior to putting it into the extruder because the coils had weird gunk on them that had to be smoothed out prior to use. There are cracks present in the final product as a result of the clay beginning to get dry, so I would likely either use wetter clay to start with or just go faster so that the clay didn't dry out.
No firing ticket available as I did not fire this.
Project 2 - Sgraffito
Planning: I wanted to make a cup or bowl with details on it rather than some type of drawing on a tile or something similar as I have a significant lack in traditional artistic ability.
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Description of Process: I first made a pretty basic cup with a slab-building method and a slump mold. The process was very similar to what is described in the project above, but this I think was more successful around the seams due to it being my second try at this technique. I then put underglaze around the entire outside of the cup. Once that was dried I used a signing tool to make details. I went with hexagons because I like hexagons, but I found it hard to keep a consistent size for them. After this, I used normal glaze on the inside.
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Reflection: When doing the underglazing I wish I had done two layers, as it does not seem to perfectly cover the clay in all spots. I additionally wish I had cut out a hexagon with paper to use as a guide for the ones made onto the cup, as freehanding the hexagons made it very hard to keep a consistent size. I also wish I made the seams between the bottom and sides of the cup more smooth, as trying to go over them with the signing tool led to a part breaking off which can be seen in the photo at the bottom. Most of these are issues with the sgraffito rather than the cup. I am happy with the cup itself, and I have found that the slab-building method leads to much smoother pieces for myself than coil building and especially pinch potting.
Project 3 - Coil Building
Planning: In my middle school ceramics class I made a cup using a technique like this so I wanted to recreate it. I was hoping that this time it would be better due to me no longer being in middle school
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Description of Process: I started off by using the clay flattening machine to make a slab of clay. This took a few tries to be able to get a good piece of clay but I eventually got a good slab. I then cut out a rectangular piece of clay using a felting knife that would be used for the main part of the cup and kept the extra clay so I could later make a base for it. I then arranged this rectangle of clay around an Arizona can found outside. To combine the two ends together I cut the edge at an angle and scored and slipped, as doing so at the normal 90-degree angle would make them not fit correctly. I then used this circumference to cut out a circle that would be used for the base and scored and slipped this on. I used my thumb to make these pieces all have better flow. I then used a very narrow rectangle of clay and turned it around to create a handle that is shaped somewhat like a question mark (?).
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Reflection: This was not a particularly challenging piece, so not much went wrong thankfully. It took a few tries to be able to get the hang of the flattening machine but the final result was adequate. Making a perfectly 90-degree angle rectangle was also kinda hard because I was doing so fully freehanded, but I was able to correct any errors once I had the rectangle assembled on the slump mold. By the time I started making the handle the clay was somewhat dry, which meant that manipulating the clay into the needed shape led to it cracking a lot and the final product not looking as good as I wanted. If I did it again I'd either make the handle first, use not dry clay, or manipulate it slower to reduce the amount of cracks.
No firing ticket available as I did not fire this.
Project 4 - Relief Carving Revisted
Planning: My ​previous relief carving was a very basic hexagon so with this one I decided to do a slightly more complex drawing while still remaining simple due to my very poor traditional drawing skills. I like going to the gym so I made a 45lbs gym plate for a barbell.
Description of Process: I first wedged clay and flattened it out using a rolling pin. I realized the rolling pin method was not effective in creating a smooth product so I used the big flattening machine which was able to produce a very uniform slab of clay. After this, I used a felting knife to make a hexagon and then used a loop tool to carve out a circle. I wanted to add the depth that gym plates have, which I did by carving the inside of the circle. This was done with a signing tool instead of a loop tool so that finer precession could be achieved. I then tried to make the details in words onto the plate such as "45lbs" and "barbell" but this was hard to do and made it not look very good.
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Reflection: The main issue with this is the attempt at the text. I believe this is as a result of two factors. Firstly, the tile itself is quite small, which means the space I had to work with to create the text was also small. If this area was expanded more detailed and better-looking text could be made. Secondly, I used the 2nd smallest size of signing tool available rather than the smallest. If I had used the smallest size possible then more detail could also be made which would lead to more legible text. Aside from this, I think I did an okay job, as this seems like something hard to create using relief carving unless the text added made it very clear it was a barbell plate.
no firing ticket available as I did not fire this.
Project 5 - Slab Building with Darts
Planning: I wanted to make some kind of vase with a smooth rounded top.
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Description of Process: I started by making a slab building that additionally used a slumb mold for structural support. This structural support was vital as this piece was much taller than my previous works in slab building, which meant it was not structurally sound in its plastic form prior to drying out. I then made 2 antagonistic triangles on the top as darts. These were done at an angle relative to the path of the sides so that they could be connected. Each side of the triangles was then scored and slipped together so that sides that concave could be formed. Because I only used 2 darts an unsymmetrical shape was formed, but I ended up liking it and kept making the piece. After the darts were smoothed a base was created using methods similar to what has been used in projects listed above.
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Reflection: I am overall happy with this piece. It was originally meant to be a vase for multiple flowers, but because the darts were made very wide and the original shape itself was not very wide the top was very small. This makes it ideal to display only one or possibly a few flowers at a time, which has its charm to it making me not unhappy with the piece. As a result of using only two darts, the top is not symmetrical in all 2 dimensions when viewed from the top, but I am not unhappy with this as I believe it looks cool.
no firing ticket is available as I did not fire this.
Project 6 - Monster
Planning: I made the monster from the photo
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Description of Process: I made a coil using the extruder and thinned it out slightly using my hands as it was just a little bit too thick. I then used a felting knife to cut an edge to it like seen in the left side of the worm's body. I then made a circle of clay and scored and slipped it onto the uncut side of the coil. A signing tool was used afterwards to create eyes and a face. I then used the flattening machine to make a thin slab of clay that can be used to make triangles to add to the top. These at first were not slipped on properly which meant I had to retry with better techique. After this the peice was fired and I used glaze to create the color. Mulitiple layers of glazed were used to both make sure no parts were uneven and make sure the black spikes did not bleed onto the yellow body.
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Reflection: I am not sure if I should be happy with the peice or not. On one had at face value the product itself looks very rudimetry as it is basically just a strip of clay with some spikes on it. However, when the fact that that it essentially what was drawn to ispire from it may be viewed as less bad. I was considering adding extra detail to the worm to make it look cooler, but was unsure what to do. A quite comical top hat was at one point considered and even made, but I did not want to add extra stuff to the monster because it may have lead to the child not liking it anymore.
Project 7 - Poem Response
not yet made because no poem is avaible
Planning:
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Description of Process:
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Reflection: