Ceramics 1

“The Duck Pond” 

6 x 4.5 x 2, Stoneware and Glass, 2022

My idea for this project was to create a ducky pond. It was my first time working with clay and I didn't exactly know what to make. So I started sculpting and made little ducks and a pond. The hardest part for me was making the duck wings the same on both sides. My favorite part is the larger duck, I think he is so cute and the small one looks kinda creepy. 

“Slump and Drape Bowl” 

7.9 x 7.8 x 1.5, Stoneware and Glass, 2022  

Well, this project was our first thing to do, and it was a way for us to try out the new slab roller. I took a rolled-out piece of clay and then took a pattern and rolled that over the clay to make an imprint. I then slumped it over a styrofoam circle. I cut off the extra clay and shaped it with a sponge and put it in the kiln. After it came out, I chose my glaze colors. I wanted a bright blue and pink but they came out brownish and mauve pink. This artwork is supposed to be a bowl. I will probably give it to my grandma as a bowl she can use in her kitchen. It looks a lot like one of the spaghetti bowls we have at home. 

The most difficult part for me was imprinting the pattern. I could never push it down hard enough, and I had to redo it way too many times. I eventually had a friend help me and got good at it by the number of times I had to do it. I would probably change the weird shape. It's kinda wonky and not a perfect circle. 

I think the colors make this unique to me or the pattern I chose. The flowers are so pretty. My favorite part of this piece is probably how good the imprinted pattern is. It looks perfect. I also made a smaller one as well but ended up donating it to the wave of light fundraiser, forgetting to take a picture of it. It was the same colors as the larger one with a little leaf pattern on the inside. The green pot on the bottom was my first attempt, I forgot that I had done it and did the one above it as well.

“Pitcher”

4.3 x 1.2 x 5.5, Stonewear and Glass, 2022

Just like the slump and drape bowl, this was another thing that we were supposed to do to get the hang of clay. It is a pitcher! You roll out a slab of clay and then roll a pattern on it. If you, want you can keep it smooth; I chose a flowery pattern! Then after that, I took the pattern for the pitcher and cut it out of my clay. You want your clay to not be too soft and so I had to wait before I actually put it together. On my first attempt, I left the clay out without a bag and it dried completely out. I had to scrap the clay. But then after the clay drys out just a bit, you take the clay and pinch it together to make the spout of the pitcher. From there, you attach the clay to a base and you can add a handle. I chose not to because I wanted mine as a flowerpot, almost. After that, I put it in the kiln and then painted it. I chose a tanish for the inside and I combined pink and blue to create a purple, but it turned out more mauve with bits of blueish throughout.

 The most difficult part was again imprinting the pattern. I never pushed down hard enough. I would probably next time try to not make it sink in on the bottom. That was probably just because my clay was a little too wet yet before I started molding it. I also wish the colors were brighter. I think the pattern is unique to me. It's a flowery pattern, and it is my little touch on it. I love how simple but cute the pitcher is. 

“Wheel Thrown Pottery”

2.5 x 3.2 x 1.8, 2.8 x 3 x 3.6, Stonewear and Glass, 2022

We made cups and pots on the wheel. It was my first time, and it was pretty difficult. We first had to take a ball of clay and wedge it to get all the air bubbles out. We had to then get a big bowl of water because the clay had to stay supper wet during the entire process. I had to take a little piece of clay after I picked out which wheel I was going to use. And smooth it down all over the wheel. This way the clay stuck. When we threw it down. I then had to center the clay, conning it up and down so that eventually my hands glided smoothly. I then slowly pushed my thumbs into the clay to shape it into my pot. Then you took a wire cutter to cut it off the bottom of the wheel. We then had to wait a few days for it to dry out a little to then cut off the icky bottom parts. I put it in the kilim and they were ready to glaze. I decided for my little pot it would be purple with a white stripe, and for the other one, I wanted to experiment with glaze, so I used purple and topped it with white to see if I could get any cool effects. 

The most difficult part for me was probably centering my clay. It seemed like every time I did a second later, it would throw off course again. I eventually managed to get it centered and went with it. I would probably change the glaze on the left one. Actually, the white stripe didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. This artwork is unique to me, because it is what I managed to make on the wheel, and the colors I used as well. I think I love the colors on the right one the most. It's just so pretty how the glaze turned out.

“Mushroom Man” 

1.5 x 2.3 x 2.5, Stonewear and Glass, 2022

I honestly made this quickly one day during class because I needed an expressive piece. I knew I wanted something that I would actually like and a lot of people in my class were making mushrooms, so I decided I would as well with a twist. And then I found a picture of the mushroom guy online and knew I had to make him. I first started by sculpting the mushroom out of wet clay, then I glazed him. I chose a reddish pink for the mushroom top because I knew that it most likely would come out more red. I choose a white for the mushroom spots, a tannish for the mushroom body, and a light blue for his feet. This artwork is just a simple figure of a mushroom, I thought the picture I found was so cute I had to make one. 

I think the most difficult part was the glazing to make sure the mushroom top and spots didn't blend together. I used a smaller brush and took my time and it worked out fine! If I could start over, I would most likely make the eyes a little bigger and fuller and make the feet a brighter blue. I love how cute it turned out and how the glaze didn't blend like I thought it might have. It's original to me because it's cute and small and has my own personality to it.

“Teapot”

10 x 4.9 x 4.2, Stoneware on glass, 2022

My idea was originally to make both a Chip and Miss pots out of clay, but I wasn't sure about the colors and it took too long to sculpt the teapot so I just decided it would simply be a teapot, this way I could glaze it however I wanted. I first sculpted the base of the teapot. I used the slab roller to make my base. Then I used the coil press to make a bunch of coils. I then used more wet slip kind of to fill in any gaps and smooth out the body of the teapot. I then sculpted and attached the handle and spout using the slip-and-score method. It went into the kiln room and I glazed it. I had to re-glaze it because it wasn't the right color and it bled. 

The most difficult part was sculpting the base. I started with thin coils which were hard to work with and I had to start over a lot. One problem I had been it got too thin and unstable as I brought it in, so instead of caving out like it was supposed to, it caved out. Mrs. Dunlavey helped a lot to smooth the teapot out and shape it. If I was to start over, I would actually try to make the top stay on the teapot. Currently, it's a little wonky with some gaps. I think it's unique to me because it's not perfect and is a little wonky. I love how the glaze turned out. I think it looks like snow, and it actually works so winning!

“Mr. and Mrs. Blobs Date” 

39 seconds, model clay, Imovie, scene thing, 2022

This claymation is a video of Mrs. and Mr. Blobs' date. They decide to have a sweet picnic in the woods but quickly are interrupted by a bear who comes out of the bushes to steal their food. I personally sculpted Mrs. Blob and the baby blob who comes out at the end. My favorite part is when they unload the blanket because it's so cute. And if I could change anything I would want to add them actually eating food out of the picnic basket.