Ceramics

Makaela Shaw “Christmas mug”

4x6, Ceramics, 2021

My idea was that Christmas is coming up and there’s no better way to prepare for Christmas than to have a Christmas mug to have hot chocolate and whatever you prefer in your mug. How I created this project was when I started out shaping this mug. I didn’t exactly know how this was going to turn out because I also didn’t know exactly what I was going to do for this mug, I was just kind of going with the flow. So as I started shaping this mug I added a little handle on the side of the mug to make it actually look like a mug. As it was being completed it was set aside to get fired in the kiln, so as I was waiting for the mug to be done I was thinking about colors that I could choose for this mug, and I knew I wanted to do something along the lines of a Christmas theme. I was either going to do red or green and I was looking at some of the glaze colors we had and I found this really cool looking green color and I chose to do that color over red and I really liked it because it kind of looked rustic at the same time. If I could change one thing about my project I would definitely change the handle on the side of the mug. I feel like I should’ve made it thicker and sturdier than what it is right now, only because I don’t want it to get loose and fall off someday. Something that makes my project unique is that I chose the color green. Not many people use the color green and if they do it’s more of a glossier color green. One thing I like about my project is that I feel like the shape of the body is well done, there’s not really any indents or rough edges.

Makaela Shaw “Boho style Bowl”

5x3, Ceramics, 2021

My idea was definitely to make a bowl with a pattern, I just had no idea what the pattern was going to be. In class we had these templates. It was almost like a boho aesthetic and I really liked it and thought it would look super cool on one of my projects, so that’s pretty much how I got my idea and how it evolved over time. I used a template to press into the project to make sure every little detail was going to be on the project so I had to press down super hard on the template so it would press into the clay. I don’t really know if there’s any meaning. It's just a fun styled bowl with a cool pattern on it and what I would want my audience to think is that it’s more like a boho styled bowl meaning that the pattern is fun-styled and not what you would normally see. The most difficult part was trying to make the bowl look perfect, which it doesn’t, but I didn’t want any rough edges on the side and the bowl was just kind of slanted almost. I definitely would’ve gone in and worked on the bowl itself a little longer instead of making it super quick. My art piece is realistic because this is something that people would see on clay projects or just anything in general especially because that style is making a comeback in society today. I think that because I made it that’s what makes it unique and I made it my own way I didn’t branch off of other projects to get an idea for mine. I definitely love the pattern on the bowl, that’s my favorite part about this project.

Makaela Shaw “Cylinder”

9x3, Ceramics, 2021

My Idea was that I wanted to do something that was more taller rather than wider, The process of building of building something was definitely easier. It easier to connect both of the sides together and to create the bottom part of this project. I had a plan for this project, but the plan I originally had didn’t work out the way I wanted it to. For this project I was looking to do more of a pinky, but not too much pink, so I did a color that’s like a maroon color and I really liked how it turned out, It took longer for me to do this project because I kept trying to get the shape of the cylinder down and the walls would keep breaking either because they were super thin or super thick, So I then measured out the length for this project to make it exact with 9inches, Rather than it being super thin like my other attempts were. If I could change one thing about my project It would be to put details on it and make it have a design on it, but I really do feel like the color enhances my project and makes it still look good without having a design on it.

Makaela Shaw “Expressive”

9x9, Ceramics, 2021

In this project I had exactly no Idea of what I was going to do, I had a few ideas, but never fully came up with a final decision for what I was going to do. I wanted to make something that had a bowl like figure, but wasn’t a bowl at the same time, so I made a bowl just like how you would make any bowl and then I took a cap and put holes on the side of the bowl so that it wouldn’t be useful anymore and then the parts that I poked out of the holes I put them on the bottom as feet. I wanted to do more of a blue color this time because all of my other ones were basic colors, like pink, beige and colors like that so I did like a blue color on this one. If I could’ve done one thing differently with this project it would be to make it more fuller and thicker on the sides meaning so it wouldn’t crack, I got my project back and it was cracked in a few spots. But, one thing I liked about this project was how good it turned out for being limited on time.