Ceramics

Trenton Tapke "Magnent"

Stoneware and Paint, 2"x 2", 2025

This magnet I made in the form of my sister was supposed to look like a volleyball. My sister plays volleyball, so I decided to make a little magnet of a volleyball.  Mostly inspired by my sister. 

The process was simple and something small to start with. I made a small piece of clay into a ball by rolling it in my hands, and then I cut it in half. After I got it cut in half, I made a small indent on the bottom for airflow in the kiln.  The magnet was then sanded down with sandpaper and then painted with acrylic paint. The last step was to put the magnet on, and then it was finished. 

 I want people to see that everything is not perfect. This piece didn't turn out the best, but it shows art. 

The difficult things that I struggled with were making it the perfect shape, like half of a volleyball, also it came out a little rough when handling the piece.  When I started to paint the piece, the lines were not straight and didn't look right. I would change the shape to be a bit flatter and the lines to be correct and straight. 

This art would be ceramics, which consist of clay and are put in a kiln. It's unique because it's not perfect at all. 

Trenton Tapke "Pumpkin"

Stoneware and Glaze, 7"x 8", 2025 

This was a pumpkin that I had made from clay coils (strings of clay). I thought that this would be a good decoration for my mom, or could be used to put different things in it, like different candies or something like that. 

The first process was to make a clay coil with the coil extruder and make enough for the size of pumpkin you want, or you could also make more. Next, i sated the procece of overlaping the coils and every there levels i smoothed the coils, then proceeded to work my way up and in to make it the pumpkin shape that I wanted it to be. I would use a rib tool and my hands to smooth the coils out. After the shape of the pumpkin was formed, I could bed the clay a bit to form it to spec. I then made the top/lid of the pumpkin by making a coil circle, then smoothing that out, and then attaching it to the pumpkin. After that, I made the stem for the pumpkin and used a fork to make a rough stem like a pumpkin, and used slip and score to connect it, and also had to cut out the lid. Lastly, it was put in the kiln, then i sanded the pumpkin and glazed it with Albany brown and an emerald green glaze. 

This piece of artwork shows people fall theme, and I want people to know that it's a fall decoration and that you can also put things inside. 

I thought that the top of the pumpkin/the lid was kind of difficult when i was putting the stem on, becasuse it wanted to collapse because it was thinner, and I had to apply force for it to stick nicely. I thought that this turned out quite nicely, and I enjoyed making this. 

This art is ceramics, and what makes it unique is that I made it to how I wanted it to be, and I could put whatever specs I wanted to have on it, and it was nice that I could do whatever I wanted to. I like how the glazes turned out and how they look very similar to a real pumpkin. 

Trenton Tapke "Pitcher"

Stoneware and Glaze, 4"x 7", 2025 

  This pitcher was inspired by nature, and the pattern that I chose to put on it shows nature.  It can also relate to other stonewares with other natural patterns engraved on them. 

The first process of making this pitcher was to get a good piece of clay, then get it into a flat square or rectangle to put it in the slab roller to get a nice, even slab of clay to use. Next, I got an outline for a pitch, and there were many different outlines to choose from. Then I cut the clay piece out, along with rolling the pattern on and then attaching the two ends to make the form of the pitcher, and using slip and score. After that, I smoothed out the creases and streaks on the pitcher. Then I made the base/bottom for the pitcher to be able to hold liquid, followed by slipo and score, and smoothing out the creases. At the end, it was put in the kiln and then glazed in an emerald color. 

I want my audience to be able to see nature in this piece of art. And this pitcher was meant for water and can resemble a waterfall when pouring it out of the pitcher. something like a waterfall in nature. 

The most difficult part of this piece was probably slipping and scoring everything to make it strong, and it kept falling apart, so I made deeper scratches to latch more. I think it didn't turn out too badly. 

This style is ceramics. It makes it personal because it an natural and I'm a person who likes to be out in nature, so it reminds me of nature. 

Trenton Tapke "Charcuterie Board"

 Stoneware and Glaze, 1.5"x 10", 2025 

This charcuterie board also shows nature and is inspired by nature, and the pattern that I chose to put on it also shows nature.  It can also relate to other stonewares with other natural patterns engraved on them. This piece is a matching piece to the pitcher. 

This process of making this was somewhat simple. The first step was to get some clay and flatten it to a square or flat rectangle, then take it to the slab roller to make it a perfect slab to use. Then I got 3 circular rings, 1 big and 2 smaller, and cut them out and rolled the pattern on them. Then I used those rings to put those circular pieces of clay on them to push down into the rings to make them a bowl form. Then I took the 3 bowls and connected them by slipping and scoring. After that, I smoothed out all of the places that needed to be smoothed and the creases. Then it was put in the kiln, followed by applying a coat of glaze. 

I want my audience to be able to see nature in this piece of art. This can resemble the bowls holding water like a pond in nature. 

The most difficult part of this piece was probably slipping and scoring everything to make it strong, and it kept falling apart, so I made deeper scratches to latch more. I think it didn't turn out too badly. Also had to be careful not to get glaze on the bottom. 

This style is ceramics. It makes it personal because it an natural and I'm a person who likes to be out in nature, so it reminds me of nature. 

Trenton Tapke "Wheel Bowl"

 Stoneware and Glaze, 2.5"x 4", 2025 

This bowl is inspired by the other stoneware that I have created in ceramics class, and I wanted to change up the color, so I chose a black-ish color. 

The process of this bowl was pretty simple for the most part, first had to prep everthing including the throwing wheel. Grabbed a chunk of clay and centered it on the wheel. After that, I started to form the piece of clay, along with centering it to make it well-centered. Following that step i started to open it up and form the bowl by using tools. After that, I did some final touches and then let it dry folowed by putting it in the kiln. When it came out of the kiln, I sanded it down to make the bowl smooth.  I finally put 3 layers of glaze on, then put it in the kiln for the final fire, and it was ready.

I want to show people my first time throwing ona wheel and how it turned out, and to show that it takes more than one time to be good on the wheel. 

The most difficult part of this project was centering the chunk of clay. It took me many tries to be able to make it stick so it would not just slide of/ unstick from the wheel when I would start to apply pressure.

This style is ceramics/stoneware and glaze. This is a learning piece because it turned out far from perfect and needs skill to make good potery of a wheel. 

Trenton Tapke "Stop Motion"

 Non Ceramics 2026

This was inspired by other stop motion projects, but we did our own idea.

The process consisted of gathering materials to make the stop motion by making a good background. We found some objects that we thought would be suitable for the project.  We slowly inched each object more and more each time and took a picture each time we moved the objects. eventually we had to put all of the photos in one video, along with adding a sound and caption to it. 

Wanted to show people what it's kind of like to make a stop motion video. 

The most difficult part was probably putting all the pictures in a video and adding sounds to it. 

The style of this project was non-ceramics. This was a good way to learn new things, such as making a stop motion. 

Trenton Tapke "Origomi Box"

 Non Ceramics 2026

This was inspired by other origami projects

The process was simpe had to get a piece of paper, fold it about 12 ish timed, then had to repeat that with another piece. After that i had to put them together by weaving and connecting them with tape. Then twisted it to make it a box.

Wanted to show people what it's kind of like to make an origami box.

The most difficult part was probably folding it and weaving it together. 

The style of this project was non-ceramics. This was a good way to learn new things, such as making an origami box.