Concentration #5

For this assignment, we were asked to create our final sculptural project that was represented by our concentration. I wanted to use clay as my material to end my series strong, since my strongest skill is ceramics. At the time of making this project, I was doing a research project in Spanish on an Uruguay ceramicist named Lidya Buzio, who would paint on her pieces before firing them. This resulted in a very vintage looking effect, which I wanted to attempt for my last concentration. I started by making a simple vase, using two slabs and rounding out the top of the form. From there, I allowed it to dry out until it was in the greenware stage. I painted on three coats of black underglaze for my background color. Then, I used yellow, orange, blue, purple, and green underglazes to paint on three different floral designs. I only did two coats of these colors because I wanted them to have a sheer look to them to mock flower petals.

After the bisque firing, I glazed the piece with three coats of clear glaze to seal in the design and give my vase a glossy finish. Once the coats were evenly applied and dried, I fired my sculpture for the second and final time. Overall, I am very happy with my final sculpture for this class and my concentration. I enjoyed researching an artist and their design process, and it was a cool way to find new ceramic techniques. If I could go back and change anything about my fifth concentration, I would make the form of the clay more interesting, and, if I had more time, construct it out of coils instead of a slab.