Spheres

The assignment was to learn how to make pinch pots and use them to make something simple, 3 spheres. It was an exercise to introduce us to ceramics. Each of my spheres has a different focus, the first one is inspired by something man-made, I chose a statue from Easter Island. The second one was sgraffito where you scratch underglaze after it has dried to make a pattern, I inspired mine from camera film. The third sphere is inspired by something from nature, I chose coral. To make each of these spheres I used brown clay and some tools to attach and smooth the pinch pots.

In each of them there is color, the coral sphere has the most. The coral sphere also has a lot of texture because the coral itself comes off the sphere. On the sgraffito sphere there is contrast between the positive and negative space and there is a pattern that repeats. The Easter Island sphere is simple, but there is emphasis on the nose and eyebrows/eyes. Each of these spheres started as 2 pinch pots, 6 in total. I then attached them using slip. For the first and last sphere I made the 3D pieces separately and then attached them. After they got bisque fired I glazed all of them and then they got fired again. For the Easter Island sphere I mixed sm-1 and sm-11 to glaze it, making it a greyish blue. For the sgraffito sphere I used underglaze v-322 and then HF-10 after it was bisque fired. For my coral sphere I used pc-27 for the background and sm-21, sm-44, sm-51, sm-63 and sm-68. This means the base is shiny and each piece of coral is semi-matte.

These were the first spheres I have ever made and I found them challenging. Now pinch pots are pretty easy for me to make. This relates to my life because it shows my progress. I'm proudest of the Easter-Island sphere because of how unique it is. I think each of these spheres could be stronger with the glazing.