Ceramics I

I am by far the most proud of my artist inspired piece because I feel like it shows how much I have improved throughout the year compared to my first pieces of the year (although I do still love my natural sphere). I love how the rock is rough but the bird is smooth, giving the piece a textural contrast. The skull in the cave under the bird adds a bit of contrast too as it is bright white (C-10) compared to the rest of the piece which is the darkest shade of black I could find (C-1). This project taught me that I can be inspired by a piece and borrow a concept from it without stealing everything about it. Now while for this piece I borrowed the dark bird and rough texture concepts, I transformed the piece into my own and turned it into something I actually enjoy. However, if I were to redo this I would have glazed the bird and rock separate from the skull and then put the skull in using glaze to prevent the black that dripped onto the skull (although it does look cool).

This class has shown me that I can make amazing works with just my hands and a chunk of the earth. For some reason I find the thought of that really cool and I'm hoping to continue on with this because I like how I can make amazing pieces that I can just change as I go on. I like that even though I have a sketch I am able to branch off and even encouraged to branch off because that gives me more of a feel of freedom with my art. I'm also even more impressed by ceramic art now than I was before because I see how difficult it is to make a piece that breaks so easily and takes so much trial and error to make. Being in this class has also lead to outside research on how pottery was made in the past and different culture's styles and famous works of art. This class has really helped my grow as an artist on many fronts.

One recommendation I have for this class is possibly getting a TA because there is a lot of time when Mr. A is too busy to get to me or another person in time and then a mistake may happen on a piece. However, having a TA may help with answering easy questions and showing techniques to people who need help. A TA could also help checking over artist portfolios for artist statements so grades get out quicker. They could also help with organizing glazes and such, which would save a lot of time when students search for glazes and can't find what they need because another student left a huge mess. Another critique is maybe teaching two or three techniques for certain things so students have a backup if one way isn't working for them. Also maybe having louder students be slightly less distracting when it is a work period because it makes it very difficult for those trying to get actual work done rather than playing MASH or hangman.