Artist Inspired
Glazes used: C-53 C-49+HF-10
The assignment for this project was to find a ceramic artist whose work we liked to use as inspiration. The person I chose was Joe Page, his work is based on the shape of bubbles/clouds. I chose his work because I liked the way his work followed a simplistic shape, but at the same time used bright colors and arranged his work in a very specific way. But what made me want to use his work as inspiration was his ceramic “cloud cups.” As soon as I saw them I immediately had a few ideas as to how I could use the shape of a cloud in my project.
How I arranged my work was first making a slab the height and length I wanted and stood it up to manipulate it into the top of the cloud, so when looking at it in an atrial view you can see the cloud shape. Then I used a slab to make the bottom flat part of the cloud and attached the two pieces. After this, I made another slab, placed the cloud on top, and cut it around to make the bottom of the cloud bowl. When firing oftentimes pieces crack where clay is connected, so to avoid this I made small coils from excess clay so blend into the seems. I then repeated this proses to make my second bowl. One way my work evolved was the shape, it took me a few tries to get the cloud shape that I wanted.
I chose to make these cloud bowls because I think there are many uses for them, from a jewelry bowl to a place to put your change. I like making practical things rather than just decorative because I like being able to use them in my day-to-day life. I am proudest of the quality of my work, specifically how I made sure to pay extra attention to the construction of my pots. Also how I incorporated Page's work and style yet really made it my own. One thing that was a big struggle for me was finding glazes that I liked and related to the artist, the glazes I decided to use were Cs because in Page's "cloud cups," it looks like he was using C glazes or glazes that were similar. But the C glazes that matched Page's color scheme that I was looking for were all out. I did end up finding a color that would work, C-53, and C-49 which I mixed with HF-10 to make it lighter.