I feel like my experience in ceramics 2 was successful. I learned a few new techniques and bettered my skills with sculpting. I also learned a lot about different artists and art styles. Ceramics 2 was different from Ceramics 1 because I think Ceramics 1 was more working on technique and not as much on the project outcome itself. I think in Creamics 2, we had a lot more room for creativity and more room to make whatever we wanted. The hardest thing about this course was getting everything done on time. Some of my projects took more time than others, so I had to work on them longer. I had to manage the time I had in class well and think about all the things I needed to do, like sculpting and glazing, and I had to remember to take photos of my work, and in the process. Because of this struggle, I came up with a strategy where I would alternate the difficulty of projects. For example, I would make one project hard to make and know that it would take me a lot of time to finish. Then the next project would be one that would be fairly simple but still have some cool parts to it, so then when that was done, I could go back to working on my hard project before the next one is introduced.
My favorite project this year would be my artist-inspired project. I just think this turned out so, so well, and it was fun to make because I tried to make it in a way that I have never tried before. I think it was a good challenge, but also not too hard, as it took me an eternity to do. I love the texture and the pattern, and I love the glaze I used. I'm also happy that I made it a set with both a cup and a bowl because I think they complement each other well and look cute. The hardest project was probably the teapot one. For this project, I think I just chose a design with a lot of parts, and it was a fairly large size. I liked how it turned out, aside from the glaze choice. I think my pot just lacked the texture I was hoping for. I wish I had made a water or wave texture on the body of the pot to add some interesting parts. I do love the octopus, though, and I think it's cool how it wraps around the teapot.
This class was super fun. I had a small class, so materials were very well shared, and there was plenty of clay for everyone. I think everything was easy to understand, and there weren't many demonstrations, which was good for time management. I liked how Mr. A would walk around to every individual and see how they were doing with their work, and how he was able to help everyone individually. Having a small class was actually kind of helpful.