Ceramics 2

I think my time during ceramics II was extremely successful, because I was able to relearn all the techniques I learned in ceramics 1 ( since had been over a year since I took that class) and not only was I able to sort of relearn those techniques I was able to test my knowledge and skill on those techniques into some really cool and fun projects. I also learned how to make new things I had never made before, like a teapot, and a plaster mold which was an incredible experience.  The hardest thing for me while taking this course,  was relearning all the techniques again in the beginning because it had been a while since I had taken ceramics 1 so my skills were a little rusty, I had to relearn how to coil again, and how to use the slab roller, I also had to relearn the most effective ways to smooth things out or attach things, I overcame this difficulty by just continuing to try. I didn't give up if my coils weren't perfect, or if my slabs weren't big enough, I just continued trying until I got the result I was hoping for. 

My favorite project this year was definitely the tile project, because I had never done a project like it before, I had never made a plaster mold before, and I also had never designed my own tile before. This project was a lot of fun throughout the whole process, and it also taught me a lot about how to fix certain things with my mold or the tiles themselves, I loved the whole process of making the first tile, and then popping the tiles out of the old, to glazing them when they are done. My least favorite project was probably duality, just because it ended up not really turning out the way I wanted it too. It ended up being bigger than I wanted it to be, and I didn't really like the way the handle turned out. I also felt sort of rushed during this project because my time left at school was running really low, and I knew I still had to glaze these projects, as well as other ones which put some pressure on me to finish the duality project, which I think contributed to me not really liking the outcome. 

My approach on working with clay coming into ceramics II as opposed to ceramics 1 was definitely different because I remembered things from ceramics 1 that I knew I wanted to improve on or change about projects I was going to make, whereas with ceramics 1 I came into the class know basically nothing about clay.  I also had the skills from ceramics 1 going into ceramics II and it was just a matter of relearning them in ceramics II which is easier than learning them for the first time. I definitely feel that ceramics 1 prepared me for ceramics II because the projects we did in ceramics II were much more complex and they take a lot more knowledge than the projects we did in ceramics 1. I don't think I would have been able to complete these projects without the knowledge I took away from ceramics 1 or at least not to the degree in which I completed these projects.