Artist's Statement:
The assignment for these two projects was to create A: a pot that mimics a historical pot in form, but differs in design, and B: to create to slab cups or mugs that have some form of unity among them. The subject that I chose for my historical pot was a bird pot from persia, and I chose two make two cups to go along with this teapot that I had made. For the glazing, I used black stain to make intricate designs on the teapot and around the edges of the cups, and then used the PC glaze Firebrick Red to add accents according to the bird that I had chosen to paint on the pot. I had chosen to depict the pot as being a black Francolin, because it is a persian bird, and my historical pot that I had chosen was of vague persian origin.
The original Historical Pot that I had chosen did not have a handle or a lid, I had chosen to add those as part of the decorating process. I also changed up the requirements for the Slab Mug project, choosing to use pinch pots on the bottom of my slabs to make them mugs, and also choosing to not have a handle on any of the mugs, but instead have it on the teapot. With the glazing, I used detail to bring attention to the pot, and also selective color to highlight certain details.
I am most proud that I managed to get a remarkably good pour out of the spout. I am also proud of the details that I managed to get on the body of the teapot, and how well the selective coloring of the glazes turned out: I had expected it to be more runny, but it held remarkably well. Some the challenges I faced were related to time; I had rushed a bit to get it glaze fired on time, which resulted in me having to put another layer of clear glaze on it, because I had not put enough originally.