Artist Inspired Project

(Google Slide Presentation) / Inspiration Photos

For this assignment there were a few things that we were tasked with doing. The first task that we needed to complete was to research a ceramist and some of the work that they created. The reason that we need to research their work is because we were supposed to draw inspiration by our artist to create our own work. The thing that I was inspired by was the unique texture and color of Nicholas Bivins' work. After we had done our research we needed to sketch out the ideas that we had after looking at our artists work. The idea that I came up with was to do a mug on top of a plate. I chose to create a mug because Bivins is a functionalist type of ceramicist. I also created a plate because he stated that he like to create work that people can use in their everyday life. Another reason that I wanted to do a mug is because I liked the new technique we had just learned in the slab making style and I wanted to see how much I could improve. The subject of my creation is a functionalist pottery style. I say this because much like Bivins, I wanted to create a work of art that I could use in my everyday life. For this project the materials are rather simple, I just used the slab roller, one of the handheld smoothing tools, and the glaze PC - 27. For this project I am really happy the way that my glaze appears on this project. I am really happy with the glaze because it is evenly spread and the color is remains the same throughout. I think that this shows improvement from the beginning of the year when some of my projects had white spots on them and now they are looking way better. For this project the steps taken were: research a ceramist that we were inspired by, create a sketch of our idea, build our structure, throw it in the kiln for a bisque fire, glaze our project, and then throw it in the kiln for a glaze firing to become its final form.

For this project I used the slab technique. The first object that I made was my cup. For this cup I put a slab of clay into the slab roller to smoothen it out. After it was smooth I composed the walls of my cup and then cut out a bottom for the cup. After I had the bottom cut out I balled my clay up and put it back into the slab roller where I cut out my handle. After I had everything attached it was time to make my plate. To make the plate I rolled a slab and then stuck it on a piece of styrofoam so that it would dry in the shape that I wanted. After it was dry I put a coil on the bottom for a base and then let both dry so they could go into the kiln. For this project I didn't really revise much. The only thing that really changed was the technique that I used. Originally I thought that I would use the pinch technique but instead I used the slab technique. I chose to use the slab technique because it was the one technique in which I was most inexperienced. I wanted to take this project and use it as a way for me to improve on building with the slab technique. I also felt most comfortable with making a handle using the slab technique and I knew that this time I was going to make the biggest handle yet because I wanted my whole hand to fit inside of the handle.

The story behind my artwork is the functionalist side to ceramics. I wanted to make something functional, that you could use in day to day life because that was the goal of my ceramicist Nicholas Bivins. This project relates to my life because I enjoy functional art the most and that is the style behind this pot. One thing that I am proud of with this project is the texture of the pot. I am proud to see how far I have come with the slab technique because when we first started my pots had a crack in them where you could see both sides of the pot line up but now it is nice and flush. I am also proud at how my first plate turned out. One area that I struggled was with setting my handle. The reason that it was so hard to set it was it is so big. The way I overcame this struggle was by letting it sit out to dry longer than normal. I think if there is one thing I could change it would be the glaze on this pot. I think I would have done multiple colors if the time allowed that to happen because all year I have only done one glaze per pot but now I could try something knew and it is something I can have in the back of my mind for later.