Final Reflection

1) For this semester I am most proud of this pot from the set of pots that I made using the soft slab technique. I am proud of this pot because of the way that the glaze turned out. I like the way the glaze turned out on this project because it gives this pot kind of a rustic feel to it. For this project I mixed glazes which is a skill that I have never used and I am proud of the crisp splotches on the outside of this pot. One thing that I learned was how to build pots using the soft slab technique. This made me realize that as an artist this is my favorite way to make art. I liked this technique the most because you could get a smooth texture to your work. I also like this project because on other pots I build using this technique you can see where the clay meets together but on this pot it is smooth and flush. I liked this technique so much that I even used it on the final project. This project taught me how to use the slab machine which comes in helpful and makes it so you can build sculptures faster. I also learned how size effects how fast something dries. For example, I learned that if you leave a handle out for just a brief moment it dries out relatively quickly. This is a bad thing because if you try to connect a handle that is too dry then it will just crack where it is attached to your pot.

2) Taking this class changed my view on ceramics because you don't know how hard it is to add little details until you try it. What I mean by this is that if you are making a project like a foot and you want to add little toes that is hard. The reason that is hard is because you can get them to stick originally but then in the kiln they may get blown off. This also changed my view on how time consuming ceramic work is. Coming into class I thought that you could be a project in a couple hours but after building many projects I learned that to have a visually appealing project, it takes days. It also changed the way that I look a old artifacts. I think the project that really opened me to look a historical work closer was the historically inspired project. The pot that I researched make me wonder how they got it to hold its shape because obviously they didn't have kilns way back in history. I also find it intriguing how the materials that clay are made of have changed very little overtime. I also unlock the diversity in the world of ceramics. For example some people make sculptures that make you question what they are while other projects are more functional and you know what they are used for right away.

3) One way that I would improve class is by reminding kids to wrap their clay. I would focus on having kids wrap up their clay during class when building their projects. I know that we had it drilled into our head towards the end of the semester but I would start early at the beginning of the semester. The reason that I say this is because at the end of the semester we had to ration the amount of clay that we were using. I would also pay more attention to what the glaze cabinet looks like. The reason that I say this is because at the end of the year I found myself looking for glazes and coming up empty but then I would put on back and find one that I was looking for earlier, but the reason I couldn't find it is because it was in the wrong place. I would also have rubrics that are more clear because throughout the year I thought the rules were kind of lenient and hard to make sense of the difference between proficient and distinct.