Ceramics I

Throughout this class so far this semester, there have been quite a few pieces that I felt very happy with with result and was proud of after finishing, and also a few that I wasn't as happy about their turnout. But of the ones that I liked, I think that I'm most proud of my soft slab summative set. Overall it turned out just like I wanted and not only was the final product something that I liked and that the person I gave to likes, but I also had lots of fun creating them, I like the use of the container to create shape and I like that we have the freedom to add any design that we want. I learned that I like to have a more simple shape and that I also feel more confident working with slabs than any other form. I really like the color combination and I feel that they are also the most practical and useful of all of the pieces that I created this semester.

This class has definitely changed the way I think about ceramics and art in general. My knowledge of ceramics, how pottery was made, and all the different forms that it comes in has been broadened immensely. I never realized how many incredibly different and unique techniques that there were and that different takes on ceramics and different clay could result in a different final product. I learned all about glazing and about the importance of the level of moisture in clay. Many of the things that I learned were through mistakes, which I think makes it even more satisfying now looking back, seeing the things that I did wrong and that I improved on. Going into this class when I thought of ceramics I thought of a potters wheel and that's it, but I now have a much bigger picture of what ceramics really entails.

I felt that the structure of this class was very conducive to learning and to improvement. I really liked that we were able to make mistakes and figure things out as we went, and I like that specific deadlines weren't stressed way too much because when they are, I feel that I tend to rush and not do my best work. I liked the different techniques that we were able to try and I like felt that the prompts were specific to a point, but also gave us freedom to choose many of the elements of our pieces. I can't think of any specific things that I would change about the class. Sometimes some of the lessons felt a little bit long and a couple times the things seemed sort of self explanatory, but I also think that having even the simple things explained can be helpful and it's much easier to see it done and then make less mistakes. While it was a bit of a pain, I think that giving everyone a certain amount of clay might be a good tactic. Solely for the purpose of less waste and having people be more thoughtful and efficient with their clay and their pieces, especially if there is a lack of clay or there could be in the future.