Pond Vase

For this project I could do almost anything. It was opened ended and up to me to make something complicated and extravagant as my last art project for high school. I chose to do another vase. But, instead of carving things into it I wanted to create things that would be raised off of the surface. I decided I wanted my theme to include koi fish so I chose to make it pond themed. I added a lily pad along with some water lilies in addition to the koi. For the body of the vase I used the coil technique. It didn't take me as long this time because I had already done it once before. However, it was still a difficult task to get the surface to be smooth enough. The construction of the other objects wasn't difficult. I built them off of the vase and then I would attach them.

I had a lot of things go wrong when I was constructing this. All of the pieces sticking off the vase are very thin and delicate. the tail to one of my koi fish broke off almost instantly but it was an easy fix. The water lilies were definitely the most difficult part of the vase. The first one I made fell apart because I stored it in a cup. It was also hard to figure out how to make them. I ended up cutting out a circle of clay and sticking the petals on it. Then, after it was complete, I would attach that circle to the vase. Unfortunately I was not able to glaze this piece due to timing. I finished it with one class left. It was a complicated piece and the construction itself took me two weeks. I am going to paint it this summer which I am excited for because I can be more detailed with paint than I can be with glaze.