Sculpture Final

How have you grown as an artist?

This class really made me realize which branches of art are the best for me. I have taken a couple of art classes before but i had never taken sculpture or pottery before. I came to a conclusion that I much rather use clay and create pieces than drawing or painting. Learning how to work clay, different techniques, and tools, opened a new whole world ot art into my brain. Learning all these things about a whole different branch of art inspired me to create multiple and many unique designs on the pieces I created throughout the semester. I found a way in which i could reflect my thoughts into my pieces and adding a touch of my own spice to it. I could brainstorm a lot about new designs, shapes, textures, and many other things I could do with a single piece that in the end made me aim to learn more about clay. I remember being a kid and in elementary school taking a plasticine class in which we would do many different things, from landscapes to animals with this material. This class unlocked so many memories from that past that I had forgotten but incredibly enjoyed. One of my favorite parts about this class, other than working with my peers and create our pots, was learning how to use the wheel. Throwing was such an incredible experience. It for sure takes a lot of practice but in the end it is all worth the time and effort put into the pieces. Of course it is pretty hard in the beginning, but as you go through it and practice, it eventually gets so much better. I realize that i really enjoy much more working with clay than with markers, paint, or pencil colors. I find clay so much more enjoyable since its something you are using your bare hands to work with and make your pieces, which really makes it so much better. In the images below, as you can see, in my art class of 2022, I was required to create a piece in which represented my favorite season. I decided to create a pot that represented the fall, so i added a tree with no leaves and in the lid of the pot i added some dry leaves in which representing the trees removing their own leaves as the season comes. In that project I really didn't know how to create it or work with clay as much as I know now. In the newer project you can see how my technique in shaping the clay. The texture looks a lot more smoother and it just looks better in general.

Art Class 2022

(Freshman year)

Sculpture Class 2024

(Junior year)

2. If given the opportunity, which project would you do over?

If given the opportunity I think I would do the spring mold again since In my opinion i could've done it better and maybe approach another technique. For the spring mold, we were required to create a pot like a tray in which we could actually give it some sort of use. I decided to focus my spring mold into something very Christmas' Theme since the holidays were coming up and I felt like having some Christmas spirit into my work. While brainstorming Ms Sudkamp and I decided that it would be a great idea to create a christmas tree with some gifts at the bottom, representing the Christmas morning in which kids go downstairs and find their Christmas trees with so many sorts of gifts ready to be opened. If I had the chance to redo it I think I would probably do something different with like another season. I would've liked to do something related to spring. I think it could've been cute if I added like a tree and some flowers. I feel like this theme would've been better since for the other one it was okay but somehow I couldn't really relate to it since I don't celebrate Christmas like that. I feel like by using another theme like the spring, I could add some cute trees and flowers, something like a landscape and I believe it would look really good. I would add a sun and some clouds, a butterfly and some birds in the sky. I feel like it would be great to use other sorts of tools too, like the needle tool or I could've used the wheel to create the little tray at the bottom. I feel like it would've looked more stable that way and it wouldn't be curved at the bottom.

3. What did you find most difficult about this class?

The most difficult part i found about this class was trying to add handles into my pieces. Something else that I thought was pretty hard was adding texture into the clay. For example, in one of the first projects we had, I had created a starfish that was characterized for having this sharp texture all around, representing a real starfish. I'm saying adding texture to the pieces is sometimes hard because you really have to take in consideration multiple factors like what are you trying to get out of this, or what is the correct texture of the pot you are doing. I feel like this is a very important part because if the texture of your piece does not match with your piece i just think it is not very pleasant to the eye. Something i found hard as well was glazing. It was hard for me because you really had to be careful on not putting glaze at the bottom, since it is dangerous and the piece could potentially get stuck in the kiln.

4. What medium was your favorite to work with?

The Wheel

My favorite medium used this semester to work with clay was the wheel. Using the wheel taught me multiple things about clay, such as how wet the clay should be, how much pressure its needed, and most important of all of this is stable arms. This was a very fun way to learn how to manage the clay. I really enjoyed the whole process of working with clay, from smashing pieces and making them dust to fire the pieces already done with the help of the wheel. It is so satisfying to me the way that we can make our pieces so symmetrical and smooth, so good that is very pleasant to the eye. This medium to work with was really interesting. I really enjoyed the whoke process and I just though it was a different way to work. My favorite part about working with the wheel was that i could work next to my peers and give each other feedback as well as seeing what worked for them and what didn't so we didn't commit the same mistakes. It was a great way of bonding with more people outside my table in class. I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to work with it again next year.

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