Bird & Tray

Purpose: 

Explore pinching a sculpture

texturing slabs 

utilizing glaze techniques

Reflection: 

During this process of clay construction I learned a lot about patience and purpose. When working with clay and when creating something with detail and precision like the bird every move you make to alter the shape of the clay has to have a purpose and you must be patient and thoughtful. The bottom of the bird has a large opening in it. If this opening wasn’t there (or in some cases, a small hole) the clay would explode in the kiln due to the heat expanding inside the clay. 

During the glazing process I learned so much. I learned how different glazes work with each other (or against) and I learned how to properly glaze my creations so they don’t crack or crawl. I made a mistake when glazing my tray where I did not put enough glaze in some places. This resulted in a patchy pale look in some areas and a deeper stronger color in some other areas, that’s why in the photo you’ll see another layer of glaze over the bad spot. I also learned about staining, a process that involves applying an underglaze at first, then wiping it off with a damp sponge and then once that dries you apply the overglaze. When fired the underglaze(a darker tone color) will come through the overglaze. This process creates a depth to pieces that are textured such as my bird.