Endangered Species Relief Tile

Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Tile

Clay

7 1/2 x 6 inch

Project Goals: To become familiar with using endangered species as an art subject

• To learn about a working Maine ceramic artist, Tim Christensen, as well as the highly patterned art (alebrijes) from Oaxaca, Mexico

• To become acquainted with basic ceramic vocabulary

• To form and paint a ceramic animal relief tile that contains both imagery of an endangered or threatened species of your choice and indication of the systems around it which promote that animal’s survival.

Artist Studied: Artist and Art Culture Studied: Tim Christensen and Oaxacan alebrijes from Mexico

 Reflection: I am helping to respond to the essential question by adding things to my tile that represent their habitats and food and things they need to survive, as well as painting the main reason my animal was endangered. I am hoping that my viewers will see that the animal needs insects and berries for survival, so in forests which are their habitat, they will help preserve them and not harm them because without the insects the birds can’t get food and survive. The pattern that most strongly sends the message is the addition of background trees and insects on my tile because it sends the message that my animal needs those to survive and the loss of trees is the reason for its endangerment. 

My color scheme was Analogous and I used green, yellow, and orange, and they fit in because green is the color of the trees they live in and the color that represents their reason of endangerment. Yellow fits in because the sun is what grows their habitat and orange is a way to identify the bird because it has a patch of orange hair on its head. I like the colors and I would try to keep my tile more clean and tidy next time. 

I chose the red-cockaded woodpecker and I chose it because it has ginger hair and I like that. It also is endangered in the state I go to on vacation, which is South Carolina. It is endangered due to deforestation. The 5 systems I chose were worms, insects, bushes with berries, trees, and the sun.