Two Cylinders, Two Surfaces

Reflection:

1.  Why was it important to be persistent as you worked on and refined throwing your cylinders?  When was there a time in your project when you needed to persist?

I think persisting through challenges in this project was very important because it was everyone’s first time on the wheel, so mistakes were almost inevitable. I had the most trouble centering my clay on the wheel - I often had to restart or continue to cone the clay to center it. Eventually I was able to do it on my own, and that skill will definitely help me throughout the rest of the semester.

2. Explain what you might do similarly or differently next time on a similar project, due to gained experience from working with new surface techniques and/or the influence of looking at others’ work.

I would try to make my cylinders a bit taller, since none of them actually met the expectation of 4 inches high. I would also work on smoothing the inside and outside surfaces to make sure there were no unwanted lines left over from the throwing. 

3. What aspect(s) of nature did you decide to illustrate with your work and what did you do to alter and connect your designs on the two cylinders? Describe the surface altering techniques you used and describe how you think each technique enhances or detracts from your designs.  

I was inspired by the leaves of the raspberry plants near my house, and I traced the shape of a leaf to use on both of my cylinders. The first design was just carving around the cylinder, and I liked how I was able to add a lot of small details. By staining the carving, all the small veins of the leaves were really highlighted. For my second design I water etched  leaves all over my cylinder, which added a lot of texture and dimension to the piece.