Ceramics

After a challenging semester studying abroad in Wroxton, England, I opted to take Ceramics with a friend as a means of relaxing.  Working with clay certainly is therapeutic, although the class was quite demanding in terms of assignments (in a good way, of course).  Unfortunately since it was Ceramics I, we did not get the opportunity to use the wheel.

Pictures were taken with my old cell phone (the Env3), so they're not the best quality.

Final Project

Assignment: Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, sketch various pieces that inspire you, and incorporate what you liked into a new idea.

Concept: While visiting the Met, I wandered into the instruments section and saw a few old violas, some of which had about thirteen strings!  These old instruments also had faces carved into the heads at the top.  It was then that I noticed how the body of a viola (or violin or cello) somewhat resembles the body of a human - it has a head, a neck, and shoulders.  Then I visited the Egypt section and saw various sarcophagi and mummies, and decided to put the old "dead" instrument into its own sarcophagus.

Glazes:

Top piece: White terra sigillata across the entire surface.  Then purple underglaze for the "dress", which was partially sandpapered off after firing.  Deep yellow underglaze on the neckline and tiara. Black copper oxide rubbed into the lines around the tiara, eyes, nose and mouth.  Red underglaze on jewel, then satin glaze over it.

Bottom piece: White terra sigillata on the outside.  Red underglaze on the inside with satin glaze over it.

Viola: Black underglaze in the 's' curves, on the fingerboard and chin rest. Red art terra sigillata on the body of the viola.  Black copper oxide rubbed into face details and crown. Beige underglaze on face.  Cinnamon underglaze for the hair. Deep yellow for the crown with glaze on top.  Green underglaze dots in the eyes.  White underglaze for head background.

My Favorite Piece (Practice Piece)

Assignment: Practice using coils - make a pyramid.

Glaze: Vanadium pentoxide with glaze dripped down from the top.

Why this is my favorite: the vanadium did exactly what I wanted it to do, I love the sandy look it gives the pyramid.  Also I like the way the lines on the side came out, I felt like it really makes it look like a pyramid - and I made them completely by accident at first when I was using a board to flatten the sides of the pyramid.  I kept making lines at the bottom, so I decided to move the edge of the board up to get the lines across.

Internal/External Project

Assignment: "Create a piece where the feeling or quality of the internal space is different than, or contrasts with, the external surface.  Consider how the two relate."

My concept: I decided to contrast the external surface of a radio with in the internal space by putting instruments on the inside.

Glaze: Black copper oxide on the radio surface, black underglaze on top of that for the stereo parts.  Inside red underglaze with satin glaze over that. Red art terra sigillata on the cello, terra sigillata on the drum and deep yellow underglaze on the sax and tuba.

Mask 2

Assignment: Ancestor or commemorative mask.

Concept: Based on my German ancestry, this project is supposed to represent a cartoonish Grimm fairy tale witch.

Glaze: Chartreuse underglaze, black copper oxide, and glaze for the face.  Underglazes for the hair and hat, with glaze on top. Green underglaze for the lips (no glaze).