Ceramics 1: March 2015

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Hard Slab Inspiration

I find an interest in tape art. Pretty much, I like art that is more arts and crafts-sy. I was thinking about what I wanted to make, and that idea popped into my head. My main design will be from glazing. After the hard slab sculpture is fired in the kiln, I glaze the areas where I want my lines to be, then I put tape over it. After, I will remove any excess glaze with a sponge and glaze the spaces in. I was inspired by whatever I saw years ago. Again, Pinterest had a lot of cool ideas regarding tape art. Some artists created an animal out of the tape. I might use that idea. However, we are required to use texture on the box, so using tape over that might not be the best option.

I also thought about doing a yin-yang thing relating to what we learnt in Asian Studies before, but I decided against it.

I also thought about doing a nature theme with a large flower as the handle. The texture and the lid will mainly be the design of the box. I might integrate a pond into the lid.

Hard Slab Introduction

Objectives:

To experiment with leather-hard pieces of clay to form a sculpture

Materials:

Clay
Sponge
Watered-down clay (slip)
Ceramic tools

Procedure:

Draw out your design onto a sheet of paper and cut it out
Roll a slab of clay out
Wait until the slab is leather-hard (use a blowdryer)
Using the score and slip method, stick them together.

Pinch Pot Process (March 17, 2015)

I finally glazed my elephant. Originally, I planned on mixing glazes together to create a more unique effect. I thought about using these combinations.

However, I didn't read the sheet clearly and put too many layers of the base glaze. I thought about just adding more of the top layer of glaze, but apparently, too many layers of glaze can cause the glaze to peel off. So, I just stuck with the one color of glaze. I applied "blue midnight" (fired cone 5-6) onto the elephant 3 times (3 layers). Well, a blue elephant will match the mood of a timid, possibly blue (sad) elephant.

glaze not dried yet

glaze dried

Soft Slab Process (March 17, 2015)

The second mug I created focused more on a nature theme. I wanted to create vines and have leaves. I also wanted to incise a tree. So I did just that.

First, I wedged a piece of clay, then I rolled a slab out with the slab roller. I used a needle tool to trace the net of the mug out. I wet it with water to prevent it from cracking, then I rolled it into the desired shape and size. I scored and slipped the sides together and moved the clay around in that area to remove the crack. Then, I rolled out another slab of clay to make the base. I traced the size of the mug's base onto the slab and cut it out using a needle tool. I scored and slipped that onto the mug and moved the clay in that area. I removed clay using a knife to create a slant in the mug. The top of the mug slants down then curves back up. I decorated my mug with vines. I rolled out a thin coil and scored and slipped it onto the mug. I created 3 of those "vines". Then, I added leaves to two of those vines. To make the leaves, I flattened a ball of clay and pinched the sides to make it pointy. I scored and slipped it on. For one of the vines with leaves, I smoothed it out with a wooden knife to make it "connected". Then, I incised a tree onto one of the empty places. I did it 3 times to try to get it right. Originally, I used a needle tool, but there were tiny balls of clay that would form. So, I used a pencil, but it was to thick. So I ended up using a knife first, then going over it with a pencil. It ended up better. Then, I added a whole lot of stripes. Originally, I had planned for it to only be in one area. But then, I went crazy with the striped lines and put them everywhere. Bad choice. I should have stuck with doing it in one place. Now, my mug's an eyeful. Oh well. Perhaps it will turn out better after I glaze it. (no it didnt)

This mug was made by adding clay and incising.

After it was fired in the kiln again, I glazed it. It didn't have enough layers of glaze, so it didn't turn out like the light color it was supposed to. The leaves turned out kind of black, when it was supposed to be more of a dark green kind of color. (99 percent of the time i ruin my project with glaze)

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Soft Slab Process (March 10, 2015)

I made the body of my mug with a rolling pin. I wedged a ball of clay and rolled it into a ball. Then, I stuck a rolling pin through the clay, and rolled it until the walls of the mug were even and of good thickness. I cut of any excess clay. I rolled out a slab of clay, and traced the bottom of the body of the mug onto the clay. Then, I used a needle tool to cut it out. I scored the bottom of the mug and the base of the mug, the applied slip to stick them together. I "moved" the clay around in that area to remove the line. I wanted to make a more of a unique mug, so I decided to squish the sides of the mug a bit. It turned out to be a pointy-ish mug. I am constantly fascinated by nature. So, I decided to make a volcano. As I stuck on lava onto the mug, I changed my mind and decided to go with a more humorous theme. I changed and made a person's head instead. The "lava" became hair. To make the hair, I rolled out clay, cut it, and flattened it. Then, I scored and slipped it onto the mug. I added eyes (glasses), a nose, and incised a mouth. I used circles and a tiny bit of clay to make the glasses and a ball of clay to make the nose. I scored and slipped those onto the mug. Then, I stuck a tongue in the mouth. I thought about making ears as the handle of the mug. Then it'll kind of be like a baby sippy cup with handles on the side. I thought it would be more interesting if I made a handle out of coils combined together. I rolled out thin pieces of coil and combined it together to form a handle. I attached the handle onto the side of the face. Finally, I polished up and smoothed it out. Then I left it out for it to reach bone-dry stage for it to fire in the kiln. I think it turned out pretty well.

This one was made mainly with adding clay and incising.

After it was fired in the kiln, I put glaze on it. (the diff. types of glaze i used you can read about in my sketchbook). Before putting it in the kiln, I made sure that the bottom was clear of glaze, or it would stick to the bottom of the kin. (ceramic golden rule) I made my project even worse. It looked like it had some kind of deadly skin disease. I caused it to have a skin disease because I didn't put the layers of glaze on very evenly. The places where it is darker is due to not putting enough glze on it. The hair and sunglasses and handle (I think) turned out okay, but the nose, tongue, and skin turned out kinda bad. After this, I learned to be more careful when glazing.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Coil Pot Reflection

What I Learnt
One of the main things I learned was how to use the extruder. It's pretty easy to use. All you do is put clay into the opening and push the lever down. However, cleaning it up and changing the template was more difficult. Secondly, when I wanted to bend my coils into different shapes, some of the time, it would end up cracking. That really annoyed and bothered me. So, I learned that before you bend the coils, you should wipe it down with a sponge. It cracked because as I rolled it, my hands would take away the moisture from the coils, making them more prone to cracking. For me, that reduced the risk of having cracks in the coil. Thirdly, I learnt that you need to have a solid base to build more layers. I wanted to put a squiggly coil design near the bottom, but Mr. Swinehart advised that I put it near the top because it may not be able to support a lot of weight. It is important to take into account the placement of the coils. Lastly, I learnt that I should be more accurate when working with coils. I made a squiggly coil design, but the squiggles weren't all the same height. As a result, I had to fill up the empty spaces with other designs.

Design Reflection
I wanted to integrate my design as a part of the coils. I didn't put any extra designs on the outside. I didn't incise, excise, carve, or add clay onto the pot. I had a few coil ideas I wanted to integrate into the pot. A few of them were - the squiggly design, a braided design, and balls of clay. Originally, I wanted to use 3 coils and braid them into a single, larger coil. However, as I tried to braid the coils, it started cracking a lot, so I stuck with two and simply twisted them. Also, I originally planned on making the layer of balls of clay all the same size. But, I thought it would be more interesting if I made them different sizes. Some of the other layers on my pot were more like "stabilization" layers. Those coils are supposed to make the pot more stable and not as flimsy. Some layers of my coil pot were thought of carefully, and others were created in a spur.

(Note: vocab is integrated into the process)

Pinch Pot Reflection

What I Learnt
I made an elephant out of 4 pinch pots and combined them together. I learned that squirting water onto your project is useful, but if you squirt too much, it can do more harm than good. Before, I squirted too much water onto the head, and the trunk broke off. So, now, I pay closer attention to the amount of water I spray on. Secondly, I learnt how to properly fuse together pieces of clay. I'm not supposed to rub at the crack and try to make it disappear. I'm supposed to "move the clay" in that area and then smooth it out. In 3D art, I just tried to make the line disappear, and that resulted in a crack after firing. Thirdly, I improved my technique when using the ceramic tools. I learned how to use a needle tool better and the things that other tools (such as the ribbon tool and wooden rib) can do. Another large problem I faced was that after it was fired in the kiln, apparently an elementary ceramic piece melted onto my piece, so the elephant was stuck onto it. It cracked when we tried to remove the melted piece of ceramics from my elephant using a hammer or something. Also, I learned that glazes cannot be trusted when I used them. It may look like a certain color on the picture, but after I used it, it never (or rarely) turns out that color. It is because I don't put the proper amount of layers of glaze. Blue midnight turned out black.

Design Reflection
I pretty much stuck to the design I had in the first place. I only changed one thing about it. I changed the form and shape of the elephant's ears. I was afraid that if I had the ears out and they were too thin, it will collapse. Also, I wanted to have the elephant illustrate an emotion - a timid, shy one. So, I had the ears flop down and cover parts of his face. That was the only change in my design.

(Note: vocab is integrated into the process)

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Soft Slab Inspiration

I am continuously fascinated by nature. In one of my previous projects, I wanted to use a "seasons" theme, but I didn't. I might use that theme to make four mugs/cups, having each of them represent a season.

As I looked through images on Google, I found a few interesting mugs. One mug had designs around the rim. Another one had waveish textures on the main part of the mug. This inspired me to possibly do something similar and to not simply create a plain mug.

I found this site: http://www.veniceclayartists.com/ceramic-mug-shots/ . This blog contains the work of many different artists. The textures, shapes, and designs of the different mugs showcased inspired some of the designs I came up with for my own mug. I really like how a few of the artists mixed together glazes to create cool effects. Others had interesting mug shapes.

Soft Slab Introduction