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Pinch Pot Cut in half 

planning: While i didn't plan this piece as much as other project because this was an assignment, I did plan how big I wanted my pinch pot to be. I wanted it to be pretty small because I thought it would be easier if it was a smaller piece.Turns out it wasn't easier, this project was very hard for me because it was one of my first. 

construction process: For the construction process I started by wedging the piece on the wedging board until I was sure there wasn't any air bubble left. Then I rolled the clay into a ball and pressed my finger down in the middle of it. I started to push out and form the inside of the even pinch pot. Then I took a scraper and carved out some of the access clay in the middle. Lastly i took a sponge and made sure everything was as even as it could be. 

reflection: At the end of this project the pinch pot split in half ended up turning out horrible. It was not even at all and there were still some spots that didn't smooth out. If I were to do this project again I would have spent more time making the pinch pot and making sure everything was even. I would also make sure the top of the pinch pot was even in thickness everywhere. The one thing I did like about this project is that it taught me how to handle clay better. 

Pinch Pot into something useful

Useful slab decorated with underglaze
planning: for this project came with the idea that I wanted a bowl I could use for jewelry
Construction process: So I started by wedging the clay into a ball, then I pressed my finger into it and started to make it a pinch pot. Once I got a good shape I took a sponge and used it to smooth out the clay and form a better shape. After that I took a carving took and took out some extra clay from the bottom of of the dish. Then after it dried off and had its shape I started to paint underglaze on the bowl to make it look like a Coy Fish pond.
Reflection: What went well with this project was how the piece came together and smoothed out, also the fact that the underglaze was very easy to paint on 3 coats. What went difficult in the beginning was wedging the clay into a ball, but once I added more water it worked. Something I would change if i were to do this project again, would be the size of the bowl. I would make the bowl bigger just so I could hold more and paint more fishes on the dish. Another thing I would change if I were to do this project again would be the colors i used for the pond. I would have chosen a few more colors to mix to make darker water.

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Two Pinch pots into cup (scrapped)

planning: while planning this project my first idea was to build a vase but after some thinking, I wanted to build a cup that I could use to drink iced chai tea from. 
construction process: For the construction process, I started by making two separate pinch pots. This is where i ran into my first problem. The pinch pots were too fat and not in the right shape. I tried scraping the sides to make it thinner but the clay wasn't wet enough. So i moved on and place one pinch pot above the other and scored it. Once these were stacked I added a thin coil and scored it to the middle of where the pots meet. This is where I ran out of time in class and realized that this project was not going to work out so I scrapped it, in hopes of doing better when making pinch pots for other projects. 

reflection: Nothing went well with this project other than the clay smoothing out nice. If i were to ever attempt this project again I would have probably started different by, making the pinch pots thinner and finding a different way to expand them. Another thing I would change is how much clay I used. I would wedge more clay so I could make the pinch pots taller to be able to have a bigger outcome of a cup. What i liked about this project was how easy it was to smooth the pots out once I found a method. That method being getting a wet paintbrush or sponge and going around the sides until no creases are able to be seen. What I did not like about this project was how hard it was for me to figure out how to make a pinch pot, but now that Im moving on and learning I have figured out better methods. Being to get more clay and spend more time expanding the pot. 

Relief tile 

planning: I was inspired on pinterest for this project. Originally I wanted to copy it exactly and make the plate but I had the idea of 

making a diamond like coaster that I could use to hold drinks. I didn't draw it out because I have the inspo pic. 
construction process: For this process i starting by wedging a huge piece of clay and getting a roller to roll it out. Once rolled out I took a knife thing and lightly traced the shape of a diamond. Once i got the shape well pressed, I took the knife and cut it all the way through. Then I smoothed out the sides and it was in its perfect shape. While it was leather hard I let it sit in between two boards so it would be pretty flat. Then I resumed the next class by tracing and painting the tile with underglaze. Then I took a wet paintbrush and fixed any errors. 

reflection: What went well in this process was the fact that I was able to get very precise lines while painting if I lightly traced it will a ball point tool. If I were to do this project again I would have made the tile a little bit bigger so I could either hang it up or use it as a coaster. I would have also made sure it was more flat during its leather hard stage so it wouldn't curve up at the sides. Another thing I would change and do differently is not have a boat on the surface of the water. Looking at it now, I like the tile without the boat because it focuses on the whale and how cute it is. Something that didn't go as planned was the size of the tile. Since more first idea with this relief tile was making it a coaster, I didn't make it big enough to hold certain cups. Also with a little unevenness at the bottom of the tile, it doesn't feel sturdy to hold a cup.

Historical Piece (aphrodite)

Planning and background information: For my historical piece I wanted to do Aphrodite because she is the goddess of love, beauty, protection, fertility, etc. She symbolized Rome's imperial power. And she is importance to us today because she represents the beauty in people and the power in females. For planning I took the inspo pic of pinterest and wanted to put it into a square tile. 
construction process: for this process I started by taking a chunk of clay and wedging it to the point where there was no possible air bubbles. Then I took the pin roller and rolled out the clay until I got enough area to trace and cut a perfect square. Once I cut it, i smoothed the surface and began -

tracing the design of Aphrodite. I wanted it to be the back of her head with her hair and then score on a round half of a pinch pot, so I could hang this tile and also hold things. I traced the hair and then I got the half pinch pot to stay. Once everything was still and in place I got underglaze and painted the tile to match the hair and the half pot. I put it outside in a bag tightly closed and found it the next class bone dry. I tried to revive it and get it to leather hard, but it was no use, the clay immediately cracked when I attempted to flatten it out. 
reflection: Things that went well in this project was how easy it was to paint the underglaze once I had my lines traced, and how it was also easy to score the half pinch pot on and get it to stay. If I got to do this project again I would just make it a painted tile and exclude the half pinch pot. I would also do a side profile sketch like the inspiration picture and use more underglaze colors. lastly, I would remember to make a circle cut so I could hang it with a string on the wall. Something that didn't go as well was obviously the project going bone dry when in the bag outside. Another thing I would change is making sure the bag is sealed so the project doesn't get to a point where I cant revive it. 

Small Animal

Planning: for this project I originally wanted to make a small cat but, I saw this photo on pinterest and considering a clam is a small animal I wanted to make this. 
Construction Process: I started by wedging a lot of clay into a huge ball. Then i started the process of what a pinch pot would be, but instead of making it a pot I flattened the sides to make a kind of clam effect. Then once smoothed out and desired shape, I took a scraping tool, and scrape indents into the piece to give it the effect the inspiration picture has. Then I scored a little ball as the pearl into the middle of it. After that I fired it with no underglaze, once it came out of the kiln I applied blue glaze the give it a water effect like the clam is under water. 

reflection: What went well with this project was how it was very easy to shape the clam. I also liked out the ball was scored on, because it was sturdy and didn't go anywhere. What was difficult with this project was drawing the indents to give it a realistic effect. I had to redo the lines a few times to make it look realistic. If I were to do this project again I would Make the clam smaller, so it could be a sort of coin dish. Or I would paint it with pink glaze like the inspo picture. But ovberall, this is one of my favorite projects, because it is so pretty yet simple. 

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