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Alyssa Struthers
Slab building with slump mold
Unit 3 Projects
PLANNING: While planning this piece I knew I wanted to do something halloween themed because I started this before the 31st. So I went on Pinterest and found this inspo pic and decided to make my own pumpkin but include the slab building and make a ghost that comes out of it.
CONSTRUCTION: for the construction I started by wedging my clay, then I used the machine that flattens the clay. I raised the big roll thing so I could get a thicker piece of clay. Then cut the shape of the pumpkin. After that was done and smooth, I went in with a ball tool and made my lines of where the creases are. Then I rolled out a piece of clay to make and coil, and made a ghost shape. I slabbed, scored, smoothed and then I painted it.
REFLECTION: For this piece, I enjoyed the outcome of this piece and how the underglaze helped the color of the pumpkin tone down the piece. I also enjoyed how it was easy to use the flattening machine to help make the base of the project. This project took me two classes, one for the construction and one for the painting. I like how it was effortlessly looking good the whole time. What I thought was cool was that I got to use this for the poem project, where someone can choose my piece and write a poem about it. I learned that using Pinterest is really helpful when starting projects. If I were to do this project again I would'nt change anything because I liked how the pumpkin turned out
Sgrafitto
PLANNING: for this piece I knew that sgrafitto looked good on cups, so I looked up sgrafitto on cups and used the inspiration piece to help me create my own piece.
CONSTRUCTION: For this piece I used two pinch pots scored together and I smoothed them out. This process took one class. After I got it smooth out, I added the handle from a coil. Once I scored and slipped it, and I painted it black with underglaze. Once I let that dry I went in with a scraping tool and created my design. After I finished that I made sure everything was good and I carved deep enough. Then I put it to the kiln. Once it came out, I clear glazed it so I would be able to drink out of it.
REFLECTION: for this piece I liked that I got to use my creative imagination when using the . inspiration pic to guide me. What I learned from this piece was that once I got to pinch pot to be able to form a taller cup, it was easier to create the handle. I really like that sgrafitto is a wide range of art. Range, as in being able to be used for anything. I love that this added a cooler effect when wanting to underglaze fine lines, it is easier to sgrafitto it. If I were to do this project again, I would'nt change anything except making sure my lines were more precise.
Coil Building all types of coil
PLANNING: for this project, I didn't have a certain picture I got inspiration from. I thought it would be easiest to make a bigger coil project so the coil went to crack. That led me to making a bowl.
CONSTRUCTION: for construction I started by using the coil machine and getting fairly good sized coil. Once I got my coil, spent time smoothing it out and making sure that it was damp, so it wouldn't crack when I went to bend it. Once I did that, I started to score and slip the coil to itself in a circular rotation. Then I used the flattening machine and got a slip of clay and scored/slipped it to the coil, to make the bottom of the bowl. Once I finished that I started using the coil to make the mandatory coil types (braid, flower, etc.) Then I placed those on top of the base of three rounds of long coil. Once I made sure the coil wouldn't move, I got underglaze and I used two different blues. Then once it came out of the kiln again, I clear glazed it.
REFLECTION: for this project, I enjoyed how fun it was to make the braid coil. I also liked the texture of the coil project once I was finished. One thing I learned from this project was that using coils is very helpful for many different projects. If I were to do this project again, my one critique would be to construct the mandatory coil types better. I found the easiest thing for me was making the braid. I also enjoyed how the underglaze turned out.
relief carving revisited (in process/ kiln)
PLANNING: While planning this piece, I knew I wanted to make it nature related. So i sketched an arch, swirls, hearts, a star and a butterfly.
CONSTRUCTION: I started construction this piece by watching my Clay and putting it through the flattening machine. I raised the bar so I could get a sticker piece of clay to be able to carve into. Once I got my thick piece of clay, I started to carve out my butterfly. Once that was smoothed I used a ball tool to make my other drawings. Then I made sure my piece was even and smooth and put it to the kiln. I am still waiting for this piece to come out of the kiln so it is in progress. My intentions with this piece is to glaze it light pink and put it on a shelf, or lay my jewelry on it
REFLECTION: One thing I enjoyed about this process was that it was easy to use the flattening machine/wheel. I also enjoyed that. I got to incorporate my own sketch to a project. I liked how the arch gives the butterfly, a vibrant affect. If I were to do this project again, I would change the shape of the butterfly and the sketches I did around it. I would make the swirls more circular, and more hearts to the piece. One thing I learned from this project was that it is easier to carve then slab so from now on if I want an effect of a piece sort of coming out of the clay, I will carve it out.
slab building with darts (scrapped after construction)
PLANNING: I didn't have as much as a plan for this piece because I wasn't sure how to go about darting. But once I got the hang of it, it was easy to smooth.
CONSTRUCTION: For this piece, I started by wedging my piece of clay and then using the flattener and getting a thin piece of clay out of it. Once I did that, I took the clay and made a square shape of it standing up. Then I scored it together to make it start the piece. After that, I pinched all the sides on one half of the clay to make my bottom. It took a couple of atempts to prevent the clay from cracking. Then, I took another flat piece of clay and slipped + scored it to the bottom. Once I finish that I took slip, and I did it to the inside to even out the inside bottom. Once I was done with everything else, I smoothed out the whole thing and made sure that it would stand up on its own. I was not happy with the piece, so I decided to scrap it before I fired it. The reason I wasn't happy with the piece was because it turned out lopsided, and I didn't pinch the sides well enough for it to be.
REFLECTION: this project I did not enjoy this project as much because it did not turn out in my favor. In the beginning, it was looking good, because I was able to get a good piece of flat clay to form a square shape. Once I got to pinching the sides, I didn't have a good technique. If I were to do this project again, I would take more time and a bigger piece of clay to make sure that the sides were even and that it would stand up on its own, without being off balance. One thing I did enjoy was watching my table group being able to succeed while helping my figure out mine as well (before i scrapped it).
monster (in process)
PLANNING: The planning for this project was easy because I was able to use the kids drawing. The planning I decided was to add scales to the monster.
CONSTRUCTION: I started this piece by using the flattening machine to get a thick piece of clay to be able to cut into a monster shape. Then I got a thinner piece of flat clay to be able to cut the sharp horns. Once I was able to smooth, score and slip all the pieces together, I started to carve the mouth out. I proceeded to carve the mouth out, and make sure to add indents to resemble teeth. That process took me one whole class alone. The next class I started with the scales. I did each scale individually by scoring and slipping it on. The scales took me another whole class. After I finished the scales and smoothed everything out. I added, and eye and two support legs/wings. Then I put underglaze hombre on the scales. I put it to the kiln and came back next class and thought it was fired but it wasn't. So I put glaze over it, once I realized my mistake that it hadn't been fired yet. I scrubbed both the glazes off. This left me with a colorless monster, with scales that kind of blended together and lost some dimension. So I took a ball tool and made indents in the scales to bring back the effect. I put it to the kiln and I am waiting for it to come back in a low fire white stage so I can hombre it with over glaze.
REFLECTION: During this project, I enjoyed that I got the privilege to make a little kids imagination come to life. I enjoyed how each scale looked realistic and how the horns kept their sharp shape. I learned that it is very hard to make a drawing come to life, but it was very fun experimenting and being able to add my own twist which were the scales. If I were to do this project again, I would make sure that my monster was fired before I added glaze. I would also make different legs/wings to be able to hold the monster to stand. Overall, I really enjoyed this project because it will bring a smile to a 3rd graders face. :)
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