Pinch Pots
For my pinch pots I chose to make animal themed pots I made a bunny, an elephant, and a panda. I chose to make each pot a different animal because for my first project I just wanted to practice doing something a little challenging for my first project, and I absolutely love animals. I say it was a challenge because of the ears and tails. Each ear on an individual animal is almost exactly like the other which was really hard but it was also really fun. Another challenging thing about my project was deciding how to glaze them. I debated between doing several things, but finally I chose to do a rub on each pot and chose a glaze that is a somewhat similar hue for the details like ears, tails, noses, etc. Something else that was challenging about making pinch pots was starting them. When you start a pinch pot you have to make a whole with your thumb. I have long acrylic nails so it was really difficult for me to make wholes, I went around this by using a tool to make the whole. I really like how the glazing turned out especially on the elephants ears. I did a a rub on the bunny with a rose under glaze and it was really noticeable and bright but after I bisqued it, put the clear glaze on, and put it through the kiln again almost all of the pink rub disappeared, but I don't think it looks bad, I still like it. From this project I learned that "if you're going to make something perfect, you might as well buy it at K-mart." -Mr.Hanson. I shouldn't strive to make every detail perfect more that I should make my work beautifully unique in its own way unlike any one else's.
Coil pot
For my coil pot I chose to make a vase with roses on it. I'm not sure how I chose me or what inspired me but, I saw a coil pot online with a flower at the top and I wanted to do something similar, but that would be super unoriginal. So I tried to think of other ideas revolving around that one, and some how I ended up with this vase. I didn't face many challenges except for the leaning. Because my pot is heavy and has sharp angles sometimes the pot would lean to one side or another. To fix this I had to spend a period or two tapping the base to make sure it was even and drying it with the blow dryer. I was kinda scared about glazing and it took me forever to make a decision about the glazes I chose but I'm really pleased with it. I really love how the color in the roses turned out. At first I was really hoping they would turn out red, but I like this a lot better. Its kinda purple but its different and I really like it. The rest of the vase was an Olive Speckle glaze which i wish would have turned out a little lighter, but I still like it. It turned out really great and I don't really think there is anything I would do differently except maybe find a time to go to that pottery store and find a lighter green glaze. I learned that if your going to build something that big you have to make sure you have a strong base. I also learned that even if the process of making art is tedious and and hand cramping you will probably get something really amazing out of all of that hard work.
Slab Project
For my slab project, I decided to make a lotus flower. I'm not quite sure what inspired me or persuaded me to choose this particularly, but, I have always loved lotus flowers and I guess that's why I decided to make one. originally i wanted to make three, each one in a different stage of blossoming, but I couldn't do it in the end because I made the original one a little bigger than expected; and I eneded up not having as much time as I wanted to, so I couldn't make the other two. I think one of the biggest challenges I faced was the petals as a whole. It was hard to get them the right thickness then keep them curved and intact while I was putting on other petals and glazing them was difficult because of all of the tiny spaces in between them. Another big problem was trying to figure out what to do with the center of the flower. I had no idea what to do so I took some suggestions, tweaked them and it turned out as what is. To be honest I kinds wish I could have glazed the center, but its not that big of a deal, I still like it the way it is. The glazing was the hardest part cause I couldn't get the color I wanted, so I looked up some glaze combinations and hoped it would turn out like the picture on the glaze website. I just put two glaze combinations I liked together and that's how I got the color... It was supposed to be pink and purple. I'm really upset with the color that it came out as it looks like poo. Overall I learned that I suck at glazing and to stop trying to blend glazes cause it will never turn out the way the picture says it will.
Kiln God
This wasn't an assigned project but in my free time I created this little guy as a kiln god. Everyone fell in love with him as did I. I made three more than looked slightly different bur pretty much the same as this one. The other one was a chun plum orange red, a black midnight blue, and a brown and white albany slip color. I kept this one for my self and gave two of them away and used the last one as a kiln god.
Wheel Pot
Making my wheel pot took a lot of trial and error, but I finally made a pot that I liked so I went with it. The glaze I used is saturation gold, but for some reason it looks charred, so I don't really love the glazing but it is what it is.
Tea Pot
For my tea pot I originally wanted it to be buddha, but after I thought about it for a while i decided to make it ganesha, because I like elephants. The hardest part was making the arms, because I had never made a bust before, with a little bit of suggestion from Mr.Hanson I eventually figured it out, even though they still look a little weird.. For the ears where the green (supposed to be turquoise) I cared the swirls out, it was pretty challenging to get them to be symmetrical without making a whole in the ear. In my ideal design she would have legs, but I didn't have enough time to do that so I thought I should do a lotus flower because she is usually depicted sitting in the lotus flower. Well as it turns out the lotus flower popped off so its lopsided. The flower petals also popped off so its kinda sad but it doesn't look that bad. The glaze did not turn out how I expected at all! It was supposed to be purple not poop brown, I don't know why everything I make turns out poop brown.. its disappointing but I can live with it. I think the best part of my project is the crown. It turned out how I wanted it more or less, the glazes did too. I think I learned that I'm worse at glazing than I think and I should just buy pretty glazes, its worth it.