Post Snow Days

I am currently working on two projects. The first is a closed container with a cut out lid. The most important things to tell someone to do on this project would be to make sure the clay is leather hard before taking it off of the molds, to be very precise when connecting and cutting the to pieces together to make sure you do not put a whole in it, and to cut at in angle into the clay when creating the opening/lid. I am focusing on contrast through the different texture of the elements on the smooth container as well as the deep thick cuts for the lines, I am also using color to show contrast, the designs will be a tannish color and the rest will be a dark purple/blue. I am also making a large coiled vase, the three most important parts of this project would be to make sure to slip and score, make sure to smooth out the clay in the end and to make sure the angling is the same so the vase looks like three even parts. I am focusing on lines to make transitions in color, as well as unity so the vase looks like it three of the same smaller vases put together.

3rd Quarter Post: Cups

This cup was glazed with sea spray and turkish amber and held 8 oz of water.

This cup was glazed with albany slip brown and seaspray and held 12 oz of water.

 This cup was glazed with black and second hand rose and held 8 oz of water.

This cup was glazed with chum plum and secondhand rose and held 8 oz of water.

 This cup was glazed with black and chum plum and holds 9 oz of water.

This cup was glazed with true celadon and metallic green and held 10 oz of water.



It is important to take pieces off the wooden boards when they start to become leatherhard to ensure that they do not become to dry. I focused on balance with the cups so they were not too dramatic and had symmetry. I learned how to use the wheel better through this project. If I could fix it I would make my line designs go deeper into the cup because after I glazed them they are not visible anymore.

February Post

I am working on the cup project, I have made five cups on the wheel so far. Coming up with ideas for what the cup should look like is the hardest part of the project, but otherwise it's pretty simple.

End of First Semester

Holidays

 I do not have anything to photograph. I have constructed and glazed my candelabra, two small items on the wheel, glazed my last extra credit project, and constructed a pitcher.

•  Bone Dry - Clay that is completely dried but not yet fired.  Clay forms are most fragile at this stage.
• Leather Hard - Clay which has dried sufficiently to be stiff, but is still damp enough to be joined to other pieces.

 It is important to wait until clay is leather dry, because it will hold its shape without folding in on itself. But the clay won't be too dry, so more clay will be able to hold to it if needed.
 

Glazing Part 2

On the middle part where the coils are exposed I used four coats of chum plum, I then put wax resist on that part. Then I put two coats of transparent on the rest of the pot and dipped it twice in shino. The chum plum did not show up everywhere I painted it on the coil part, and it dripped some at the bottom, the shino/transparent mix didn't mix together a well in the final coloring either, making it look splotchy or drippy. I will probably stick to simpler glazing methods from now on to try to prevent this from happening. The inside glaze on the pot came out really well though.

Coil Pot and Glazed Pinch Pot

It's important to wash your hands before touching bisque ware because the oils from anything that has been touched before hand or from sweat can make it so the glaze won't absorb into the clay, same for the dust. Wax resist needs to be applied when dipping into a bucket, and when you dip into the bucket it should only stay in the bucket for about 1.5-3 seconds. You can't brush on bucket paint because it runs.