Unit 5 Projects:
Bust:
Plan:
- Wedge clay
- Make a form out of balls of newspaper and tape
- Begin adding clay to the form to get a basic shape
- Starting with the shoulders add lumps of clay and work your way up to the head
- Skip making the neck, go to form the basic head shape first
- Add clay to form the neck
- Once the basic shape of the bust is down take a rubber rib and smooth out the bust
- Begin to add basic features
- Start by making the brow bone and the nose
- Push your thumbs into the face to make eye sockets
- Roll two balls of clay to form the eyes
- Slip and score the eyes in the sockets
- Roll four coils and slip and score to the eyes to smooth into eyelids
- Add more clay to the forehead to make it more realistic
- Make holes in the nose
- Roll two more coils to make into the mouth
- Continue smoothing out the face as you go
- Roll coils; lots of coils
- Slip and score the coils onto the head to begin to make the hair
- Take three coils of the same length, slip and score them together at the top and then braid them
- Slip and score the braid onto the head
- Pull the newspaper out of the head and smooth out the inside
- Poke holes inside of the head
- Fire
My bust was perhaps the most difficult piece I've ever made. There were, however, parts I was very proud of. The braid that I created in the hair was seemingly perfect and made me very happy that I was able to create it. I think that the construction of the bust overall went well up until the end. It was difficult to ensure the neck supported the head and that it wouldn't fall over but I was able to support it. My issue appeared when I forgot to poke holes in the head to release the air bubbles when I removed the newspaper. In forgetting to do this the trapped air had no where to go and caused the whole back of the head to shear off in the kiln. I am unsure why I forgot to poke the holes inside the head but it was a critical error. However, this process made me realize the importance of each and every step, no matter how small. If I were to make another bust I would double check at each and every step to make sure that they were completed correctly. Overall I feel like I learned a lot from the difficult process of making this bust.
Current Artist Inspired Piece:
Plan:
- Research current artists and pick one
- Research Yayoi Kusama
- Wedge clay
- Roll a slab and smooth out
- Trace the shape of the butterfly on the slab
- Cut out the butterfly
- Trace the outline of where the underglaze will go on the butterfly
- Carve initials into the base
- Paint the outer edges of the wings gray
- Paint the rest yellow as a base coat
- Using white underglaze paint dots on the gray outer edge of the butterfly
- Using a variety of other colors, make dots in the inner part of the butterfly
- Fire!
- Glaze using clear glaze
- Fire again!
For my current artist-inspired piece, I picked "Butterfly" by Yayoi Kusama; made in 1988. Kusama works across many art forms but specializes in using dots across all of her art pieces. Last year, I went to Washington, DC and the Hirshorn Museum. In the Hirshorn there is one of Kusama's pieces outside of the museum. The painting was a dot painting that I really liked the colors and effect of the dots in. I picked "Butterfly" because I already knew that I liked the artist and the piece was quite intriguing. Overall I liked how the piece came out because the dots look really cool. However, I was unable to capture the butterfly exactly how I wanted. I would have liked to have been able to include the drip-like bottoms of the wings but they kept breaking off. I would have also liked to paint the edges black as well but there was no black underglaze at the time. I overall like how the piece turned out and think it will look good as a wall hanging in my room.
Alebrije:
Plan:
- Research alebrijes
- Wedge clay
- Take a bit of the clay and roll a rather large coil
- Keeping the coil thick, cut it to be about the length of the thumb
- Pull the end of the coil to make it thinner than the front bit
- Round out the front of the face
- On the tail, make a break in the middle to give it fins
- Roll out two eyes
- Slip and score the eyes on the front of the face
- Carve name in the bottom of the piece
- Underglaze the entire piece yellow
- Using orange and red underglaze paint dot designs on the whole fish
- Using blue underglaze give the eyes pupils and paint the inner part of the tail blue
- Fire!
- Glaze the fish using clear glaze
- Fire again!
Overall, I am very pleased with how my fish alebrije turned out. He is adorable and fills me with joy when I look at him. I think that I could have done a few things to make it more fun. If I were to do the project again, I would incorporate more dots of color to make the pattern less repetitive. I would also not pick a base color of yellow because when contrasted with the red, the fish looks a little like he has the measles. Despite his somewhat sickly nature I still think my alebrije turned out really cute. I really like how it turned out and am excited to put it on my shelf of things I have made.
Useful Piece:
Plan:
- Wedge clay
- Roll a slab of clay and smooth out each side of it
- Cut a rectangle and bevel cut the sides
- Score and slip the two ends of the rectangle together to make a cylinder
- Cut a circle and score and slip the bottom circle onto the cylinder
- Smooth the cylinder to ensure that the bottom is secure and the edges are smooth
- Roll a coil and score and slip it to the side of the cylinder to make a handle
- Carve name into the bottom of the cup
- Paint the cup with black underglaze
- Mix white and yellow underglaze
- Paint the different constellations on the side of the cup using the mixture of white and yellow underglaze
- Using yellow underglaze paint a sun on the inside bottom of the cup
- Fire
- Clear glaze the entirety of the piece
- Fire again
Overall I am pleased with the result of my cup. I think that the effect of the black as a contrast to the white stars looks very cool and gives the impression of night sky. I picked constellations that stuck out to me -- such as Cassiopeia, Hercules, and Orion, -- because of how they were oriented together in the night sky. I did not place the constellations on the mug exactly as they are oriented in the night sky due to a lack of space and being unsure of how much room that each would take up. Something that I could have done better on was the handle. I like it's large size but I think I could have done something more interesting with it to add to the effect of the piece. I also think that I could have made the mug itself larger; I did not account for it shrinking in the kiln. I think I will give the piece to my mom or grandmother as a gift. I really like how my cup came out and the appearance of the night sky I was somewhat able to capture.
Wall Hanging:
Plan:
- Wedge clay
- Roll a slab
- Cut a figure eight type shape in the clay
- Using the butterfly cookie cutter cut out three of the butterflies
- Slip and score the butterflies on the slab
- Roll three thick coils and slip and score them onto the slab
- Using black underglaze, glaze the entirey of the piece
- Using blue underglaze glaze one of the butterflies and two of the pegs
- Using purple underglaze glaze one of the butterflies and one of the pegs
- Using pink underglaze glaze the last butterfly and one of the pegs
- Using black underglaze paint details for each of the butterflies on the slab
- Carve name in the bottom
- Fire!
- Clear glaze
- Fire again!
Overall, I am somewhat pleased with my wall hanging. I like the concept I went with; a place to hang hats or necklaces; but I think I could have done more. The piece looks cool enough but it is lacking a wow factor that I would have liked it to have. I think I could have added something along the bottom, such as a vine or flowers to make it more interesting. I also think that I could have used a different base color than black to make it less drab. The idea I had I liked but I think my execution was off somewhat. I think that the use of the butterfly cookie cutter allowed for me to give the piece a more 3-D aspect which adds to the effect. In the future I will definitely be utilizing the cookie cutters I found more. The dimension that they can add when layered to a piece is really cool. If I were to do this again I would add more to the piece to make it more interesting. I am pleased with the finished result and it will be useful in organizing my things.
Choice Project:
Plan:
- Wedge clay
- Roll a slab
- Pull up the edges of the slab to form a tray
- Using black underglaze, glaze the base of the piece
- Gather green, yellow, purple, blue, and pink underglaze
- Begin painting the northern lights
- Layer the underglaze in a flowy pattern to emmulate the lights
- Using black underglaze, paint mountains on the bottom half of the platter
- Using dark blue underglaze outline the mountains
- Using white underglaze paint stars in the sky
- Carve name on the bottom
- Fire!
- Clear glaze the piece
- Fire again!
Overall I am very happy with how my tray came out. There is a song I really like about the Northern Lights which somewhat inspired this piece. The layering that I was able to achieve, while not exactly the same as the actual Northern Lights, makes me proud of what I was able to do. I really like the colors and how they contrast with the dark mountains at the bottom of the tray. Something that I could have done better with on the piece was emmulating the Northern Lights more accurately. It is exceptionally difficult to capture something as powerful as the Northern Lights but I think I could have worked harder and pushed myself further to attempt to capture them more accurately. Making the colors appear as if they are in the night sky was definitely the most difficult part but I think I somewhat captured the effect. I made a similar tray during first semester and I use it everyday. I am really proud of how the piece turned out and I know it will make a great gift for my girlfriend.