Bowl

This red bowl was thrown on the wheel.  After centering the slab of clay, I formed it into a bowl and let it become greenware.  I then methodically used tools in order to balance the bottom and sides of the bowl.  After becoming bisque ware, I used red low fire glaze to paint my bowl in a color that would stand out and contrast with its surroundings.  Centering and then forming the bowl was difficult, but once I started, it became a little easier.

Mug

I created this mug using the hand-building technique.  The handle is shaped like the top of a heart, connecting with the bottom on the actual mug.  In the heart engraved into the mug, it says "'All you need is love...'", further capturing the love and heart pattern displayed.  I used red for the hearts and handle and a pink/purple glaze for the rest of the mug.  The black writing is being used as a contrast to the red and pink/purple glazes.  I had a difficult time with the handle of my mug and wish it could have turned out a little differently.

Coil Pot

This blue coil pot was hand-built by slipping and scoring coils together in order to create a shape that went out and came back in.  After the pot became greenware, it was bisque fired.  As bisque, I cleaned the pot, and decided to use two different color blue low-fire glazes.  The unity of the two blues emphasize the symmetrical balance of the coils.  I had trouble in glazing pot; however, in the end, the colors turned out almost as well as I had hoped.

Rattle

This little turtle rattle was created using the hand-building technique.  I slipped and scored two surfaces, a round and a flat one, together and then attached the head, feet, and tail.  I used horizontal and diagonal lines to create a shell on the turtle.  After being bisque fired, I used low fire glaze to paint the  shell brown and the head, feet, and tail green.  After painting, I put a glaze to make the turtle shiny and then fired it, becoming glaze fired.  I had a little trouble creating the effect of a shell, but after everything, I am thoroughly pleased with my turtle rattle.

Box

This decorative "ocean scene" box was built using the hand-building technique.  I rolled out and cut six-inch by six-inch slabs of clay.  After slipping and scoring and putting the box together, the box hardened and became greenware.  The box was then bisque, fired once, and at that point, I was then able to paint and glaze the box.  I used the orange and blue on the side with the fish to show contrast.  The orange and green also show contrast in color.  I struggled with putting the box together and not having rounded edges; however, I did not succeed as well as I had hoped.  I am happy with the over-all product of my box, especially the contrast in colors.

Pinch Pot

This pot was made by the hand-building technique of pinching together the clay to form a pot.  After the pot was fired, I waxed the bottom and dipped it into a glaze which gave it its blueish-green color. I added texture to the pot by using a needle-tool to draw designs in the pot.  On the other sides of the pot, there are different designs which give it more texture.  There are contrasting designs on the other sides as well.  I struggled with dipping the pot into the glaze after the bisque firing and waxing the bottom.

Wire Sculpture

This is a penguin sculpted out of wire using hand-building techniques and wrench-like tools.  After sculpting the penguin, I covered parts of it with paper mâché.  I then went and painted the paper mâché with black and white paint to show contrast.  Because of their strong contrast in color, the black and white bring the most attention to the face of the penguin.  The paper mâché was artistically placed to show space and contrast.  I struggled with deciding with which parts of the penguin I should put the paper mâché on to show the best uses of space.  I like where I chose to place the paper mâché because it shows good spacing.  The paper mâché also adds to the texture of this wire sculpture.  Once I knew where to put the paper mâché, applying the techniques of putting it on and painting it was not too difficult.