This year my artworks demonstrate my growth through planning and improvement on craving.  There is always unexpected mistakes, but I realized this always lead me to change my original plan and I can always come up with new plan. I saw my improvement over the three years of pottery. I still could remember the time I did my first pinch bowl. It was a new experiment and this class is very different to my other classes. I like this class because I realized I like playing with clay. Over the year, I make several projects which demonstrated my growth. This included the constellation boxes and tiles, portraits, fruits (apple and pineapple) and bowls /pots over all three years. Thank you Miss A!

Pineapple
Red Earthenware Clay

Three Apples
White Earthenware Clay

36 Northern Constellations Tiles
Red Earthenware Clay
4x4x1

LaoZi
Red Earthenware Clay

Language Book
Red Earthenware Clay

After working for weeks on my tiles, I finally finished craving all northern constellations. This week I also finished glazing some of the tiles. I added 3 layers of clear glaze to the surface and 2 layers on the side of each tiles. I still have one set of tiles that needed to be glaze. After that, I am finish with the northern constellations. If I have enough time, I would make a box to put all my tiles. That will be my plan for next week.

After leaving the pineapple on the shelf for weeks to finish my tiles, I decided to add another layer of green glaze to the work. I think that the pineapple looks too mature with the gold yellowish color while the leaves look more immature with the deep greenish color. To balance it out, another layer of green glaze over the yellowish body will play a significant role for the color overall.

I am continuing with the constellation tiles. By far, I am almost done craving with the Northern constellations. Still have 9 more to make. The next step I am planning to do with my finished tiles is to put the clear glaze on them. Original, I plan to draw the stars represented by white dot on the black craved tile. However, I give up this idea after I did one sample of it. When I when online to see the picture of their stars, I found out that some picture only contains part of their stars. It will be confusing to judge which stars to include because all of them are correct depending on how you see the stars. In some picture, it is better to include all of their stars while other include part of their stars. My new idea to replace that is to use the clear underglaze and if I want I could just mark the stars using paint or marker.

I think that my skills in designing and craving had improve since the beginning of the year. With the tiles that I am making, I learn about how the softness of the clay will affect the way you crave things. Too soft clay can be hard to crave and make mistake easily. Sometime the little pieces of the extra clay could stick back and damage the artwork because the clay is still soft in the form. Another artistic behaviors I improve is the planning. I plan out the time for cutting, glazing, craving, and drying the tile to prevent errors in my work. The tiles had to leave out to dry slowly to keep its form. I am looking forward to improving my skill in tools using, and creating new ideas. I still needs to practice with the tools because I still make mistake with the tool. I am looking forward to create new project for the next quarter.

While still working on my tiles project, I realize that it took more than my estimated time to complete a set of tiles. I plan to make one set (8-10 tiles) in one week but now it seems like it will take 2 to 3 weeks from making slabs to craving the images. I am not sure how much I will make by the end of the school year. I think I will make other projects in between so that I won’t be bored by them. So far, I have one set almost finish. I am getting ready to start another set. I have the under-glaze done on the second set of tiles. I plan to start craving next week because the clay will be dryer and easier to crave comparing to soft clay now.

In the mean time, I am planning on another project. I want to make a pencil holder but still looking for ideas. My current plan is making the shape into a groundhog for Groundhog Day.

Pineapple Glazing

Multiple colors were use for the pineapple. My original plan was that the top will be green from dark to light staring at the bottom of the stem. The body will be dark yellow with brownish orange line. As it came out, I was close to my prediction for the stem part but not the body of the pineapple. The brownish orange line disappears in the yellow. However the yellow part was in the way that I expected. I am regretted for not adding some green above the yellow layer to look more realistic and balance with the leaves because the leaves looked fresh but the body looks old.

Next project: Tiles

For the next project, I am planning to make tiles. I am planning to make a collection of tile of constellation inspired by my boxes project from last year. Still planning on my new project as I am staring it.

The sculpture that I am making is a philosopher from China. He is the founder of philosophical Taoism, name Laozi. I am inspirited by his idea with the laws of nature. He is one of my favorite philosopher from the ancient period. Since there was never a historical Laozi, he is entirely legendary. There was no real portrait of him, but there are pictures of what he seem to look like.

I remember making a portrait last year on Henry the 8th. This time, I want to make another one for Laozi and improve my skill. One thing I did differently this time is a new method to make the eyes. I wanted to be more realistic than the one I did with Henry the 8th. Instead of adding more clay surrounding the eyes, I cut out a hole for each eye and added the eyeball from inside. Another thing I did differently is the mouth, instead of using the clay in the area, I added the extra clay to make the mouth shape. I am still looking forward to see what new ways that I can come up with as I am working on my new portrait.

Artists Reflection

Considering my art work with the pineapple, I realized that my creative thinking have improve. The way that I structure and design the project, really shows improvement in my skill of observing. Especially with the top part of the pineapple. I did not plan the top apart at the beginning because I am not sure how I will built it. The first idea cutting long triangles and connect them around like a circle for each layer of the leaves. But, also I make doing it I realized it is very time consuming and increase the possibility of cracks. In addition, it is very easy to break during the process of drying. As I will using the first method, I come up with another method. I decided to play with cylinder. For each level of leave, I will make cylinder and cut out the shape. After I finish, I found it is very successful. If I use the first method, I might not finish by now and face more problems.

As I am researching pineapple, I found that the fruit is indigenous to South America. It is said to originate from the area between southern Brazil and Paraguay, which later spread throughout South America, and it eventually reached the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico, where it was cultivated by the Mayas and the Aztecs. Later, in 1493, Columbus encountered the pineapple in 1493 on the leeward island of Guadeloupe. He brought it back with him to Spain, which later the Spanish introduced it into the Philippines, Hawaii, Zimbabwe, and Guam. Also, the Portuguese took the fruit from Brazil and introduced it into India by 1550. Pineapples became a symbol of wealth due to the expense of direct import and the enormous cost and labor to grow them. Examples:

• In England, the Chelsea Physic Garden had been built to grow pineapple in 1723.
• In France, King Louis XV was presented with a pineapple that had been grown at Versailles in 1733.
• In Russia, Catherine the Great ate pineapples grown on her own estates before her death in 1796.

I found it is interesting to make a pineapple because of its rare shape. The pattern and the connection of the body and top part make the object into one. My plan is to use coiling methods for the body part of the pineapple because it is easier to make for its round shape. After the coiling part is finish, I use a paddle to even out the shape so it is balance from all size. For the top part of the pineapple, I decided to use slab to make a cylinder. Afterward, I will use tools to carve the design of the leaves out of it. I understand that the time and clay dryness will be the main problem for the top part in order to prevent cracks. Lastly, I will add texture to the body part.

Current Progress:

After I decide to use the slab method on my project. I started off with measuring the length of each slab I needed. I cut out two 6 x 8 inches, one 13 x 8 inches, and two 1 x 8 inches of slabs, making the height of ½ inches for all of them. However, I still need four of the side slabs for the top and bottom to make the complete form of the book. I wasn’t sure on the length because they are irregular shape. They must be curve in order to make the pages from the open-book to standout. I went on without think much because I know I will think of something by the time I need them. I connected all the side-slabs with the bottom slab together that I have, and added the place-holder clay inside the form of the book to make the top slab stand. Next, I went back to make the four slabs that I needed by cutting the estimated shape from a cardboard. I used the shape to make four slabs and connect to the area they needed to be and added the top cover slabs. It comes out the way I wanted to be. The four irregular slabs from same template works nicely since the book is symmetrical.

For the next project, I decide to finish my project from last year with the constellation. I plan to use decal for the trays. I have the research file save from last year. In the research, I found more constellation diagram that I could relate to my project. I will start from there after getting everything glaze. Here is one of the picture I choose for the decal.