Week 15

This week I made my mini series. I made jewelry two rings, although in the drying cabinet one ring broke I will glue it after it has been fired,  two pendants with hearts, crowns, and quotes which I was going to make necklace of after, and another pendant I used my face stamp for. I also finished glazing my teapot and cube jewelry box.  They were fired and bought home. I also made another wavy bowl. It was fired and then I glazed it with melon green low fire glaze. It's waiting in the drying cabinet.

Cube and Combination Forms: Fired and Glazed

Week 14

This week I finished glazing my cube with multiple colored blues to represent the sky the bird was flying in. The inside is a mini universe. It's black with white, yellow, orange, and blue stars and in the center is the Earth; complete with water, green land, snow, and deserts. For my tea pot I am painting it canary yellow, white and black. The inside is yellow, the outside streaked in black with a white handle and spout and yellow flowers. The top is black with yellow flowers as well. I am going to start on my mini series now. I plan to make jewelry.

Week 13

This week I finished the cube project. I found a lot of words relating to of a tangent from the word fly and  carved them on the box; including the four elements. On top is a sculpted dove to be the handle. As well as I reglazed the first slab plates I made, with midnight blue and clear. I also had my teapot fired and am starting my mini series. I plan to make a tea set on the wheel starting tomorrow. Also my mug was fired twice and came out great! Its crackled blue brown and green.

Ideas

Thought this looked cool

Week 12

Since Thanksgiving week was a short week we skipped the blog. This week we worked on our cube project. After cutting my 6 slabs in a 3inx3in square, I covered them in plastic in order for them to become leather hard for the next class. I then proceeded to make each side at a 45 degree angle so when you put two slabs together it made a sharp corner. I also included a coil on every side to give it extra strength. Once the cube was made I cut it in the middle with a squiggly line, for the box to open. Then on the top I sculpted a bird; A dove. Next class I was going to cover it in words related to flight. We also got our mugs back. After a third firing for the high fire glaze, it came out shiny. I used red fire brick with frosted turquoise on top to give it a crackled appearance.

Mini Series

I'm deciding on making jewelry or a tea set to go with my teapot. Or I might do both :)

Term Two Projects

For the combination piece I am making a teapot. I brought the slabs home and it is put together and finished, in terms of building and sculpting. For the box project I am making a jewelry box by the dimensions of 2in x 2in x 2in. It will be sgraffitoed in black englobe and have a domed top with a sculpted bird as the handle. I plan to sgraffito trees and lines freehand onto the sides. And for the series I plan to make clay jewelry, but I'm not completely sure yet. I know the cube had to be designed first, but I was thinking the teapot was the cube project originally. So I'm doing mine out of order; with the combination first. So here is my drawing, prototype, and rough creation.

This is the drawing for the cube.

Fired Pieces

Week 10

This week my mug broke, the one I was was working on for the last two weeks. It's very frustrating when you have to start from scratch with a dead line. I decided to take clay home and start over there, instead of getting through the project with a crappy replacement. I did save the handle from the broken mug and wrapped it in wet paper towels and plastic wrap for an hour. It was like brand new clay, so it was easy to place the handle on the new mug. I went with a different design, with a K, a moon and sun. I also used a DD cup to keep this new mug round. I also designed my next project which is my interpretation of the cube project. As well as the pinch pots got fired (next post)

The first design I choose was the phoenix, but it broke so it was reborn as the sun and moon.

Here is the new mug and old handle

The tools

Making it round(er)

Attached!

Sun

K

Moon

For the "Combination" project I plan on making a teapot with the following pieces and dimensions.

Week 9

This week we continued to put our mugs together and carve(hopefully). With the hurricane we had two classes so this is short. When we had a sub and I helped teach her how to make a pinch pot and then continued carve my mug. Our pieces were fired and two have to be re-glazed  as well as the stopper has to be remade smaller.    

Week 8

This week we worked on templates to make mugs with the design of our initials. We had to create our design on a piece of paper in which we used to cut out the clay. As well as a circle for the bottom. Next we learned how to pull a handle. I had to get rid of my first as it was to thin. The handle starts as a ball of clay which you dip in water and pull with your hands. You can make groves and different shapes to fit your hand. When you have the right shape. You can cut the handle from the rest of the clay and lay the top of the handle flat then shape the handle and place the bottom flat. Next week I will will put all of the pieces together to form the mug and start carving the phoenix and my initials.

The Mug

Sometimes to make a piece in ceramics you need a template to help complete your idea, so to do the mug we drew our design on a 5inx11in piece of paper. Mine is of a phoenix with my initials in the wings.

Week 7-(slightly crazy)

    During the course of the week we finished ah salt and peppah shakahs. Mine was in the shape of two lighthouses. They ah the same build, so identical twin pieces and will be painted differently fah contrast. Black a white rocks depending on if its salt a peppah. The twin pieces use technique and craftsmanship to get the right shape, and some innovating idears in ordah  to make them look the same. I also stahted glazing my pinch pots. Fah my draped bowl, I am using blue bell, dahk blue, leaf green, coral, light green, and puahple.
                                                                                     ---,
                                                                                          Katie Allen

How to combined high fire glazes

High fire glaze combos
 just one of the many

Plaster vs Clay

So I'm working on a mask with the gauze strips, in some ways its easier to use then clay. It makes forms, dries fast, isn't that expensive, but the texture could be better.

 As you can see, I added rays to make it look like the sun and then an extra half-a-face to make the moon. Again you can add on the this stuff when its dry or wet, where clay is only wet. Although plaster gauze is very flaky and is easier to break.

 Is the gold too gold?

with flash its a whole new color.

Week 6

This week we worked on the four pinch pots that would and will become two salt and pepper shakers.

I'm trying to add cylinders to my light houses to have the top where lighthouses have there light and rocks on the bottom. The pepper will have black rocks and salt white rocks. When I first started the second light house, it was far to wide. Instead of starting over I improvised and sliced vertically and merged the seams back together in  order to have two lighthouses the same size.

Next week I plan to cut the tops as well to have the railings with out puncturing the lighthouse  shakers. Then put holes for the salt at the top and a stopper at the bottom

All fired, time for glazin'

The blue fish plate, curvy bowl, other fish plate (under pinch pots), and 3 pinch pots are all mine :)

Week 5

               This week we watched videos and were shown how to make a salt and pepper shaker or a candle holder if we want to pierce the clay instead. The videos went over how much clay and how many balls it will take to make a set The answer is 4, 2 for each; one a top and a bottom if you will. we also put our pinch-pot replicas in the drying ca binet. we went over form and function again and drew spheres on paper. Then we saw how many different objects have . We also drew radial designs and designed our salt and pepper shakers.

Week 4.5: Pich Pot Replica of Culture Project

The middle pinch pot represents the modern ceramic techniques. The pear shaped bottle on the left with the flower topper represents a modern twist on a liquid container that the Eastern Asia would of used. The flower is building of the motif of a cherry blossom. While the cup on the right has four feet and my stamp pressed on the outside. It is the first pinch pot I made.

Post Cultural Ceramics

These drawings show sketches of the different cultures in ceramics. From the Middle East, Japan and China, Navajo, Aztec, Africa, Greek, and Modern ceramics has had a big part in each. Some have more function then other, such as a tea pot or a water jug. While others are purely decorative such as the modern sculptures. Each could of had some part in pinch pot technique.  Each group went over several pieces and we took notes. The goal is to make a replica of one of these. I choose the the modern ceramics with the simplistic curves to serve as a small jewelry dish.