Ceramics II: Place Setting
Artist Statement:
For the place setting unit, I created a matching set consisting of a cup, bowl, and plate. I was very excited for this unit since I really like working on the wheel, even though it is very difficult. I started by attempting to make cups - I made a couple successfully, except I forgot about them and they dried out before I could trim and add feet to them. When I tried to make a cup later, I found that I had trouble making the cup evenly, and could only make extremely uneven cups. I decided to make this wobbly edge part of my unifying theme.
I accidentally discovered how to make plates when I decided I did not like the cup I was throwing, so I smushed the cup with my hand, and I created a plate. I found that plates and bowls were easier to make evenly since they do not have high walls, and I made quite a few of them. However, plates were hard to take off of the wheel; I had to leave the plate on the wheel for at least 20 minutes to dry before taking it off the wheel.
For me, trimming my pieces went pretty smoothly. I re-centered my pieces and carved in to trim and make feet. For my cup, since its edge is very uneven, I had to trim and add a foot by hand, so the foot is a bit inaccurate. Other than that though, I think the feet came out pretty nice.
As I said before, the uneven edges of my pieces unite them. Also, I carved in a line that goes around each of the pieces, giving my cup, bowl, and plate another unifying feature. I also glazed my place setting pieces the same glaze, with Blue Rutile high fire glaze. I glazed the pieces by dunking them into the bucket of glaze with my fingers, but the pieces unexpectedly ended up with finger marks where I was holding the pieces. They aren’t blatantly obvious, so I think they are fine. Also, while I was going for a blue-ish color, I ended up with a mix of brown and blue; it was unexpected, but I like the gradient from brown to light blue.
Overall, I think that the difficulties from throwing the cups, bowls, and plates allowed me to figure out ways to cope with the problems and learn from them to create more successful pieces.
I also really liked this unit, as I find it very fun to work on the wheel. Even though I am not always successful on the wheel, creating pieces using the wheel is exciting. Now that I am working on my sculptural response project and portrait bust project, I miss working on the wheel.
I accidentally discovered how to make plates when I decided I did not like the cup I was throwing, so I smushed the cup with my hand, and I created a plate. I found that plates and bowls were easier to make evenly since they do not have high walls, and I made quite a few of them. However, plates were hard to take off of the wheel; I had to leave the plate on the wheel for at least 20 minutes to dry before taking it off the wheel.
For me, trimming my pieces went pretty smoothly. I re-centered my pieces and carved in to trim and make feet. For my cup, since its edge is very uneven, I had to trim and add a foot by hand, so the foot is a bit inaccurate. Other than that though, I think the feet came out pretty nice.
As I said before, the uneven edges of my pieces unite them. Also, I carved in a line that goes around each of the pieces, giving my cup, bowl, and plate another unifying feature. I also glazed my place setting pieces the same glaze, with Blue Rutile high fire glaze. I glazed the pieces by dunking them into the bucket of glaze with my fingers, but the pieces unexpectedly ended up with finger marks where I was holding the pieces. They aren’t blatantly obvious, so I think they are fine. Also, while I was going for a blue-ish color, I ended up with a mix of brown and blue; it was unexpected, but I like the gradient from brown to light blue.
Overall, I think that the difficulties from throwing the cups, bowls, and plates allowed me to figure out ways to cope with the problems and learn from them to create more successful pieces.
I also really liked this unit, as I find it very fun to work on the wheel. Even though I am not always successful on the wheel, creating pieces using the wheel is exciting. Now that I am working on my sculptural response project and portrait bust project, I miss working on the wheel.