...and *BAM* they were ceramic

For the past year I've taken an amazing ceramics class at my High School. I'm preparing my portfolio for college and the AP art test. So far I have about eight or nine (usable) pieces. Ceramics is probably one of the most difficult art forms. So many things can go wrong in the process! The clay can be too dry initially causing it to crack, or too wet causing it to warp, the glaze can melt strangely in the kiln, it can even explode, etc! I worked very hard on these pieces and I'm pretty happy with the results.  Here is a quick peek inside my portfolio!

"Flower girl"

 "Flower girl"

    This is the piece I worked the longest one. Its about a foot and a half tall and 3/4th of a foot wide (I'm just eyeballing it here) The project assignment was "surrealism". It took me a month to finish hand building it (longer if you count the glaze time). I used colored slip for the petals and clipper handle, porcelain for the eyes and teeth, and black stain for the rest of it.

Seedpod vase

This assignment was to take ideas from nature. I used the seed of a dandelion for inspiration. The glaze was medium fire "hare's fur" and "shino".

"Motion of the Ocean" cup and tray set

 This piece took a short time to make, but about three months to get it fired... because I was lazy. I used a "Transparent turquoise" glaze for the outside, "Tenmoku" for the barnacles and "Temple Orange" for the starfish. I also carved sharks onto the sides using a blue slip overcoat but the turquoise glaze was to heavy making it hard to see.

Horus draped plate

There wasn't an assignment for this piece. I just really wanted to paint something. I made a plate by draping clay over a mold and then throwing a foot (for the plate) on the wheel. I painted this image on to the plate using colored slips (just watered down colored clay). Its the Egyptian god Horus.

Steam punk Teapot!

This is the last piece I'm going to show. It's my steam punk teapot! I wanted to make a functional ceramic piece that looked like it was metal. I made "screws" and used a glaze that looked like it was rusting. I think it was high fire "Shino". This is one of my favorite pieces. It works too!


Thanks for checking out my art! 
More to come...