Week 14

Week 14 done and over there is one more week of classes. Everything is slowing down as it is the end of the semester. All I had left to complete was glazing a handful of bowls and three project pieces. My test tiles, grapefruit bowl, and no base project. I glazed those on Wednesday and do not yet know how they have turned out but hoping to see them on Monday. I am worried about my no base not turning out right as it was just a hard project for me to do but I did the best I could with a hard topic for me. The wood fire was canceled for lack of work to put in the firing, so a soda firing was done instead. My test tiles went in this firing, but my bowls did not, I decided to leave those on the cart for a wood fire in the future. Monday, I get to see the results of my projects and it is mandatory cleanup day. Then final crit on the following Monday. Fingers crossed!

Update: everything came out for the most part perfect. My test tiles look good, my no base came out perfect, the first picture is my experiment with frit in the bottom of my bowl, and the glaze turned out beautiful on my grape fruit bowl. The only grip I have is a decent sized crack in the bottom of one of the grapefruit bowls. Outside of that I am excited for crit on Monday! 

Week 13

Week 13.  I did not go to class Monday

but I am ok with that since I have
 very little left and the wet clay cut
off is the next day. I came in for an
hour maybe to finish my no base
and cleaned it up on Wednesday.
We did critiques on Wednesday as
well and got to see some beautiful
pieces. I finished class by glazing
my grapefruit bowl and wading for
wood fire. Then one more week to
glaze and glaze fire all my bowls and

cups. Hopefully everything goes smoothly for the end of the semester.

Week 12

Week 12. There are only 4 weeks left in the semester and I have three assignments to complete. My fantasy function, no base, and test tiles. Class was canceled on Monday but I came in for about 3 hours to try to finish some of these. I did not finish any but did come close to finishing my fantasy function grapefruit bowl and jewelry box. I think I will submit my bowl because so far I like it more than my jewelry box. Wednesday I finished my Fantasy functions and started my no base building. I just need to finish building a few more elements and I will be done with building. I plan to finish this next Monday and glaze next Wednesday if all goes as planed.

Week 11

So far this week has been vastly more productive than last week. It is nice to have been all in on building. I came in early to class for about two hours and busted out bowls for my colander, grapefruit bowl, and the no base thrown vessels. I nearly completed my  grapefruit bowl Sydney suggested a handle and I agree so I just have to add that and I'm done. I finally determined my no base project and I'm stress but excited to see how it turns out. I have the base pieces set up for it which are three thrown cylinders and three slabs that will encase the vessels. After that is all put together the detail work and the work the promotes no base will begin and almost every aspect will have a function. Those are the last of projects and I would like to throw a few more bowls before the end of the semester to try the crystal effect in and that's all I have on my lists to make. Very excited.

Week 10

It is now week ten. We had our midterm critiques, personally mine was over the stump for Apologia. My critiques all centered around how they wanted more in the structures around the stump. They suggested more vines and add detail, more roots, more bisque pieces throughout the raw clay pieces, and even gather trash from a forest to add into it. None of this am I necessarily against, I agree to some extent but I don't think I will resubmit my sculpture. The point is to bring out the struggle between nature and humans and our great love for nature. I almost feel like the motivation I hope to bring with this to go out into the woods or a park or somewhere to enjoy and appreciate nature would be diminished.  I'm also quite satisfied with what I submitted. We also were introduced to the last of the glaze clac project, that of which I am honestly a little confused on. We are also to be starting our fantasy function project at the same time. I chose to start this on Wednesday when we were also introduced to No Base project. Looks like I will be spending quite a bit of time on the wheel.

Week 9

Week nine is a bit of a slow week. Personally I did not attend Monday class and Wednesday class was canceled. I did however go in on Tuesday to trim bowls and finish preparing for my midterm. Which thankfully was pushed back another week because as it is in a finished bisque wear state does not seem finished. So Sunday I'll be back in to install it and clean up any parts that need it. For the next project I have committed to the jewelry box and the grapefruit bowl. I might try to build a few other of my top picks if these don't pan out or I feel they don't measure up.  My test tiles for the triaxial test came out and they aren't really what I expected. I was hoping for more of a change from tile to tile instead they all seem relatively the same. I think I should've gone up by threes instead of ones and maybe messed with a colorant. I still enjoy the glaze as is but was just looking for a more shocking kind of change versus the subtle to no existent change.

Week 8

Week 8 so far is a little boring. We were introduced to the new project "Fantasy Function" and I still don't have a solid design for it. I still might try a better ash tray but a peer helped me think up a jewelry organizer idea that I might run with. In the mean time I threw a few bowls to help me think. On Wednesday we reviewed glaze calc notes and looked at our fusion tests. At the end we discussed our ideas for the new project and came up with the final 4 that I would like to do. My idea for a jewelry box is my top pick at the moment. I honestly think I'll make the top three picks and see which I like more and submit that. Monday I have to set up my installation for Wednesday critiques and Apologia will be done.  We also have a quiz on Wednesday that I probably should study a bit more to get a better understanding of terms and the materials associated with them. That's about it for this week.