Cookie Cutter Project

For this Project, I wanted to make a small design using a tool similar to a cookie cutter. I decided to make a dove, because I love birds and I thought a dove would work with the themes of Christmas. So, I began by flattening out a slab, then using the tool with the dove imprint, and cut out the dove shape. I really wanted to keep experimenting with the crystaltex glazes to find my favorite, and chose a Jungle gems Mayco called peacock eyes.

My final piece turned out really good, besides the one side of the dove. I think it was sitting on the shelf too long after I had finished glazing it, and some of the glaze wiped off before entering the kiln for its second time. But, I really enjoy this kind of crystaltex and would love to use it for one of my next projects possibly.

Second Plate Project

For this project, I really wanted to try and correct the errors I made with my first attempt at making a plate. For this new plate, I decided to use a roller and stamp the entire slab with the same print. I then used a container to place the slab circle upside down, and add a bottom rim to the center. The clay dried out quite a bit during the week we were gone for Thanksgiving break, but I used some water to smooth out the rough edges of the plate. After firing this as greenware, I discovered that I should've made the bottom rim much thinner, due to the fact that it was missing from the plate, and my plate was cracked into 2 pieces. Although it did not make it out okay from the kiln, I would still enjoy possibly glazing it.

6x6 Tile Project

For this project, I decided to go with a Vincent Van Gogh interpretation of his painting of a wheat field. I really enjoy seeing all of the thick, layered colors throughout his painting, and wanted to work with my skills in underglazing, to capture those brilliant colors. I decided to engrave the figures of his painting into my tile, adding a textured feel with the different strokes and movements. I have finished my process of underglazing and adding the layers of clear glaze on top, so now I am waiting for the surprise to see my final tile.

I used the following underglazes: salmon, medium blue, avocado green, yellow, and brown.


My Vincent Van Gogh inspiration...

Here is the tile with the clear glaze dried on its surface...

Plate Project

For this Project, I wanted to experiment with using slabs and stamps. I originally got my inspiration from a video I watched on Edmodo.

To begin making my plate, I rolled out a flat slab of clay, then cut a circle out of the slab. The next step was forming the flat circle into a plate, with a small circular indent directly in the middle. After this, I rolled a coil out and scored and slipped it to the bottom of the plate. After my piece came out of the kiln as bisqueware, I saw that the coil had cracks in the creases where I connected it to the plate. To try and fix this issue, I made sure that my glazes went inside the cracks. I decided to use a yellow underglaze within the center of the plate, and inside of the flower prints I stamped into the plate previously to firing it. Then I used a Amaco crystaltex CTL-48 Sun and Sea. The pigments of color in the crystaltex contained shades of yellow, which would work well with the yellow speedball underglaze.

In the end, my plate turned out okay, besides the remaining cracks underneath the coil. If I could go back and restructure the bottom and coil, I would.