Pit Firing

                 Bowl of Strawberries

Although I am not a big fan of clay, I really enjoyed this project. I wanted to create something that I could put in my room or bathroom and still use, so I made a simple bowl. To make my project more interesting, I made some little strawberries to put inside. Shaping the strawberries took the most time, and I wanted to get them just right. I never had the piece fired in the kiln regularly ,and I was excited to see how it would turn out after the pit firing. I put my bowl and the strawberries seperatly in aluminum foil with sticks and leaves. Because I didn't fire the piece beforehand, it my bowl has a very dark look on the interior, which I love. I wish that the strawberries had turned out darker, but I love the parts of them that turned out red. I enjoyed learning a new method to bake clay, and I would definitely pit fire again.

Dadaism Extra Credit

                    Block of Cheese

When I first heard that we were going to be working with plaster, I was dreading this project. I began carving into the plaster, desperately trying to make some sort of interesting shape or form out of the hard white block. I realized that there was no way I could create an interesting curved figure out of the block with the clay tools available, so I decided to make something much simpler. I felt my plaster, and realized that it had the same texture as cheese; smooth and soft. I then decided to make a slice of a block of cheese, and carved downwards, adding big holes as I went. At the end, it didn't look quite like cheese, so I painted it yellow to make it more obvious. I did not particularly enjoy working with the plaster, but I did enjoy learning this new method. I have worked with plaster before; back in middle school, I made a human figure out of strips of player, which I did not enjoy. This project made working with plaster easier and more enjoyable than my past experiences with this medium.

Dwelling

    What I liked about this project was getting to chose whatever medium I wanted to create a dwelling. We were given limits on how much clay we could use if we chose to use clay, and I didn't use cardboard or paper because I didn't want to work with a hot glue gun. I got the idea to create a transparent house with a deeper symbolic meaning. The wire house is all connected, and I like the abstract, even eerie feeling it gives off. The house seems sturdy; it has four walls and windows, but inside, it's empty. I love the 3D representation of this house. The house is not perfect; it has wire spirals and twists but that's what makes it unique. It was too difficult to create the house without ever cutting the wire, but I did so with different sections of the house to create that abstract effect. I wouldn't change anything about this project; it does a good job representing its given meaning and has a unique feel. 

What is pit firing?

1. What is a pit firing? What is a foil saggar? What is a paper saggar? Include pictures for all. 

Pit firing is the original method for 'baking clay' that dates back thousands of years ago. The pit fire puts color and pattern on the pots during the process. It is done by making a pit or hole in the ground that is at lest a food and a half deep,  and filling it with a combination of saw dust, grass and wood shavings as the first layer. Then, newspaper can be put in to protect the pots or ceramics. Then, it is light on fire. The ceramics put into the pit will get unique imprints from the pit firing, adding a lot of character to the piece. 

A foil sagger is a container in which ceramics can be placed in during a firing, or a covering that goes over them, such as aluminum foil. Saggars trap the smoke in with the ceramic, so it can be absorbed by the piece. This process is to drastically change the look of the piece. 

Ferric Chloride can be put on the piece during the process. I even read aboutone technique that involved the use of sugar.

 

Paper sagging is the same as aluminum foil sagging in concept, but typically newspaper is used for this type of sagging. The newspaper is wrapped tightly around the ceramic piece to trap in the smoke, and imprint the pot with a unique design. It's like putting 'mummifying' the piece.

2. What makes these techniques special?

What makes these techniques special is they can always be adjusted by the artist. The length of time that the piece is in the pit fire, and what median is used for sagging the piece greatly influence the overall look of the piece. Any minuscule change in the process can create drastically different results that may be difficult to recreate. This makes every piece special and unique in its own way. There can be a 40% breakage rate with pit firing, making it a very risky process for artists, but one that is rewarding if the cernaics do come out in one piece. 

Free Project

I love dreamcatchers and had a really strong urge to make one, but I didn't know when the opportunity would arise in a sculpture class until the free project. This dreamcatcher cost almost nothing to make; I used a recycled wooden ring that Ms.Sudkamp found, and the string and yarn I used from the classroom cost virtually nothing. I used beads I already had, but I had to purchase feathers (plucking them for free off of birds would've been too gross). The limitation of $3 or less wasn't a problem for me. Learning to make the dream catcher was fun, yet challenging. I watched at least 5 videos on Youtube to figure out how to make the pattern in the center of the ring. I feel that the end result is very successful. 

Vessel

http://pinterest.com/sabrinadz12/vessels/

When I began this project, I had a very different vision than how the final project ended up.  I had wanted to create a unique shape with the wire, and have the spider-webby wire pattern be filled in lightly with tissue paper, creating a see through sculpture.  This was alot more difficult than it seemed, and the wire was not as bendable as I had hoped.  The tissue paper tore if I only put a thin layer on, and this resulted in me being forced to add more until it was no longer see-through like I had originally envisioned.  However, I'm proud of the final project due, as it took alot of hot glue gun burns to create it.  I still succeeded in creating a sculpture out of wire and tissue paper, although it ended up different than my goal had been. 

Animal Head

 This project was pretty challenging for me, because I had difficulty making the head hollow, yet still sturdy.  I like how my fox head turned out, although I would go back and smooth it out if I could.  The biggest challenge was the eyes, and I feel that they could be improved to create a more realistic feel of the overall piece.  Painting my animal head will be fun, and hopefully will improve the look of the sculpture.