Progress Report #7
Date: 5/10/12
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? I have completely finished my large project, all plates has been glazed and fired, all that is left to do is fire them. In the meantime I have created two other pitchers. I subtracted and added to them to give them a different look/style. One is being fired now and I’m currently working on glazing my other pitcher.
- What have you learned? I have learned that since it is the end of the year, time management is exetremely important. I need to keep track of how many more firings will be done before the art show in order to get all my pieces completed on time. I also learned that you just have to go for it and try out new things- either it works or it doesn’t, but regardless atleast you know for next time.
- What is your next step? My next step is to draw out a layout for my art show set up. I need to consider what I will put all my work on. Shelves I decided were way to unstable, so we talked about maybe bringing in a bookshelf or table of some sort to present them on. I also need to get adhesive to glue together my large stack of plates. As well I need to work on glazing and finishing the two pitchers I started. I need to see how much more work I can complete in time by the end of the year/art show.
Progress Report #6
Date: 4/27/12
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? I have completed glazing all my sets of plates. Finally. It took a really long time but I have finally finished the glazing process of this project that I started a while ago. That’s a good sign because I’m almost finished with it. My first stack has been fired and I believe the other two stacks are either going in the kiln today or later this week.
- What have you learned? Patience is really necessary when doing such a big long term project. But you have to just stick it up and work through it, at times I got fed up with all the precise glazing because I did each individual plate a different color, but I believe that in the end it will most definitely be worth it. After seeing my first one done, I’m really excited to see how the other two stacks turn out.
- What is your next step? My next step is to wait for them to be fired. Then I will use some adhesive to attach the three stacks ontop of eachother. I really hope they can support one another, and that nothing breaks. I also have the worry about the weight and how we will be able to move it around because the individual pieces already weigh a lot. Then as soon as I am done I will
Progress Report #5
Date: 4/23/12
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? I have been decidcating all the rest of my time to finishing up my large project. Everyday I’ve been coming in and glazing as much of it as I can. I just finished glazing the first, largest stack of plates and that went through the kiln. Besides that I have been working on my sketchbook at home when I have time.
- What have you learned? What challenges have you faced? I decided to focus my time on this project in order to get it done quicker. I’d rather finish this up before moving on or starting anything else. Dedicating all my time to this will allow me to get done quicker and more efficiently.
- What is your next step? My next step is to finish up the other two stacks of plates. I just started on the second one the other day. I think they will go a lot quicker because there is fewer plates on them, and they are more spread out so it will be a lot easier to glaze. Then I’m looking forward to starting a new project, I thnk I may continue with working on the wheel and altering the ways I throw my pieces.
Progress Report #4
Date: 3/16/12
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? I have completed glazing all my pitchers and waiting for the last one to come out of the kiln. I’m really pleased with how they turned out. The past two weeks I’ve dedicated to glazing my plate sculpture and am currently 1/3 of the way done. It’s taking a lot of time but hopefully it will turn out really good and all be worth it.
- What have you learned? What challenges have you faced? I learned that I really have to manage my time left because there’s only one more marking period left and my large sculpture is taking up a lot of my time. I have to decide what else I wish to get done, how/when I’m going to do it. I also have to keep working at a quick pace in order to get my project done but not be sloppy.
- What is your next step? My next step is to finish glazing the other 2/3 of my sculpture and get it fired. Once the 3 stacks are fired, I need to get adhesive to stick them together. Hopefully that works out, then I need to start thinking of my next project since my time is now limited.
Progress Report #3
Date: 3/2/12
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? All my pictures have come out of the kiln now. Recently I’ve worked with underglazes to create a really nice design on one of them, that pitcher is currently in the kiln. As for the others, I have finished glazing and two of them have been completely fired and finished. I’m now glazing my very last pitcher I created and deciding if I should continue and make more.
- What have you learned? What challenges have you faced? I haven’t faced many challenges. I guess maybe with deciding what colors to glaze my projects. I’m really picky with what colors I choose and I’ve already used all the glazes we have so it’s tough to decide which one would look best and what colors work well together. You really don’t know how it’s gonna look until you get it out of the kiln.
- What is your next step? My next step is to complete glazing this last pitcher, which will probably only take me about another day. Then my number one priority is to complete my large plate sculpture, which I’m assuming will take atleast 2 weeks because there is so many plates.
Progress Report #2
Date: 2/17/12
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? Recently I finished up working on the pictures and put them through the kiln for the first time. I have been working on glazing my pitchers that I created and working a lot on glazing my one large project from last semester (the stack of plates). That consumes a lot of my time. Having to glaze so much work has prevented me from being able to start anything else knew yet.
- What have you learned? What challenges have you faced? I definitely faced the challenge of finishing up my pitchers while the others were still waiting to being glazed. When working on multiple pieces it helps to be organized and plan which day to work on a certain piece, in order to prevent them from drying out too quickly.
- What is your next step? My next step is to continue with creating new elements to add to the pitchers I’m making. Hopefully I can find new/exciting ways to make them unique and stand out. Also I really want to work out finishing glazing my large project but it’ll definitely take a while considering I decided to glaze each plate a separate color.
Progress Report #1
Date: 2/3/12
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? So far I have created three pitchers, each have been altered in a separate way. The first I worked on subtracting, and I kept it sort of simple. The next I subtracted as well, however my focus was mainly on the multiple handles I created. The last I used subtraction and added a handle on either side. I also glazed my last project as well.
- What have you learned? What challenges have you faced? I faced the issue of the clay being drier then leather hard and therefore there wasn’t much I could add or subtract without it falling apart. So I really gotta manage keeping it on track with the dryness. Also my handle on the first pitcher was too fragile and when it came out of the kiln it had broken off.
- What is your next step? My next step is to glaze the remaining two pitchers. For one I already know that I wanna do some really cool underglazes and make the handle look like branches. The other one I wasn’t sure how to glaze yet. Also my last huge project had been fired therefore I have to begin working on glazing that or painting or however I chose to do that. That will definitely take up a good amount of my time.
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Progress Report #8
Due Date: 1/9/12
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? I have just recently finished up my large sculpture, as of now it is in 3 sets of stacks. Along the way I created some vases and chip and dip plates on the wheel as well. But I am now completely done throwing plates.
- What have you learned? What challenges have you faced? I learned that work can be very tedious and time consuming but worth it in the end. I also learned how extremely fragile bone dry clay is and that it must be carefully handled. I faced the challenge of someone breaking some of my bottom plates on one o the sets. I now have to decide which layer of plates I have to remove when we go to fire them.
- What is your next step? My next step is to wait until they are all fired, which will be the beginning of next marking period. After that I am going to begin the process of glazing it. I think I will glaze them each a different color, like last time. Or I might choose one color but use a ton of different shades.
Progress Report #7
Due Date: 12/16/11
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? I have been throwing tons of plates, and already have a good portion of my sculpture complete, however it still has a long way to go. I’d like to say it’s about a foot tall maybe, but over a foot wide in diameter. I have also thrown a teapot with two matching teacups and glazed some decorative plates that I couldn’t use in my sculpture.
- What have you learned? What challenges have you faced? I have learned that it’s really important to keep track of my plates and not to let them dry out before I can add them to the sculpture. Other then that, and using up tons of clay and space in the room, I haven’t faced many other problems recently.
- What is your next step? My next step is to really get out as many plates as possible before the break so I can see how much of this I can get done. I have to plan a way to keep my sculpture moist during the break, and really hope it doesn’t dry out. That’s definitely something I will have to take into consideration with everything I’m doing this upcoming week.
Progress Report #6
Due Date: 12/2/11
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? I have begun to throw more plates on the wheel for my next big project. I already have a few stacked up. I have decided that instead of having one plate as the base, i will combine a few together to make a larger surface area for my sculpture to be built upon. Not too sure exactly where i’m headed, I’m going to see what works out.
- What have you learned? I have learned that the new clay is awful to throw with because it’s really hard so it is more difficult to center. As well, it is extremely difficult to get off the bats and I had a bunch of plates with no bottoms, however it worked out that I could use them anyways.
- What is your next step? My next step is to continue throwing, I’ll need way more plates then expected. And I also must keep up with the status of the clay, it all has to stay up with the same moisture level so it doesn’t fall apart.
Progress Report #5
Due Date: 11/10/11
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? I have been underglazing my milk cartons, I have 3 of the 4 complete. I have been using different glaze colors and stencils to give it a used/rusted type of look. I have also been brainstorming what my next big project will be, and have a few good ideas. I’m still waiting to put a clear overglaze on my cartons, and finish the last one.
- What have you learned? What challenges have you faced?
I have learned that you must really be precise if you want certain pieces to fit with one another. I haven’t faced many challenges, of course I must be patient to wait for my things to be fired because there is always a look of work needing to go into the kiln. - What is your next step?
My next step is to finish up this project and continue onto my next one. After speaking with Mr. Williams and Mr. Miller I think I will be going back to the wheel to throw more plates/bowls and create more piles. I have a few good ideas on how to do this.
Progress Report #4
Due Date: 10/28/11
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? I have been putting together slabs to create milk cartons, as of now I have four total, each smaller in size. I have also applied underglaze to the first milk carton as well as using stencils to write words, and I am waiting for that to be fired so I can apply a clear glaze over top of it. I am also waiting for all the other 3 milk cartons to be bisque fired so I can begin to glaze them as well. Along with working on my project, I threw some bowls on the wheel to contribute to the soup bowl graduation project.
- What have you learned? What challenges have you faced?
I have learned that when making slab pots it is very important that everything measures up in order for it to look neat. I have also faced the challenge of measuring the cartons to fit in one another. However I disregarded the fact that they would have lids on top of them, so I don’t think they will fit inside one another. However it still makes a good series because each is smaller in size. But now that they won’t be fitting inside one another I really wish I had the opportunity to go back and put handles on each of them, it would of made them much better. - What is your next step?
My next step is to glaze them all after they are fired, and think of a creative way to do so. I want to use underglaze and stencils to give them each a little detail. I think I will stick with the same glaze colors but change of the designs and patterns. This way, it will be clear that they are a series and are all related.
Progress Report #3
Due Date: 10/14/11
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? My first project has been through the kiln and I have finally finished glazing it! It took 3 or 4 days because I painted each bowl and plate a different color. I have also glazed two decorative plates with underglaze, as well as a few other small items. I have completed my first and largest milk carton and am waiting for it to be fired as well.
- What have you learned? What challenges have you faced?
I have learned that glazing can be very tedious and take up a ton of time. I first faced the challenged of having my glazes mix into each other, until Mr. Williams gave me a small suction tool which was really helpful to apply glaze to the small cracks. - What is your next step? My next step is to finish doing all the other milk cartons, as they continuously get smaller. I hope to complete them in a timely manner, and hopefully keep them all aligned so they fit inside each other. I wish to complete this in a short matter of weeks. Also I want to think of a really creative way to glaze them.
Progress Report #2
Due Date: 9/30/11
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal? I have just recently created my first big project of stacking the plates and bowls. I pretty much stayed on task with my original proposal minus a few minor changes. Along with my project, I created 2 extra plates, 2 jars, and 2 small pitchers on the wheel. I am very content with my final turnout of my project however I am waiting for it to become bone dry in order to go through the first round of being fired before I can glaze it.
- What have you learned? What challenges have you faced? I have learned that it was necessary to keep the bowls/plates at the same moisture level in order to be able to stay them and allow them to stay together. I faced the challenge of not being able to complete the stack of cups because the project changed slightly. I ended up doing a large stack of plates and then actually stacking the stack of bowls right on top of it. The top bowl is very small therefore it would not be capable of holding cups on top of it. I personally believe this piece is complete without the cups and like it much better.
- What is your next step? My next step is to wait to fire it so I can begin to glaze it, which I am really looking forward to. But until then I have prepared more clay for my next big project which I have already brainstormed and am really excited to get started on.
Progress Report #1
Due Date: 9/16/11
- What have you been doing and how does it relate to your Project Proposal?
So far I have completed throwing 10 plates on the wheel. The plates are a variety of sizes. After allowing them to become leather hard, I trimmed them and continued to keep them all at the same moisture level in order to stack them. I then stratched and attached them to created a decent sized stack which is now staying moist. I completed throwing 10 bowls as well which I intend to stack on top of the plates as long as weight is not an issue. - What have you learned? What challenges have you faced?
I have learned that it is very very important to keep the plates and bowls at the same moisture level in order to be able to stack them. If I do not do this they will pull apart from eachother, runing the sculpture. The main challenge I faced was centering my clay, therefore some pieces are off center. However I am going for quantity not quality because you will not be able to tell when they are stacked up. - What is your next step?
My next step is to stack the bowls and then hopefully create a set of cups to stack as well. However I might have to have threee separate stacks of each, rathering then stacking them all in one pile.
