Monday, January 25, 2010

The Simple Beauty of Life and Fantasy

Throughout our lives, we are exposed to the beautiful colors nature has to offer. With these striking colors and a little fantasy within the design, your artwork reaches a whole new level. No longer do you possess projects like a cylinder or a bowl, but projects like a dragon mug and a buttoned-up pitcher.

On my website, I have all sorts of projects. My projects range from a basic cylinder to a complex mug and many others in-between. Thus far this year, I have completed a number of projects. Their natural colored glazes and structure and design techniques can unite each project. I glazed most if not all the same way; dip and dry. The construction methods I used were usual wheel thrown with hand added decorations, whether it be a handle, a spout, arms, or scales. Each project has something anthropomorphic about it. If the artwork doesn’t speak for itself, the pictures taken definitely help.

Theme has been something I knew would become a part of what I do in ceramics, I just didn’t think it would have been so hard to come up with. For the past weeks (since I started ceramics) I never gave the theme of what I would be doing much thought. I just figured one day it would come to me. Now the time has come and the first thing that came to my mind is “Nature and all its beauty.” Of coarse it was a little rocky, so I changed it to be “The simple beauty of natural colors and fantasy worlds.” Slightly more better. I chose this theme to represent my projects as a whole because many of my projects resemble a part or color of nature or fantasy whether it be the colors in the leaves or a starry night. Because of the colors I chose are natural, such as greens, whites, blacks, browns, and light blues, all the projects can be linked to something to do with the outdoors, and with a little construction, they can be instantly turned into something of the fantasy world.

Throughout my year in ceramics, I have transformed my artistic abilities. I stayed safe in the beginning with simple projects like a plate and a cylinder. As the year progressed, I ended up making intricate designs on these simple projects. My cylinders quickly became a dragon mug.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Buttoned-up Pitcher



The surface decorations give an ordinary pitcher more depth and the illusion of being buttoned up. This pitcher is 5x7 inches. It is wheel thrown. Throw marks are visible on the interior of the project. The glazes used are white, red, green, and turk. The white covers the whole project while red, green and turk color the buttons on the side. The project has the illusion of fabric being buttoned up on the side.


Monday, January 11, 2010

Multi-Piece

The glaze being on both pieces of the project helps to unite them together. This multi-piece is 3x7.75 inches. The project is wheel thrown. Both the plate and the cylinder. There are visible throw marks on the top and bottom of the plate and the outside and inside of the cylinder. The glaze used is chrome green. The chrome green sits mostly solid on the plate, but drips down the cylinder. The way the green sits on both the plate and the cylinder unites the two pieces together.

Starry Night Mug