Parachute Installation

First I blew up a balloon and cut up plaster strips. Then I dipped the plaster strips into a bowl of water and then smoothed the wet strips onto the top half of the balloon. Once I had about two layers of plaster strips all over the top I let the balloon sit over night and dry. The next day I popped the hardened plaster off the balloon and cut it into the shape of a parachute. From there I proceeded to paint the entire parachute a pink color I mixed up and add sparkle. To add the sparkle I rubbed a glue stick on a majority of the parachute and sprinkled on some glitter trying to add more glitter on top and less as it fanned out down the sides. After I decorated I installed all the strings using a needle tool to poke holes into the plaster. For the man hanging I wrapped multiple pieces of wire around each other in the shape of a stick figure and added a bottle cap as the head. The entire piece was kinda just thrown together as I went. For example the bottle cap was left over from my lunch and I added it because the wire man itself wasn't heavy enough to weigh down the string. Overall I am pretty happy with the way my piece turned out I think it looks very glamorous and I don't think I would change anything about it.

Sgraffito Tray

Sgraffito Tray

Sgraffito is a technique in which layers of colored slips or underglazes are applied to a piece and then different layers are scratched off to create a pattern or picture or reveal a contrast in color underneath. With this piece we rolled out a slab of clay, layed it over top a foam tray and cut off the excess. Then I coated the top of mine with red underglaze. After the underlgaze dried I carved away all the parts of the tray I didn't want to be red. Finally I waxed the bottom of the clay tray and dipped it into a bucket of glaze for it to be later fired in the glaze kiln. The finished product wasn't exactly what I had hoped it would be. I'm not very fond of the contrast in color between the white and red glaze. I also don't like how streaky the red underglaze turned out. If I were to do this project again I would keep more red in the picture and put a thicker coat of underglaze on top. Maybe the picture I chose to carve was a little too complex but I think the concept of this piece is very very cool and I would love to do another tray. This project was a good reminder of how including relief can create so much more dimension allow creativity to transpire in your piece.

Empty Bowl Project

 Bowls for Empty Bowl Project

The first bowl I did was my fabric bowl. It turns out working with fabric and glue is harder than I anticipated. I had trouble getting all of the pieces of fabric to stick to each other. It is not my favorite piece but it turned out better than I expected. This is the bowl I donated for the empty bowl project.

 The clay bowls below were made on the wheel. The wheel is as hard as it looks maybe harder. Centering the bowl on the wheel and trimming them evenly were both parts I really struggled with. Although my biggest struggle was with my own finger nails. My nails made it almost impossible to shape the inside of the bowl. Glazing is something else I seem to have problems with. Almost every bowl I make chips in the glaze kiln!! Overall I am very very happy with my bowls and I love the glazes I chose.

The last bowl I did was also made of clay but I didn't use the wheel. For this one I rolled out a sheet of clay, placed it over a plastic bowl and cut off the excess. This bowl also turned out pretty good although it too chipped both times through the glaze kiln and I ended up having to go over the chipped spots with acrylic paint.

Sparkling Illustration Friday

Vessel

Vessel Piece

My piece is considered a vessel piece because the back of the fox is open and can hold a number of things. I plan to put a succulent in it's back when I am finished making it. So far my piece has been really successful. The shape of the body and head turned out better than I expected. The only problem is there's a crack between the leg and the tail but it can most likely be fixed with glaze. I was inspired to make a fox that could hold a plant because foxes are my favorite animal and I love plants.

Pit Fire

Part 1:

Pit Firing - pots are placed in a hole or pit in the ground, covered with combustible objects and then burned.

Foil Saggar- aluminum foil saggars are wrapped around the pot to contain fumes so the pot picks up the color from the fumes.

These techniques are unique because they use other materials to leave different colors and patterns on the pots.

Part 2

 I used the coil method to make a round pot. I attached the coils to the of the base of the pot and then smoothed it all out the best I could. I painted that stuff on the inside and top half of the outside leaving only the bottom portion unpainted in a wavy design. Then I covered the pot in pencil shavings, leaves, coil and salt. After it was finished being covered and wrapped in foil it was pit fired. I think this technique is cool because it uses a lot of random materials to make an unpredictable and unique outcome of colors and shapes on the pot. I would use this technique again but I would rather know what colors and patterns are going to end up on my piece so it isn't my favorite.

Form Challenge

 Form Challenge