As you (friends and acquaintances from 9thwonders, Lostpedia, The Blue Whale Pub, and colleagues from HeroesWiki, maybe others), may know or will know, I took a Ceramics class this semester. I'd like to share with you what I made and describe the the work that went into it.
First, for those that don't know, making a finished piece of pottery from wet clay is about a 4 step process:
1) Shape the wet clay to the shape you want, then let air dry to bone dry
2) Fire it, meaning heat it slowly in a kiln to a high temperature, and let it slowly cool (how high depends on the characteristics of the clay you used in step 1)
3) Apply a glaze (a mixture of various mineral and/or pigments designed to bond with the clay and change properties at high temperatures to form a beautiful finish) to the bisque-ware
4) Fire it again (Temperature it gets fired to here is dependant on both the clay AND glaze characteristics)
At it's fastest, the process will take about 3 days, and even longer in an educational setting!
With that lesson on the process of pottery out of the way, On to the show and tell!
The Mask Project
Pottery at it's fastest, the project was sort of an introduction of myself to the class, and had to have a few symbols representing me and my interests on it. The Heroes symbol on the forehead (it's there!) was meant to mean that I always have Heroes on the brain. The rest is to symbolize my liking for electronic music.
The process, called Raku, is pretty cool! I like to think of it as 1 hour pottery (although it actually takes more like 2), and you never know what you are going to get when you are finished! After the mask was fired to the Bisqueware state, I put a Glaze called Copper Sand on it, one of the glazes specially mixed and made for Raku. It was then heated in about an hour to 1800 degrees F. I then took it, red hot from the kiln, and stuffed into a trash can full of newspapers, which began to burn immediately, and put a lid on it. Through the magic of the chemistry that goes on in there, Ta-Da! Fancy colors!.
Though a fun process, I was a little ill prepared for the smoke that burned my lungs, eyes, and nose! (but that's nothing new, I'm kinda hell on my body anyway, lol)
The toothpick holder at the side was just an extra piece that I made, which I glazed with a glaze called Temoku at 2400 degrees F.
Piggy: The Hard One!
This was the third project of the semester. We had to make a piece that somehow made a statement. My statement was (which, come to thin of it, now seems a little obsolete considering the economy now) was that people had broken into their savings and retirement (the Piggy bank) in order to pay for toys that they didnt need (the symbols on the back)
The process was a challenge, and took about 3 class periods (3 hours each) of time to put together. I used 2 oval shaped domes to form the top and bottom and formed the feet and snout by hand. I had to wait until all of those pieces were of the right moisture content to not deform under their own weight when put together. I then had to shape the symbols on the back and attach them.
The plan for his final appearance was for him to have Iron oxide on him, fired to 2400 degrees F (high fire), then fire him again with more colorful glazes placed on the symbols at 1800 degrees F (low fire). Setbacks at the end of the semester, namely the kiln it was in, which was 40 + years old, breaking, and delays in getting if fired in another kiln, left me not enough time to place the colorful glazes on him properly. I needed to put the glazes on really thick, and I didn't have time apply and dry the many layers that were required, thus, the colors I intended to have on him did not turn out as bold as I would have liked them to
Miscellaneous Forms
The second project of the semester involved the making of 6 pieces, two had to be at least 12 inches tall. I made all 6, but I decided to bring 4.5 home. Over the course of the semester, I made additional pieces. All of the pieces I put through a high fire after glazing so that they would be extra strong and be dishwasher safe
The two vases, part of the 6, were made from rolled slabs of clay. The taller one almost fell over because it was too wet to withstand moving it to a shelf for storage when I did so. The tall one has a clear glaze applied over a black under-glaze that I painted on, then roughly wiped off. The smaller one is glazed in a glaze called Parks Blue
Another part of the 6 was this non-functioning gravy boat, which was intended to be a chair-like form, but, semi-intentionally, deformed under it's own weight. I put a glaze called Moonlight on it
I made 4 trays using a dome shaped mould. The small green and pinkish one on the lower left was part of the 6. I put a glaze called Ming Green on that one and the other one with the same colors. It's supposed to turn out the green, but under certain conditions, it tuns that pinkish color. The larger rectangular one was originally supposed to turn out like the one with all the colors, only with the texture you see on it. It went flat when I went to take it off of the mould I pounded it on, and I had to prop the edges up and make it rectangular in order for it to hold anything.
The one on the lower right was glazed in a glaze called Honey Luster. The dark spots there are a substance called vermiculite, which I pressed into the clay while it was wet.
The colorful bowl on the upper left was another piece that I performed Raku on, this time with a glaze for Raku called Cathy's Crazy.
The four jars were made from a slab with coils of clay built up around the edge. The brown one is glazed in Temoku, and is half of one of the 6. It was originally a tall item that was unwieldy, with fins and spouts coming out of it from my struggle to keep it small going up the 12 inches it needed to be. I cut the piece off after it was graded (and before it reached the bisquware state) because I liked how that portion looked.
The bottle I put a black glaze on the inside, on the rim, and dripped streaks of it on the outside. I then dipped the piece in a glaze called Buttery Parkay (which is funny because it looks nothing like that Parkay margarine stuff, even in the raw form) I love how it turned out!
The other two were glazed in Parks Blue and Iron Red.
The two bowls here were made with moulds. The dish was made with a red and white clay mixed together. All three were an experiment with using standard issue glass bottles for a glaze in adition to the standard glazes. The dish has a clear glaze (which oddly enough turned gray) and green glass, the biger bowl has Honey Luster and brown glass, and the smaller bowl has Parks Blue and green glass.
The Mugs, Another Laborious Undertaking!
For the final project of the semester, there were a list of various projects we could try, amongst which was a set of six related cups with handles. I chose that, and to be unique, I chose to make them 4 inches square. This ment pounding and cutting out five slabs per mug Times six mugs makes 30 slabs, which had to be at a cetain moisture level as to not deform under their own weight when the mugs were assembled, yet still be pliable enough to smooth out as I joined the slabs. In order to properly join the slabs, I had to bevel the edges at a 45 degree angle, scratch the edges, and put slip, super wet clay of the same type that I was using, in between the two slabs at the joint. After making the cup part, the dilemma presented itself: where do you drink out of them and where do you put the handles? I decided that the best place would be at the corner. I then scratched some designs in them.
Come time to glaze them, I was originally going to paint them in an oxide called Rutile, wipe them off, and put a clear glaze over them, like I did with the gray ones. Pressed for time at the end of the semester, I glazed two each in Ming Green and Temoku. The Temoku came out a little strange, but that probably was because it went on a little thin.
Overall, Im proud of what I accomplished as a first semester ceramics student. I'm taking the intermediate class next semester, and I've already got a project lined up for that semester; using the wheel to throw 10 flowerpots for my grandma, in addition to hand-building more jars!
I hope to post things like this as I go next semester, but will more than likely have to give an end of semester recap like this, as my semester of Trigonometry, College Algebra, and C++ programming has been said to be suicide, and will be a lot of work by some. Others think it wont be that bad, and Math classes get a bad rap. I'm pretty good at math, so we'll see...
Until next post, I'll see you at the boards!
