Extras: Chess Pieces

For the body of the chess pieces, I rolled out the coils. For the heads, I pinched them out. The bishop in the middle was my original bishop. It had a small round ball on the top but it broke off before I had a chance to glaze it. I created a second, but the same thing happened. The white castle looks more like a latte stone. :)

Extras: Graduation Cap

This graduation cap represents both my high school and the college I am soon to graduate from because their colors are the same, red/maroon.

This was originally supposed to be a coiled starfish standing up.

Slab Construction

The fourth project for class was a slab construction. I knew exactly what I wanted to create so I got out my clay and pounded it into a rectangular block. Then I used the slab roller to roll out the clay for my monster box. I needed a square template so I looked around the classroom. I found a cut out cardboard. Although it was not a perfect square, I made it work. I traced out six squares with a needle tool and cut them out with a knife. I placed them on a shelf in a plastic bag to dry overnight.

The next thing was to cut the sides of the slabs at a 45 degree angle. That was the biggest challenge. I was able to cut the sides at a 45 degree angle but to cut it in a straight line was difficult. When I had to restart on a square slab, I used a wooden thumb to blend the pieces back together. I was fortunate the clay was still moist enough for the pieces of clay to stick back together.

After I cut all the edges of all slabs, I put them up together to see if it all fits. Some didn't so I fixed them. I made sure they all fit again. After, I used some kind of toothed-tool to scrape the edges of the slabs. Then, one by one, I used slip to combine the slabs together. I started with the bottom then did the four sides. I left the top slab for later. I used the knife to cut the box. I started with the monster’s teeth then went around. I smoothed both sides of the monster box with a moist sponge.

I combined the last slab with the top half of the box. I pinched out the eyes and used slab for the eyebrows. I put stuck them to the box with slip. When making the legs, I used the same process as with starting a slab construction: I used a small amount of clay and pounded it into a block. I scraped the side that will stick to the box, put some slip, and stick it on the box. I finished creating my monster box and now can’t wait for the glazing.

UPDATE:

Monster Box, Inspired

Coil Construction

The third project for class was a coil construction. I originally wanted to create honey comb mugs for my two nieces. I used the slab roller to create my base then used the coil extruder to make my coils. I assumed that using the big circle tool for the extruder would make the mug look like a honey comb. When I started assembling the coils, I noticed that the coils were too big and too thick. I stopped halfway to figure out what I would do. I decided to change the mug idea into an office supply for my mom to use. I cut out about a layer and a half of coil to give it a wide U look in the front.I blended the coils to kind of clean it up. The coils were not even. For the decorations, I pinched out the flower petals and combined them to the structure with slip. I created a butterfly to give it a girly look and used slip to “glue” it on. I used newspaper balls to hold the butterfly in place until the slip dries enough to hold it up on its own.

Double Pinch Construction

The second project we did in class was the double pinch method. It was a bit more challenging than the first. My imagination and creativity just wasn't coming to me. I knew it would look like a vase, but I didn't want just any vase. So I decided to just build the first part of the double pinch pot to get started and see if something would come to mind.

I had a difficult time making the first pinch pot round with an even thickness all around. It started cracking a little so I moved to the bottom to make the leg. When I felt that the leg was okay enough, I fixed the cracked areas around the lip by using water to smooth it out. When I was done with the first pinch pot, making a pitcher came to mind. I imagined the bottom of the pitcher to be round and kind of short, and the neck long and slim. So I tried again to make the pot wider around but I just couldn't. I moved on to the second. The second didn't need a leg because there will be an opening on the top.

After making the second pinch pot, I needed to make sure the lip of both pots were the same size. The second pinch pot was a little bigger, so made it smaller by choking the lip. I combined both pinch pots together with slip.

I used a wooden thumb to blend the seam of the pot. That way the lines don't show. I think that blending helps the pot to be stronger in a way. Anyways, I continued blending until the seam of the pot wasn't visible. Then I used a ribbed tool to smooth out the double pinch pot.

Because the form of the double pinch pot didn't turn out how I wanted, I decided to change the outcome. Instead of a pitcher, I would make a rose-looking vase. I was inspired by a pitcher my grandma use to have. I found a paper towel roll in class and used that as a template for my petals and used a needle tool to cut out the circle. I combined the petals to the pot with slip. I started with one layer of petals then created a second layer.

              

I decided to make one more layer of petals to give it a full flower look.

             

UPDATE:

Completed Double Pinch

Pinch Pot Construction

The first project the class was assigned to do was to create a pot using the pinch construction method. The pinch construction method is sculpting clay by pinching it. It is a very easy process for those who have experience working with clay. For first-timers, it is more difficult than it looks. I am new to the concept of pottery and the process is fun, tiring, and adventurous.

The first step in pinch construction is to take moist clay and kind of slap it into a ball. Slapping the clay allows it to compress and remove any air sockets. When the clay is balled up, we dipped our hands in water and moved our hands around the clay. The water smooths out the clay, removing any lines.

In the second step, we push our thumb in the middle of the clay while turning the clay in our hand. The clay starts to expand up and out, making a round bowl. I had a difficult time making the bowl wide. Instead of expanding out, the clay expanded up, giving the bowl an oval shape.

The third step was to make a leg. The process is similar to the second step except that once you get the hole in the center, you pinch the outside of pot to gather clay. That gives the leg thickness and allows it to jut out. Making the leg was another challenge I faced while constructing my pinch pot. The clay was gathered more in one area. At this point, I was thinking of giving my pinch pot a more symmetrical look to it so I decided to make the leg square.

I continued trying to pinch my clay into a round bowl. After a while, I decided to make my clay square. I made the straight part of the lip correspond with each corner of the leg and vice versa. Trying to make the clay square was challenging. Most of the time was spent trying to even out the thickness of the clay and straightening the lip of the clay.

The outcome wasn't how I wanted but because it was wavy and had a topsy-turvy look to it, I thought it would look really nice if it was filled with seashells. I used a seashell stamp to stamp all four sides of the bowl. I became happy with the ending result.

UPDATE:

Finished Pinch Pot

The glaze was too thick but this is the outcome.