My theme for the semester is experimentation. As a first semester advanced student, each project I made has involved experimenting with new throwing techniques, project shape, and ways to stain/glaze. The experimentation has helped me to learn what works and what does not, and how to become a better advanced ceramicist.
Throughout the semester, I have made many projects to fulfill the advanced requirements. I have made many vases of varying size and shape, a tall cylinder, a soft slab bowl, a few plates, a pitcher, a lidded project, and a multi wheel cake stand. The process of making these projects consisted of centering (a great struggle of mine!), diving in, pulling up, choking, flaring lips, compression, footing, bisquing, staining, and glazing.
The glazing of these projects involved a lot of experimentation. This semester, I used a lot more staining. My tall project, for example, showed a lot of movement around the project with randomly placed flowers and flowy vines. I experimented with different colors of glaze going over stain. For most projects, I used clear over green or blue stain, but I put celadon over green stain on one of my plates. For my pitcher, I decided to do a duel-colored project with shadow green on the top dripping a little bit to the clear glaze on the bottom half of the pitcher. On one of my plates, I experimented with angles in glazing by dipping a plate in dark blue and shadow green at 45 degree angles to create an interesting shape in the center which I glazed with clear. On my lidded project, I experimented more with size and shape of stain design with my flowers. I drew them with varying heights/widths of stem, and this was the first time I used green stain and hot tamale red glaze together, with clear on top. This project was also an example of experimentation because it was my first attempt at a lid with a knob, rather than the flat lids we made in beginning ceramics.
When looking at some of my n00b projects compared to advanced ones, there is obvious growth. This growth has been attained through all of my experimentation. Most of this experimentation happened with glazing and staining. This semester, I tried to new combinations of glaze and stain, I have used different colors and thicknesses of stain, I have learned what glazes and stains look good together. I recently tried out some taping on a plate, making a clear cross shape in the dark green of the project. I also experimented with angles in shape and glaze and project shape. I made a number of vases this year, trying out different angles and slopes to cut/foot them at. This semester was also my first experiment with altering a project off of the wheel and with different ways to pull out and compress a plate. Overall, my projects are a great manifestation of my theme of experimentation.
My theme of experimentation matters because it is my first year of advanced and my lack of experience and limited knowledge makes everything an experiment. All of my projects this year have been a growth and learning experience. Experimentation is all about risk, which I think is a very important part of being a good artist. Without taking risks, one could never make mistakes and learn from them. Through risk and experimentation, there is a great possibility of discovering something new and awesome that works for you.
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