Megan's Art

I have finished all of my projects in class, they are all glazed and on the shelf ready to be bisqued! I will upload pictures on tuesday when they come out of the kiln. In the end I decided to glaze them all the same color (italian straw with tomato red painted over the top to make orange). This way I can use them all at home together and they can go together along with my teapot I made earlier this year. It has been a great semester in ceramics and I hope to take some sort of ceramics class in college if not next semester. It has been one of my favorite classes throughout highschool!

I have been super busy over the past couple weeks finishing up all of my projects, now my last five are out of the kiln so I need to glaze them all, still deciding on what I'm going to do for each; if im going to do a separate glaze for each project or all the same so they all tie together and I can use them as a set at home, I will check in later this week.

My theme for my work this semester is transformation. I chose this theme because it showcases the changes and progression of my work over the semester. Since the beginning of the year my work has gotten a lot better because I have learned new throwing and glazing techniques and also because I have had a lot more practice.

                My portfolio consists of tons of different projects like plates, bowls, mugs and even a teapot. My work at the beginning of the year was mainly smaller projects like plates and bowls and mugs but as the year has gone on I have started making more complex things on the wheel like my teapot and lidded projects. I have also gotten better at glazing because I have learned how to mix glazes to get different colors as well as which glazes go together best.

                One of my best projects to date is my teapot. I took a really long time to make it but it turned out really well. I made each part of the project on a separate day, bagged them each after I made them and once they were all finished put them together as one project. I threw the lid, spout, and body of the teapot on the wheel and pulled my handles for both the lid and the teapot. It was generally easy to put everything together, just time consuming with all the slipping and scoring. After my project was bisqued I glazed it. I painted the entire thing with ochre yellow glaze and then went over the lid with tomato red and then painted the lip of the spout and the indent on the handle with tomato red to tie the two pieces together. I think I learned a lot from this project because I spent so much time making sure I did all the steps correctly.

                I chose my theme because it is easy to understand. You see my theme and look at my work and you can automatically understand that my theme is transformation because I want my viewers to notice the progression of my work throughout the semester. My work has transformed from simple to complex pieces because not only have I started spending more time on each piece I make, but I am also adding more details to them both on the wheel and in the glaze room. As the year goes on I have also gotten more comfortable with throwing larger pieces on the wheel so I have more large pieces in my portfolio now than I did at the beginning of the year.

                My portfolio displays the transformation of my artwork not only over the past semester, but also since I began taking ceramics two years ago. I have become so much more skilled over the past two and a half years of taking the class and I have my work to show it. I have gained skills and knowledge that has made me a better artist and ceramicist which allow me to create complex and beautiful pieces on the wheel that I would have never expected to be able to create when I started taking the class.              

               

my lidded project and my teapot came out of the glaze kiln this week. Im really happy with their results. There i a slight crack in the lid on my teapot but over all im really happy with how it turned out. here are some pictures of my projects!

I finally got a new project started on, I made a vase and im going to make it my lidded project. I plan on throwing my lid tomorrow. check back in next week for more updates on my progress.

I finally figured out that my blogs were not publishing because I wasn't pressing the the publish button in the top corner after clicking on  publish live. but anyways, here is my Quarter Report!

Please describe your efforts towards participation and leadership. Did you take care to clean well? Mention if you were attentive at the beginning of class every day.

I believe that I participate a lot in class. Not only do I work on my projects everyday in class, but I also take time to help the begining students, especially on the wheels when throwing and footing. The one thing I think I could work on the most would be how attentive I am in the beginning of class on a daily basis, I will try to socialize less when Mrs. Heideman is giving instruction in the beginning of class because what she is telling the class is important to listen to.

 

How often do you use the pass?  Are you on task every day and all period? How social are you versus how much work do you do? How closely do you meet assignment deadlines?

I hardly ever use the bathroom pass, I think I may have used it twice the entire quarter.  I believe that I am on task for the most part every day, I'm always working or helping another student who is having difficulty. I do socialize in class but not enough to distract me from getting my work done. I do however have difficulty getting my assignments turned in by deadlines. I should probably work on being a little less picky on what I turn in because I do tend to be a perfectionist about my work. But on the bright side what i do turn in is always my best work :)

 

Today I footed a bowl I threw yesterday, its probably one of my favorite projects to date, its really big compared to what I usually make which is pretty cool.  I also threw a  bowl today, its going to be my wheel altered project, I messed with the lip to add the altered effect.  It  looks a little bit like a flower. Anyways, thats all I've got for now, check in