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Required Questions:

1.) Tools are a major focus in this class.  Though many things can be completed by hand tools are often necessary. In creating artwork what type of tools have you used?  In using these tools how did they help your work along? Explain their function and purpose. (Ex. Pottery Wheel, aviation snips, Clay rib)

My most used tools would honestly be the hot glue gun, and a sponge. The hot glue gun is for just as it seems; to hot glue stuff together. I ended up using this often in order to create texture, and glue things together, but still have the ability to make it malleable. The sponge is really used for anything! I used mine most for smoothing clay out. I really really hate a rough texture, and the sponge was really useful in smoothing it out without giving me the ability to mess it up and cut it like many smoothing tools do.

2.)How has your knowledge and understanding of tools changed since the beginning of the semester? Talk about your growth of understanding.

My general knowledge of the tools didn't change, but I definetely began to understand that they don't have to be used for exactly what you think. Hot glue stopped becoming just a means of getting something to stick to something else, but something I can move around to build a piece and form it instead of just layering paper.

What was your favorite material that you used this year? Why do you like working with it?

 PAPER MACHE! I really enjoyed working with it because frankly, it was fun (I mean it looked like pancake batter come on). Also though it was awesome to be able to really wrap the newspaper around the structure and be able to mold it. I enjoyed making my first hand but it was so hard to fit the maps in the crevices of the hand, but the newspaper was really able to lay the same way my structure did. I just felt that there was a lot less room for error, so I was able to enjoy it more instead of being so frustrated.

Which project was your most successful? Describe the theme and or topic and the process you went through to complete the project.

My best piece was definitely my unconventional material piece (that was the theme). I first rolled out a slab of clay and then traced my hand. After the hand was traced and cut I curved the fingers up and the palm a bit so it looked somewhat like a hand holding something. After that I just cut out strips of maps and glued them on; making sure to put strips of bright colors on the tips of each finger. I say this is my best purely because I put so much effort into it, and it turned out how I imagined.

What did you find most difficult about this class? This could be anything from gathering materials, to generating projects ideas, to applying a particular technique. What could be done to resolve this issue in the future?

Good god. Getting a flipping slab of clay makes me break out in hives. Really any aspect that counts as "prep" or "getting materials" is just the worst. I feel like this is definitely just a me thing, but I was never able to understand how to plan it well enough so I wasn't struggling later on in the project because of my poor prep. I guess what could have been resolved is to go over prep, as in how to roll a slab of clay big enough for a bowl.

paper Mache

1. How was your piece successful? I think the general shape was really successful, it wasn't perfect or too realistic but I think it definetely got the point across which I was really proud of. 
2. What difficulties did you have with it?  Was it the shape? Medium? Layers? I had the most difficulty with the layers around certain crevises, but once I figured out how to mold the paper more, it was a lot easier. I also struggled with the painting because certain colors were more opaque than others and that was driving me bonkers.
3. Did you finish it? Why or why not? why yessiree I did finish! I finished because I was FEELING IT and got the hang of the process pretty fast. Plus if I had done it pretty fast, I wasn't gonna waste it, I was gonna paint that dang thing. 
4. 
   

Scrafitiosis

1. ​Explain the process? The general process of this is to make a piece, and then once 'leather hard', cover it in this black goop. Once the black goop dries, go in with an object of your desired size and etch into the piece. Etching into the piece will scratch out the black goop so you can see the underlying color(either white clay or red). Then put it in the kiln, take it out, dip it in that rank smelling glaze, and put it back in the kiln. 
2. What did you think of the sgraffito process? I thought it was pretty cool. I really really hate dry clay and the sound/feeling of it, so scratching at it and such kind of urked me, but the idea of it and outcome was really cool. I also thought it was really cool and interesting how you had to think of which shadows and shading would be the underneath or the black. 
3. How was your pieces successful and how might you change it if you were to do it again? I thought my piece was pretty swell. I think the design was really cool and turned out kind of messy which is what I wanted. If I were to do  it again I would have wanted to make sure the original piece was made better (i.e smoother, more even, etc) and that I would have focused more on putting an even glaze on everything.

 

Tray set

1. What is your tray set used for?  How does your design make it used for that? Our set was used for kind of like a dip vibe. The design worked perfectly because the biggest bowl is used for chips and then the rest of the smaller bowls are used for various dips; you can place the less cool dips in the small bowl and the tastier dips in the medium bowl.
2. How did you come up with your idea?  We saw the cool curvy bowl and decided we wanted to do that, and I frickin love dips. 
3. Explain your process and materials. (3 or more sentences) We first rolled our a slab of clay. Once we rolled it out, we'd cover the bowl in some sort of protectant and then placed the clay over it so we could make it form to the bowl. After about a day of drying we popped it out, and we'd smooth it all down and make it  a bit smoother. After that the pattern was added, put in the kiln, then glazed with just a clear coat because we liked the red clay, and put back in the kiln. Then wala! All done. 

20 scrafeetiosis pieces

Tape Shoes

​​Explain the process start to finish.  WELL first we have to sketch out the break up of the shoe  and figure out how the shoe                                                                 pieces together. Then you have to cut out the structure pieces from note cards and then                                                                 wrap it all in tape, and then tape it together with tape also. It depends on what shoe you're                                                             doing also, like shoe laces and buckles.  What do you find successful about your piece?  I think the bed of the shoe was really realistic. The part where birks curve up                                                                                   rather than just a flat base is kind of unique and I thought, not to brag, I kind of                                                                               killed it. What would you change?  How was it unsuccessful?  I would  probably change the buckles to make them a little more realistic and I think  the most unsuccessful aspect was the whole tape factor. I used tape obviously,  but I kind of missed out on the whole make it look                                                                                               completely out of tape; you can still see the lines of the note card which is                                                                                      a shame. (I can't crop this picture on this website, and I deleted them off my phone to make room for the other pictures! I'm so sorry I should have tried this earlier today so I could have asked you!)

Unconventional materials

What material did you have?               

  Maps

What made it hard to work with?         

  It was really hard to bend and mold around                                                                               curves.

What did you make and and why?       

 I made a hand grasping up, covered in the map. I made it because I wanted to make a connection to human rights in some way, and I find a lot of symbols for that are hand related. I wanted to make a hand open though instead of a fist so it could be like "holding the hand in the palm of your hand" or like how it's the people's job to hold the world and take care of it. 

How is your piece successful? ​            

  I think the shape of the hand turned out well and the colors I used were really well.

 The block colors on the tips of the fingers I think                                                                  really made it look more artistic rather than crafty and I really liked that.