Ceramics Final Reflection

CERAMICS FINAL REFLECTION
	Photo of final glaze piece	Final thought on the best parts of this piece.
Project 1		The best parts of my piece were creating a unique shape of honey- comb using slab. I also  like how I manipulated the amount of glaze to give a scratched, antique  look.
Project 2		I think the best part of this vase was the carving  detail I added below the neck and the pinched shape of the lip of the vase.  I think these additions made the vase  unique. I also like the warm autumn color of the vase and the patches  of olive green and fuschia that show through like strokes.
Project 3		What I found really interesting about this tripod mug was how I  used the same glaze as in the vase, but different  applications and amounts of the glazes  dramatically changed the color. I really love the jade green and hints  of blue and pink that show through with a golden yellow that highlights the sharp edges. I wanted to create a unique tripod mug, so I gave a deconstructed effect by layering rings. I think this made the mug more modern, yet  the glaze gave a traditional effect.
Project 4		I really like the sentiment behind the shoe, how it pays homage to the victims of school shootings. I wanted to make a kid's shoe because it reminds me of my younger siblings and how grateful I am to  be living in a safe environment.
Looking at all of your work in class, tell me how you felt about what you accomplished.
I am genuinely very pleasantly surprised by my journey. I didn't think I would ever be able to create the sophisticated ceramics pieces I see in shops and museums, but now I definitely have more confidence in working in with clay and slip.  I will definitely continue working with clay, and hopefully, I can come to ceramics class again and create some more work!
What could I do better as a teacher in making this class better?
I really appreciate the genuine care you have towards us and your passion to help us feel more confident  in our abilities. Maybe if we can have shorter demos intermittently, like showing steps one and two, and  then waiting for everyone to reach that stage, then continuing again...that would help us remember exactly what steps to do and keep us all at the same pace. Thank you so much for everything, including helping us when we struggle and making ceramics so open  to anyone of any skill level. Thank you for encouraging our effort and progress, not just the visual appeal of our work.
I’ve enjoyed this class with each of you.  I wish we had more time together. Have a great summer and I will miss all of you. Mr. P

Ceramics Final Exam- Shoe Reflection

Shoe Sculpture
Insert Construction Photo:
Insert Reference Photo:
Describe all the skills you used to create the sculpture: This project was an amalgamation of many skills we've used throughout this semester. We used undulation for the front of the shoe where the toes go. We did imprints using popsicle sticks cut at different widths and angles and other ceramics tools.
List your areas of difficulties and why: I found it difficult creating the base shape of the shoe, especially since my shoe was a smaller one. I also found it hard to carve the clay to give the illusion of layers of fabric.
Pre Glaze Fire Photo	Post Glaze Fire Photo
Glaze Record/Technique: Teacher's Palette Cotton white glaze for the rubber parts of the shoe. Blue Stone glaze for "jean" part of the shoe. The application was mostly left to right.
Final Reflection, what was the most rewarding aspect of the project and why? The most rewarding aspect of the project was the concept behind this final exam. I have twin younger siblings who have just turned five, and the school shootings have sadly targeted kids from that age group as well. This project is therefore very close to my heart. I think this shoe is a reminder of the hope we still have to build off of the hate and create a more peaceful world for children.

Ceramics Tripod Reflection

Tripod mug
Insert pre fire photo here:
Construction
What skills, techniques, or process did you employ to create your mug? I used skills previously done before, like undulation (vase) and slab work. What we did that  was different from the previous units, though, was making the three "legs" of the vase, which required new skills like filling the holes in with clay and closing the base of the vase. How does your final construction look? Also describe the difficulties in construction. I wanted to do something different with my construction. I think the final construction looks very unique and cool, and I think the design gave it a more modern "deconstructed" look. It was difficult to slice the clay evenly, and it was also hard to smooth out the sides since the shape was complex.
Glazing
Insert Pre fired Glaze photo:	Insert your post fire Glaze photo:
Glaze Record and technique: Chun Plum (55) over textured turquoise. I used 2 coats of both in a left-right brush motion. I was really really happy by how the turquoise came out more because it gave a really pretty "jade" green look with closer details of pink and blue when we look closer.
Final thoughts about your mug with a selfie out of your mug in the cafeteria: Overall, I really love the color that came out, and it really taught me how to manipulate the amounts of glaze to get variations.

Studio Art 3D Sculpture Reflection

1. My Concept

I sculpted a chess piece, a rook, for my project. Chess is very close to me as it helps me destress and improve my strategizing skills. The way I view chess is like our path of life, how we decide each move of our life that determines our outcome. I chose the rook piece for its indecisiveness; it moves back and forth. I wanted to capture that characteristic through the freestyle engraving on the rook's body. I chose certain shape elements to illustrate the shape and emotions of our decisions. I wanted the engraving to be free and "confused" to represent the rook's characteristic.

2. Successes

I really enjoyed smoothening out the edges to make the overall shape cylindrical and round and creating the thin crevices between different bumps. I think my concept was executed adequately through the engravings that I added on. This experience allowed me to think deeper beyond tangible objects, and into a more relevant concept. 

3. Challenges

It was challenging for me to reduce the rectangular block into a cylindrical shape. It was also hard to keep the balance by sanding evenly and keeping symmetry (sculpting a straight rook). 

4. Peer Feedback

Very balanced, very good detail and thought put into the carving to represent the indecisiveness of rook, holes are subtle, don't take away from the piece. Maybe sand the top a little better to make the surface even. 

Studio Art Watercolor Reflection

Creme Brulee with Fruit

Successes: I think I was successful in controlling the color variation in my piece, especially with the color detail of the creme brulee surface, and giving the white objects (ramekin, plate) some shadows and color.

Challenges: It was challenging controlling the water when working with watercolor, and it was hard to get deeper colors without over concentration. Something that helped this challenge was using watercolor pencil to control the color and then add a layer of water to secure it.

Peer Feedback: My peers said they liked the depth of the creme brulee and the detail of the slightly lighter color variation with the melting crystals of sugar on top. They also liked the contrast of the background's darkness and the light focus. They suggested I use masking fluid to mask out the whites so that it would be easier working around it.

Overall Journey: Watercolor, in general, was a new experience for me, and I learned a lot about the medium along the way, like how water pulls and pushes the paint, dilution versus concentration, and layering the colors for dimension. What I found intriguing was how watercolor was quite different from acrylic; it was hard to get strong colors, but it was easy to get shade variation of a color by just controlling the amount of color added. It was also useful to get a sheet of paper with various watercolor techniques to expand my use of watercolor.

Ceramics Coil Vessel Blog Post

Coil Vessel
Insert post construction photo:
Describe what you liked about the coiling process of building: I loved how we could control the appearance and shape of the clay with every step by following the template. I loved manipulating the shape of the coil to follow the undulation.
Describe your frustrations: It was a bit challenging forming the little bump before the neck, and
Did your original idea change? If yes what changes occurred? My original idea stayed the same, but I did decide to add the engravings a little later in the process because I wanted to add something more unique to my vase. How could you have constructed better? I should have made sure that I didn't apply as much pressure on areas that are prone to crack, clean my vase better (smoothening the insides), and revive all over my vase to prevent drying and cracking.
Screenshot of your glaze of choice.
Insert Pre Fired Glaze Photo	Insert Post Fired Glaze Photo
Glaze Record: Textured Turquoise base (x2) Chun Plum top (x1)	Glaze application: I applied two coats of textured turquoise and then one thick coat of Chun plum. I used a left to right stroke.
Describe your final result.  Was it what you expected? (better or worse) I think my final result was better than I expected. I think I successfully highlighted the engravings because the color concentrated in the curves and stretched on the edges. I was going for a "warm blue" with all different kinds of colors, and this result was surprisingly a very autumny warm combination with hints of olive green which I really like.
How could you you have glazed better? I think I should have put more coats of glaze because I could see my strokes in some places. I think in the future I will also experiment with the drip effect and use that on the outside or inside.
How could the teacher have taught the unit better? I really think Mr. P was perfect in his in-depth demos but I'll try :) Maybe if we had gotten more demos on how to do additional things with our vase (sculptures, engravings, holes, drawing with glaze...) that would have been helpful as well.

Studio Art- Acrylic Painting Reflection

Cultural competence:
I went on the Exercise is Medicine trip, and the essence of that trip was looking at natural and herbal medicine and celebrating well being as well as exploring the traditional methods to keep ourselves healthy. I thought that idea was well captured through the herbal teas as it reflects traditional Chinese medicine and health.

Successes:
I think I did well on my reflective surfaces, like the cover off the tea and the handle. I also really enjoyed this part, working with different shades to make the glass area look transparent. I also think I was successful with the depth of color in the tea; even though it was time-consuming, I was happy that the tea had layers of color. I also enjoyed painting the dates because the dates had a sort of depth and texture to them.

Challenges:
Part of the characteristics of acrylic paint is that it dries very fast. Acrylic is a medium I am not experienced with at all, so it took me by surprise how quickly I had to spread my color. Also, trying to make sure my painting didn't show the brush marks I made was a challenge because I had to constantly hide the strokes at every stage.

Peer feedback:
My peers really liked how I painted the glass using color variation. They also like the depth of color in the herbal tea and on the handle, and they thought black was a good choice for the back as it drew the attention to the herbal tea. They said in the future I could work on applying the gloss varnish in one direction to make the gloss more consistent.