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Xavier’s Warm Jade

In the glazing frenzy I didn’t stop and consider the thickness of the this glaze, and in hindsight I really wish I had done something like water blue, as my carvings were almost completely obscured. I am pretty disappointed about this, as I was fond of my detail work.

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The plate itself is very simple though I had fun with the design. I needed to do something a bit basic since I was on a time constraint, and had the idea to do an all black design and use the contrast of the white clay to make it striking (again it was a conscious choice to keep the bare clay as the background). I went with the character Bob in his void form from the new Marvel movie Thunderbolts, which was amazing.

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Charcoal Satin Matte and Nebula Blue

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White and Castile Blue

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Before I turned in my tools I wanted to document them since they had become a consistent and familiar thing to see everyday. I don’t think I ever posted a picture of my tool holder once it was glazed, and despite the clay on it I will share that I used Turkish Amber with Turquoise Matte sprayed. In the right light it looks a bit sparkly, and I like the mix of shiny and matte.

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I ended up with one tray and one plate, but along the way I had many “successful failures”. What I mean by that is I was able to properly throw a plate, but I struggled trimming them for a variety of reasons. I still wanted to document these two though as they represent practice and time in the studio.

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One of my favorite Zelda games is A Link Between Worlds and in that game you can merge into the walls and take on the appearance of a painting, so I wanted to pay homage to that. On the back of the cup I carved some symbols and a few characters important to the story. All of the carving was done freehand.

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Honestly this is more of blate since it is pretty shallow, though that was intentional as I went into this knowing I wanted to underglaze it. This was also my first time working with underglaze and I definitely learned a lot from this process. For the characters themselves I initially sketched them on paper and then transferred them to the clay, and for the glazing I mixed a few custom colors, and used my own tiny brush for the black lineart. It was a choice to not paint a background as I wanted to see the color of the clay.

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This tray was actually inspired by a line of mermaid furniture in the video game Animal Crossing. The shape of the handles are one of my favorite parts because they are very reminiscent of the table and dresser in the game. I was very pleased with how quickly I was able to get the base of this together, and am overall just very happy with it. (Also huge thank you to Mr. Stout for taking the time to fix the handle for me!!)

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Dipped in Nebula Blue with Peacock Green overspray

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This was a random bowl I made and I ended up really liking the shape, but thought it could use something extra so I carved a continuous heart pattern around the rim. After glazing you can’t really see the pattern too well, but it was really fun to do and I’m glad I have this picture to see what it looked like before.

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This was the last project I made on the wheel. The holes were a bit tricky to clean out since the tray comes up at such an angle, but it worked out. There is some cracking near the base but nothing major.

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This is my first successful chip dip, from the top it looks pretty good, but I had a lot of trouble trimming the underside. The lip and the piece in generally is pretty uneven from my attempts to take it off both the wheel and the bat itself.

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I will always be thankful that this survived in the kiln. I am thinking of finishing it with paint instead of glaze.

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When the first firing of this bowl revealed a cosmetic crack in the bottom, I pooled a little robins egg in the bottom before sending her in for a re-fire. The crack is still visible, though no longer sharp, and I do enjoy the added pop of color.

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This little bowl was the first piece I had tried Charcoal Satin Matte on and I ended up falling in love with the color and texture.

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Very happy with the glaze job on this one, I think it took it from a plain, ordinary bowl, to something special and unique. I dipped it in Charcoal Satin Matte which bubbled up in the reduction fire, creating a unique texture, and I also sprayed a little Robins Egg just around the rim. While you can't see the color, it provides a shine around the lip that I am quite fond of.

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Behold the basket bowl! After many hours spent both making and contemplating this bowl, I am ultimately extremely happy with how it came out, and proud to donate it to the Empty Bowl Charity.

Dipped Volcanic Fleck/sprayed Stevie's Opal

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Panama Red (possibly with something sprayed over the top)

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This bowl started out very basic and I struggled to think of what to do with it. After a suggestion to make it a chopstick bowl, I was inspired to carve some sakura designs around the rim to match a pair of traditionally made chopsticks I have at home. Hanako is a girl's name that translates to "flower child".

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This one is more of a tray than a bowl, though I really like it. I initially didn't know where I was going with this one, but I wanted to sculpt something and ended up with a manta ray. I hand sculpted the bowl it sits in, and I decided to only add wavy edges so the piece wouldn't feel too cluttered. I'm really proud that I got the manta to stand up, and that the tail stayed intact through the drying process.

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Mina was the first bowl I altered the shape of after throwing. The wavy lip was really fun to do, and I would use this technique again.

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This was my original sketch from before I even started working. As soon as the project was announced I began brainstorming, and at first I thought I was going to make a mask from one of my favorite video games, Majoras Mask, as masks are an integral mechanic in the game and they're all really cool. Ultimately, I completely switched directions and went with an oni. I find Japanese folklore to be super interesting, and I liked the idea that I would be bringing my own design to life, rather than creating a replica. Something I liked especially about my design was the ears, as they aren't typically included in traditional oni masks.

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Finally finished! This project was such a journey and I was so happy to be done. I built up some clay around the horns so they look like they are growing from the head instead of just stuck on the face, and pierced the holes in the side of the head so it can be hung eventually. I was terrified to take this over to the photo booth, so for now the final picture will just be on this kiln shelf.

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My mask is almost finished! I added the two smaller horns, which didn't come out exactly how pictured but I was just glad to get them on at all. I also added the point details to the chin -- another detail in my original sketch. This was a change I had in the previous picture as well but I pierced the nose and ears so I can make some custom jewelry for it. Lastly, I scratched in some texture on the face and horns because I liked the subtle effect it added.

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The back of my mask was carved out now, and I made two new horns. I struggled a lot to attach them, and their shaping changes a bit later; however, for my first time making something like this I think they came out pretty good. Another small change is the extra point on the ears, which was a detail I had in my original sketch.

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The only addition I kept from this picture was the three little teeth. I knew I wanted horns from the beginning, so this was when I began experimenting with them, and I think it was the hardest part to make. At this point I hadn't carved out the back of the mask yet so I ended up removing this horn.

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Not much changed from the last photo except for the addition of the large tusks. I absolutely love how the skin of the mouth folds around them, and I'm very proud of them because they were my first large add-on to the mask and they came out very clean.

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I really started to enjoy what my mask was looking like at this phase. It had started to look more concerned than angry, so I built up the eyebrows to make them more furrowed, and I deepened/defined the area around the mouth so it looks like the skin is stretching around the snarl. I also carved more clay out of the deepest areas (eyes, pupils, nostrils, cheeks, ears) which created more contrast.

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This was the stage where I started building clay up on the surface. I added some to the nose and eyebrows which immediately created more dimension. I also added two tiny horns to the forehead, two small fangs, and dug out the spots in the mouth where I planned to insert large fangs.

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At this point I was still just taking out clay and pressing in to create details. I added defined cheekbones, carved out the eyes and ears, and started mapping out some horn placement.

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This is the first picture I took of my mask making process. I had cut the shape out with a newspaper template, and all the shaping here was pressed in/indented to map out where the features go.

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Another single bubble I made for practice/fun

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View of the other side of the korok bowl. You can’t see the complete word since it wraps around, but I wanted to show the carving I did in a fictional language.

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This is my second bowl and I had a lot of fun carving it! One thing I noticed while designing it is that the bottom was very thin, and in the future I need to be more careful trimming and throwing my bowls.

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This is another angle of my mug - I wanted to show the Samurai X carving, a symbol the character has on her armor. I am also really looking forward to experimenting with underglaze for this piece.

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This is my first (and currently only) mug and I am super proud of it. This was probably the hardest project of the semester since the handle gave me a lot of trouble. While it is a little smaller/thinner than I would like, I did a much better job with the connection than my previous attempts. I trimmed the foot like a mug I use at home, and the design is inspired by my favorite character in a show that I watch.

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This was my first bowl! I thought the shape came out nice and I had fun trimming the foot, it feels very sturdy.

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This was the second bowl I had thrown, and I decided not to save it since it was extremely wobbly and uneven. Just by looking at it, it doesn’t seem terrible, but it was giving me bad vibes. The biggest issue was that the walls were getting too thin and my pulls were too fast.

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Amber was just a fun extra piece I made during the double bubble project. I think I might gift her to someone after glazing, she would make a nice mini flower vase.

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This was my first finished double bubble and I just adore her, I'm very proud of my work. Her shaping came out very smooth which can be observed by the third direction change near the lip. Her foot also came out excellent (thanks for the help Mr. Stout!), though I will say she feels more dainty than Clara, her lip is a little thinner. I am looking forward to learning the glazing process, and can imagine Nya as a blue or green tool holder.

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This is Clara, my second double bubble. I really like her thick foot and how sturdy she feels, I think she would make a good tool holder. Compared to Nya she is a little shorter, and for glazing I’m envisioning perhaps an amber yellow.

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Bottom looks great, and walls are pretty even too! A tiny bit thick near the bottom edges, and I do notice that little dip I made when undercutting, right where the walls start to go up. Despite the basic shape though I think Elijah came out okay!

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Had to end with a lucky 7. I had a lot more pieces than I thought to choose from and I had trouble narrowing it down to just 5. I just made Elijah today (9/27) and he was a pretty solid piece. You can see some bumps on the outside that I wish I took the time to smooth out, but the inside was pretty good.

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Flat/thick bottom, even walls, Linda looks pretty great to me!

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Yes I know this is over 5 but look at Linda! I had a great time throwing her, I made sure to relax and just enjoy the process.

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I never noticed how much of a problem my thin bottoms were until I started making these posts, so now I'm going to be extra careful in the future. Clyde had a lot more weight that I could have taken out of his walls, especially near the bottom edges, and you can see some tension wobbles throughout the whole piece. While I'm really not happy with this one, I needed it to realize that your pieces aren't just affected by your hands and elbows, but your whole body.

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This was my first attempt at the perfect cylinder challenge, and while far from perfect, it wasn't too shabby. Clyde was a little bit of a learning moment for me because he helped me realize that I need to relax. I made a few mistakes (which you'll see in the cross section) that I believe were because I was too tense and moved too quickly.

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This was Bill, and I'm only showing the cross section because technically he didn't make the cut for a full post (sorry Bill), but I implore you to take your gaze to the bottom. Yes that's right, a bottom that is flat, and not too thin! Bill was a little bit of a turning point for me because of the bottom; however, he did try and collapse on me so I had to hold up the walls to get this picture.

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While Monica is a very nice goblet, the bottom is, you guessed it, too thin. This time I see that I dipped down while undercutting. The bottom edges are also very thick, which I assume is something I would trim out perhaps? +1 for having even walls though, those looked great.

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I loved this piece, the shape would be great to serve a fancy drink in.

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Felicia's walls were pretty even, the rim area is a little thicker, but not terribly. While the bottom is probably still a touch too thin, I do see improvement here. It's pretty flat all the way across, and there is no noticeable dip in the very center like the last few pieces.

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I wasn't too sure what I was doing going into this piece, but I ended up really liking the shape. Most of the commentary for Felicia will be in the cross section.

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In this cross section, you can tell I was being very careful, but I was a little too careful, and it would have been good to try and pull up the extra weight in Gerald's thick walls. The bottom was also still too thin here.

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Gerald was a cute little cylinder. He was cute because he was very short, and I think that was just because I was afraid of squeezing/pulling too hard. As you can see, the bottom is very thick, and I could have ran my thumb by the edge to get rid of all that excess. When the wheel was spinning, the whole piece looked very centered, so I'm giving myself a point for that.

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This is the cross section of Georgina. I thought the thickness of my walls was great and fairly even despite the shaping. The very bottom was way too thin though, and I need to work on making sure I don't press down too far when I'm initially opening the piece.

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This was my first official creation, and I'm pretty proud of it! It was a good size, and I love the shape. I think this could have been a little beginners luck though because looking back, I'm not sure I could recreate this so easily.