This post is my bowl project for my art class. Below is my artist statement.
I made this Glazed Bowl in art class, my word choice “Beloved” reminds me of Gods unmeasurable love for us. God loves us so much that every time we pray to him he makes sure to have a quality relationship and conversations. Sometimes it’s hard to keep this in mind, so that’s why I have “Beloved” and a heart. We initially had a paper printout to put designs and to cutout, this was the first step. Next I got a flat slab of moist grey clay and used the paper cutout to carve out the initial shape from the clay slab. Next I pressed the Greek like stamp designs and “Beloved” into the sides. I scored the edges of the flat shape, and used slip on the scored edges; and pressed the edges upward and scored edges into each other. With the 3D bowl I used slip to cover cracks, and smoothed the corners on the inside and outside. I imprinted the heart manually here with the tool edge since there wasn’t a heart stamp. I waited a few days for the bowl to slowly but throughly dry; so it wouldn’t cause problems in the kiln. Then it was fired in the kiln for about nine hours. It was no longer grey, but light tan. I considered the movie the emperor’s new groove as I chose my colors realizing the stamp looked like some stone walls in that movie. I considered what colors looked good wanting a red for the heart and light blue for the stamped design; remembering what colors were in that movie. I chose a more solid blue for the inside of my bowl and the bottom to cover the “Beloved” imprint. I got a metal three legged stand for the bottom, because the glaze would cause problems in the kiln without it. I added three layers of each color to my bowl gently so the first and second layers wouldn’t get scratched off. The bowl was in the kiln for another nine hours. And the finished product is what you see. Almost everything I did in this project was new for me. I learned a ton including what temperatures to use for each time it need to goin the kiln for different reasons like glaze finishing. The whole process was calming and pleasing knowing I would have a beautiful product. I give credit to God for creating my hands and mind. He is the true creator and I couldn’t have done this without him.
