This artwork is making our own name out of ceramics. In this unit, we learned about different ways of making ceramics. For example, wedging, slab, coil, score-and-slip… Wedging is for getting the air out of the clay. If we didn’t do that, the clay would explode inside the kiln. The kiln is where we heat the clay up so it would turn into a glass like artwork. When making a slab, we are making a thick, flat plate. That might kind of look like a pancake or pizza. Coil is when we make a long roll of clay, also known as snake. Score-and-slip is to stick pieces of clay together. The first step is to scratch both of the surface of the attaching pieces of clay by a scratching tool. Put the slip on and push to make the two pieces into one. Add soft clay to blend in and add support.

For this project, I made my first name (Allison) because a lot of people in this class has a last name of Chen. I made my first name first, which was carved out of a slab. Then I made another slab for the name because my name was almost falling apart. I think it was because of the lack of thickness and the amount of clay that is touching each other. When I was sticking the name on the other slab, I score-and-slip it on. I pressed it down so it could really be stuck on. I decided to make a flower on the top so it could give it more texture. I also carved few lines at the side so it won’t look too boring. Then I added a few dotting designs and stripes designs, that would give this artwork a pattern. I made the dotting designs by using the dotting tool, and then the stripes designs by the needle tool. I was kind of worried that the whole clay would be stuck on the canvas, but it turned out okay. The canvas is the cloth/board to work the clay on.

Some of the elements of art I used were lines, shapes, space, texture, and form. I used lines to create a pattern and to make the shapes of my name letters. Shapes because the whole project is made out of shapes. My name is a shape, the slape underneath is a shape, even my little flower is a shape. I gave my name a little space because it started out kind of big and it turned out smaller at the “n” part in Allison. I gave it some texture too. The lines gave the carving a little bumpy feeling and the flower too gave some different feeling. The lines I mentioned before are also a little bumpy. There was form because it is 3 dimensional and not just a flat piece of paper. One of the principles of art that I used was pattern. I used pattern when I was creating a design that repeats over and over again. The dot and stripes design.

I think if I tried harder and worked harder, I could have done much better. I think in this project I did okay. I tried my best, but I kind of doubt if that was my best clay project. It was really hard to wedge, since I am so small. I am kind of scared if my project would explode in the kiln. Fingers crossed! There was some broken parts at the “s” part. I kind of tried to fix it, but it just cracks open. I think the lines are not thick enough. I hope my project turns out okay.