Ceramics Essay

When I was little, art class mostly involved using crayons, finger painting, and stencils. But every Friday, it was clay day, and we thought we were so lucky because for that whole class once a week we got to build, mold, and create three dimensional shapes. Now, as a sophomore in high school, I still love to play with clay, and I was really excited to take Ceramics 1 because I got to work with clay for a 48 minute period every day. The first project was to build a simple pot, and that was not that easy. I started it by learning how to flatten the clay out with the roller and then use a circular object to start the base for the bottom of my pot. Then I got used to the method of stacking the layers of clay on top of each other to start building the sides of the pot upwards and to give everything shape. I learned how to use the smoothing tools to mold the layers together and clear away all the bumps. I kept it wrapped up in plastic bag and sprayed it with water so it wouldn't dry or crack. I also learned how to fire it once, then glaze it, then fire it again to get a nice shiny coat. Needless to say when my pot was finished it came out really bumpy, but it was my first project and I was really proud of it. I especially was proud of my second project, the tea pot. When I was drawing a sketch of it on paper I got really creative and extravagant with my ideas, and when I was finished I was nervous to see if my pot would actually turn out how it looked on paper. During this project I learned that I could add 3D designs to the side of my pot so that it wouldn't all just be flat. The project idea was to create a tea pot in the design of the elements, wind, fire, water, and earth and how they described you. I cut out flames and put them on the side of my pot, carved leaves, used swirls of clay to depict waves, and even successfully attached a spout and handle. I learned how to use the carving tools for intricate designs and it turned out to look really nice. Another project I had was a serving tray for cookies. It was looking really good and I was almost ready to fire it for the first time when it shattered in my hands. I was gently painting it and I picked it up the wrong way and it literally just broke in half. I was really frustrated because I was excited to see how it would turn out. But that experience taught me that hardened clay is really fragile, and in order to keep your project intact you must handle it with care and patience. My next project was "Student's Choice", and I probably spent a week doodling on a piece of paper trying to figure out what I wanted to make. Until one day, a kind of juvenile idea came to me; I was going to make a dinosaur. It was just like I was in second grade again, and the dinosaur came out goofy looking but it was what I wanted to do. That's a big thing that ceramics taught me, that I can just be creative and imaginative and just let my mind make my hands create