Breath Piece #1,

         Finally uploading projects! For our first breadth piece, the Theresa Brooks project, I decided to do my organic piece of of a dimensional leaf. I used Aluminum Hi-Fire clay and started by making a bowl on the wheel. It took a few tries after not working with clay all summer! I then rolled out a slap and carefully cut away to make the shape at the top. 

Fun Photo of Peter!

                             

      Using simple scratch and attach methods, I combined the bowl and slap into one piece, and then I began finalizing the leaf shape. I pressed my fingers into the clay to make it more dimensional before starting my choice of texture. I choose to use a subtractive approach for my texture. Using a needle tool, I carved out holes and did indentations on my leaf shape. I had to be careful when I was punching out the holes because I didn't want to crack the dry clay.

       

After firing, I played around with which glazes to use. I was deciding between a metallic finish or a more organic finish and choose the more natural look. I like the idea of bringing out a blue undertone, and used a blue-gray underglaze in the holes and wiped away the rest. Instead of completely wiping away the glaze, I left a light amount sponged on the entire piece. I topped it off with Holly Green glaze. It came out of the kiln looking fantastic! The colors remind me of the rain forest, and really made it into the "Corroding Leaf" it is now.

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Reflection       

I spend a lot of time outside of class perfecting the look for my piece, because it had lots of details and am really proud of the result. Coming up with the shape and design wasn't very difficult, I think it took less than five minutes, but it did take some time to decide what texture I was doing. I spent a little too much time making a perfect bowl, forgetting that I would be completely reshaping it anyways. I felt I had a good time-line with the clay, I didn't feel that the clay was overly dry or wet when I was forming the holes, but I had to be really careful not to poke myself or crack the clay. Overall this project turned into a piece I ADORE, and got me off the a strong start in AP 3-D!