Concentration Piece #1

       The time came and went for concentration piece!  I really wanted to incorporate the idea of industry and how much of our life involves industrial products. I just didn't know how to do it. I had to come up with at least 10 piece ideas in order for it to be a concentration, and my thoughts were kinda scattered. I did a lot of brainstorming and finally came up with an idea for my first piece: a steam punk egg.

I started on the wheel with Aluminum Hi-Fire clay, with not much of an idea of how to make an egg shape. Ms. Ferguson, however, did a demo and helped me learn how to make the form. It was really interesting for me, because the clay had to be completely be raised, closed off at the top, and sealed. Here's the part that really blew my mind--After the air had been completely sealed in, you use your hands and use the air inside to form the egg shape. It was really different for me and took a few tries, but I ended up making and trimming(on the wheel) two eggs.

Fun photo of Maria!!!

 

I decided to leave half of the egg in a very natural, organic state and went to work slicing the egg in half. The second half was the more complicated part. I wanted to have it look like it was in the middle of a machine, so therefore needed a lot of gears. I used circular cut-outs and a needle tool for some of the gears, and the other I tried to use gear stencils. The stencils were a little more difficult to use, because the clay would often crack when I tried to pop the gears out. I had some additive and some subtractive elements to make the gears seem more dimensional, and it turned out to be a delicate process. However the piece looked great before going into the kiln.

 

Sorry it's blurry!

Keeping with the theme, I did two separate glaze colors for each side. I put Cloud White on the unembellished part of the egg, and did Palladium on the side with the gears. On the inside, I put Iron Luster. After initial firing one of the small gears had popped off, so I had to glaze that separately. It turned out pretty nice, but I was surprised that the Cloud White turned out to be yellow. Overall it turned out pretty nice.

Reflection
I had a very hard time coming up with a good concentration. I debated between a variety of concentration, from fruit-inspired to a combination of animal parts with industry to an idea of doing a concentration all on eggs. This project was a safe piece, and one that could be used in a few of my ideas. Basically it bought me time some time before I decided on my concentration. Next time I need to spend more time preparing my ideas so that I don't feel like I'm rushing during class. Besides forming the egg, it was not that difficult of a piece for me to make. I'm a little disappointed that Cloud White turned out to be yellow and not the pristine white I was expecting, but it could have been a lot worse.