Samantha's Ceramics
Collection of forms from Samantha's Intermediate clay class
Broken Snowflake
This piece was inspired by the frozen months of winter and how each snowflake is different when it falls. I demonstrated my idea through a deconstructed cup because it shows how fragile a snowflake can be. I used thew potters wheel to make the original form and I carved out the triangles into the side. After the form dried into a leather hard state, I broke off some of the peaks on the top of the triangles to make the snowflake seem "broken". I experimented with a marble effect with blue, green and white glazes.
Tree Cup
This cup was inspired by my grandpa. I used his interest of working outside to incorporate the tree design that I showed through a functional cup form. This form is dedicated to my grandpa. I used the potters wheel to make the form and coils that I added on top to make the swirls of the tree tops.
The Makeup Mask
The definition of a mask is “a covering for all or part of the face, worn as a disguise, or to amuse or terrify other people.” As I was coming up with ideas for my mask, I asked myself what’s a common “mask” that people wear and hide behind to change how they looked to others. Being a girl, I knew about the second meaning of makeup being worn to cover up a girl’s face. With this idea in mind, I used makeup to be my version of a mask. Makeup is usually seen to conceal any flaws of a face, or to make the image of a person more visually pleasing. People who wear makeup frequently can be seen as hiding their actual self and their flaws to other people.
In society now, wearing makeup makes a person more accepted with their looks and I used one of the most common clichés, red lipstick and winged eyeliner. I used the different additional slab of clay to show the extra layer of the mask, and used different colored glazes to show the actual makeup parts and a different skin tone. This side of the face is brighter in color, which shows the idea of how makeup covers your face and makes you seem “brighter and prettier”, which makes you as a person more accepted in todays society.
Out of the Ground: Ancient Egyptian Pot
This form was inspired by ancient Egyptian pottery. I used rolled out slabs of studio clay and hand built my pot. I used a common form that was found in ancient Egyptian ceramics. I incorporated a stamp of the Eye of Ra as my stamp for this project. I thought it would be an interesting twist using the ancient mythology and legends from Egypt and incorporate it into my pot. It is a symbol of good health, protection, and royal power. Egyptian potters also commonly used animals such as flamingos to put as designs on their pots, which I also included.
Rainbow Burst
This project was hand built with slabs, which one shape was traced on and was repeated throughout the piece. The glaze colors bring out a look of energy and brightness to top off the organic shapes of the slabs.
