15th October Ceramics Workshop

On Thursday 15^th October we completed our final workshop for the “Hands on Project” and we explored the skills and methods through ceramics. I was really nervous to explore “Ceramics” as I have experimented methods in the topic previously and the pieces I created were not successful. However, I was really curious to explore new techniques and methods in the subject as I wanted to gain confidence in the topic and to create a piece for the “Hands on Project”. When we arrived at the workshop we were given a brief introduction to all the areas of the workshop, tools and equipment. Before starting our first task, we were given health and safety instructions that we followed throughout the workshop to avoid the potential risks of injury. Firstly, we always had to wash our hands when we finished working because the chemicals used can be harmful to the body if it’s ingested. When we finished working, we had to clean our area and any studio equipment or tools to allow dust to be kept to a minimum as it can be really dangerous. If a large amount of dust enters into the lungs it can cause breathing risks which is why dust is kept to a minimum in the workshop. Finally another safety instruction we followed was that all bags must be placed away safely so that no accidents can occur. These rules were maintained and followed throughout the workshop task.

After going through the health and safety instructions we started to create designs for the main task in the ceramics workshop. It is important to design as it allows you create a variety of drawings that can be adapted and changed in order to create the most suitable design for what you want to create. We were given one criteria which was to create a 3D piece of ceramics that related to the hands on project. At the start of the task I really struggled to come up with a first idea as I wasn't sure how to create a ceramic piece in 3D and make it look effective. To solve the problem I looked through a couple of my secondary images from my Pinterest board and remembered a picture I had with a two hands joined together holding a rose. I wanted a design based on this idea so to start the design I drew two hands together with a symmetrical pattern and two colours to keep a balanced theme. When drawing the design I noticed that the patterns I were creating looked like Henna designs that I have research previously in my secondary research and print-making workshop. After creating the first design, I decided to develop the first design and add different patterns and more hands onto the design. This allowed me to create a range of designs that had different patterns, a range of different sized hands and related to my first idea. By creating a range of designs it helped me to decide what the most suitable layout for the 3D ceramics workshop outcome was.

After designing and picking a final layout, we focused on a group activity where we were going to create a large 3D hand that's made up of all our groups’ hands. To start the project, we first collected a piece of clay and started to work into the clay to get the air out of the material. It is important to get the air from the clay as it can cause the clay to explode in the kiln if the air is trapped inside. I found the first part of getting the air out of the clay difficult as the clay was a strong material that was hard to shape. To solve the problem I cut the clay in half and continued to practise working into the clay which allowed me to gain the skill of getting the air out of the clay. After we worked the clay we moulded it into a rectangle and cut the shape into several lines by using a cheese slicer. Once the clay was cut I pulled the different parts away to reveal what was inside the clay. If the clay had holes in the middle this meant that it still had air in the substance. To solve the problem I covered the holes with spreading clay on top of them and then repeating the process several times to create a piece of clay that was ready to shape and mould. Next we rolled out the clay with a rolling pin onto a surface and used measuring sticks to allow me to get an even surface. I found this part of the task difficult as I couldn't roll out the clay evenly. To solve the problem I adapted the skills I was taught and kept moving the clay and measuring sticks around to allow me to create an even surface. After rolling out the clay, I placed my hand onto the surface and used a cutter to draw around my hand which revealed a copy of my hand on the clay. After repeating the process with my other hand, we left our hands to dry and started to focus on our workshop outcome.

The process of rolling out the clay.

To start the workshop outcome, I had to choose what design I wanted and I chose a design that had 2 large hands connected together in a cup shape with a little hand in the middle of the hands. I decided to choose this design as it reflected my secondary research idea, I could place patterns onto the design and the design matched the criteria which was that it had to be 3D. To start the design I repeated the process from the group task with clay and took the air away from the material. Once the clay was ready to use I rolled the material in a flat even surface and worked into the clay by drawing around my hand. Once I created two hands I placed them into a bowl so that it would create the 3D cup shape I wanted. Next I used the cutter to create the pattern I wanted on the designs and made them symmetrical which I wanted from my first initial designs. To place the hands together, I used the cutter to create marks and then placed a glue paste onto the surface that stuck both pieces together strong. Eventually the hands were designed and placed together which were ready to paint.

The outline of my hands before being decorated.

The hand outlines decorated and placed into a bowl.

Before I started to paint my hands I focused on completing my wired frame sculpture as I didn't finish the outcome previously. To complete the hand drawing I developed and adapted the skills I was taught previously and started to build up the hand. I was also familiar with the tools from the previous workshop so it allowed me to build up the hand effectively. I focused on different areas of my hand and looked around the hand to make the design look 3D and abstract. Eventually I created the design and I was really happy with the outcome as I didn't feel confident in the previous task when creating the sculpture. I felt like I adapted my previous experience and learnt from my mistakes to create an effective workshop outcome. However when completing the task I didn't plan my time management and this had an effect on the final outcome of my ceramics piece.

Completed wired sculpture of a hand.

When I returned to the ceramics workshop, I had a short amount of time to finish the layout and paint my design. Sadly I wasn't able to create a small hand to be placed on top of the design so I focused on the two hands that were ready to paint. To improve next time I will plan out what I'm going to create in a time limit and manage my time efficiently in the ceramics workshop. I decided to keep with the symmetrical theme and painted the hands with two colours which were pink and blue. After painting the designs the ceramic 3D piece were ready to be dried and sent to the kiln.

Final workshop outcome of the 3D
Ceramic hands.

For the final workshop task, we collected our hands for the group task and created a large 3D hand piece. This allowed us to increase our communication skills and our group skills. The group decided to create a flower shaped hand that was built up from our individual hands we made earlier. The piece looked effective and as a group we combined our skills and ideas to create a piece. To improve next time the group should create more hand layouts so that the design would be completed and finished.

Overall,the workshop was an enjoyable task as it allowed me to explore new techniques and methods in the ceramics task that I found really interesting and fun to create. It allowed me to gain confidence in the subject as I have previously found it difficult. I learnt keywords in the task which was "sculpting " and "planning". These two elements were key in the workshop outcome as I had to create my design and sculpt it for it to be 3D and also to match the criteria. Planning was the most important element in the workshop because you needed to set a time limit so that it can be placed into the kiln for it to be heated and dried. To improve next time I need to plan ahead and follow this key word throughout the workshop so that I can create effective designs that I wanted to create.