Coil Construction Part 2

Greek Vessel (Coil Unit)

CONSTRUCTION

Photo of the vessel that you based your work on	Sample Sketch
Vessel name and description: From Ottoman, Turkey in the 19th century and is used for household storage. What do you like about the shape and form? I like this shape and form because the angulations of the vessel aren't too rounded, but not too sharp either. For example, I like how the angulation between the body and the neck of the vessel is very prominent, but the edge is softened so that it forms a curve instead of a sharp angle. I also prefer wider lips over vases that end with a small opening. The vessel also has quite an elevated foot, giving the whole piece more height and sophistication overall.
Greenware Photo
Construction Reflection
Do you feel that you have a good grasp of the coil technique? It took a while for me to finally get used to coiling, but creating one vessel was enough to get a good grasp of the coil technique. At first, it was harder because I wasn't familiar with the texture and features of the clay, and so I had trouble with smoothing out the clay and making sure the vessel wasn't too thin or thick. What area did you struggle in constructing your vessel? The area of construction that I struggled most in was creating the foot and lip, mostly because they were the last features of the vessel that I had to construct and I didn't have enough time to focus on those two parts. Because I had a very wide lip with respect to the body of my piece, it was hard to make sure the clay wasn't too soft and that it didn't droop down or become sloppy. I needed Mr. P's help with finalizing the lip by creating the edge using the wooden tool because it was hard for me to do it without ruining the thickness of the edge. What area did you enjoy most in constructing the vessel? My favorite part in constructing the vessel was the blending and shaping of the piece using template just after adding in a new coil on top. It was satisfying for me to continuously shape the vessel into the cardboard template and smoothen out the surface to make sure there aren't any dents or imperfections using the rubber tool. What area do you feel that you needed more instruction? The area that I needed more instruction with was constructing the foot. Because I spent a longer time creating the body than the rest of the people in my class, I wasn't able to create an elevated foot like I originally wanted to and so I only had time to create a short base. Mr. P helped me construct the majority of my foot, and after watching the demos and trying it out myself, I realized that a skill I still need to work on is to be able to cut out perfect circles using the knife when the slab is spun on the wheel.

GLAZING

Glaze Record
List your glazes: Amaco (PC) Blue Rutile and Amaco (PC) Ancient Jasper Describe your application: I applied three base coats of the Blue Rutile glaze, and four coats of Ancient Jasper over the Blue Rutile, but only on the top half of the piece
Pre-fired Glazes	First Post fire Glazes
First post fired Details	Second post fired Glazes
Final Reflection
Describe how you feel over all about the project, technique, and glazing. Even though we've only done two construction projects, I already feel like coiling is and still will be my favorite even after we do more constructions. I find the coiling technique really interesting because the process is so simple and repetitive, but it can create any type of vessel without losing symmetry or shape.  With the glazing portion of this project, the post fired glaze looked nothing like I expected it to look like, but I am still quite satisfied with the final result from the first-post glaze fire. The colors were a lot darker and duller than I thought it would be, but I still love the way the ancient jasper creates a drooping effect on the blue rutile base as the two colors combine together. However, because air bubbles were formed on the surface during the first glaze firing, my vessel had to be re-fired a second time to smoothen out surface. I think that because it was exposed to even more heat, the glaze turned even darker than it already was, causing the ancient jasper to become a black-red, and the blue bottom to become brown.