Coil Vessel

Coil Vessel
Describe what you liked about the coil process of building: In general, I found the whole coiling process to be a very satisfying and therapeutic process. For the past two projects in this class, we have used simple processes such as weaving and coiling to create something that looks quite complicated to make. I liked how the repetitive and basicness of these processes gave the two projects a sense of consistency. Also, compared to shorter vessel I created in Ceramics I, I added a lot more curvature and shape to my piece this year, so I really enjoyed shaping and cleaning it to how I wanted it to look like.
Describe your frustrations: A problem that I constantly encountered with the coil process was trying to fit my piece to the original cardboard template that was cut out for me. Even though the vessel itself is supposed to shrink every time it dries harder, it still made me a little bit frustrated how the shape of the whole thing changed each time I went to work on it again. Another part that was frustrated me was also trying to keep the piece as symmetrical as I could, especially when attaching the body to the foot.
Did your original idea change? If yes what changes occured? My original idea did change, but the only difference that ended up happening was part of the decor aspect of this project. Because I thought that my piece ended up being a lot slimmer and taller than I had planned, I originally wanted to add larger handles that went from the neck to the body. However, because my piece dried a lot harder than expected, the only type of handles I could add on were the shorter, smaller ones. How could you have constructed better? At one point during the construction of the vessel’s body, there were a few cracks that formed and I thought that my piece was going to split in half. I did end up recovering it myself with slip and more blending, but I think that there was a point during my coiling process where I didn’t blend as carefully as I should have. Next time, I should really make sure that I pay attention to every coil I blend and to take the blowdrying of the piece more seriously so that no cracks will form.
Screenshot of your glaze of choice. (from pinterest)
Glaze Record: Potter’s Choice Ancient Jasper (top coat) Potter’s Choice Iron Lustre (top coat) Potter’s Choice Toasted Sage (base coat) Western Aztec Gold (handles)	Glaze application: Toasted Sage as the base coat - 2 coats Ancient Jasper on top of the first half (lip to shoulder) and also over the arctic blue in the inside - 2 coats Iron Lustre on top of the bottom half (shoulder to foot) - 2 coats Western Aztec Gold for the handles - 4 coats All brush strokes were done horizontally.
Describe your final result.  Was it what you expected? (better or worse) Overall, the glaze results turned out completely unexpected. I originally thought that the ancient jasper on top of the toasted sage would give a warm, dark reddish color, and that the iron lustre on top of the toasted sage would give a cool, bluish-green color; however, the post-fired results ended up being a neutral pale green. Even though it did not go as planned, I am still satisfied with the end result especially since the color that appeared was still a very pretty and neutral green. One aspect that did turn out close to the expected is the Western Aztec Gold drip from the handles. Although the gold color turned out a lot darker than expected, the deep drip down the body of the piece adds to the overall feel of the piece, giving it more of an interesting feature. As for the inside of the piece, the ancient jasper over the arctic blue resulted in a dripping effect, with the greenish result of the ancient jasper complimenting the bright blue of the arctic blue glaze. I am really satisfied with how the inside glazes turned out, and will definitely love to try the glaze combinations for another project.
How could you you have glazed better? If I wanted my glazes to turn out more like the example I found on Pinterest, I think that a few things I could have done would be to add more coats of the top layer. Adding another layer of ancient jasper and iron lustre over the toasted sage would make it more likely for the end result to have a clearer contrast of the two different glaze effects. As for the brush strokes, I did all the strokes horizontally, which can be seen in the final result of the ancient jasper on top, with the dark colors seeping through the toasted sage in horizontal lines. However, the top coat colors didn’t show up as much as I expected it to, I think it might have been because I stretched the ancient jasper glaze when I painted it on, so I would have to apply thicker coats with shorter strokes next time.
How could the teacher have taught the unit better? Overall, the teaching and class demos for this project were all really well done, especially since I never really had trouble with the instructions of making the specific parts of the vessel. The only thing that could have made this unit better was if we were able to concentrate more on the decor aspect of the project, but we weren’t able to get to it because of the time constraint.