Day 16: Advance Ceramics

This specific course is my favorite out of all of my classes! I am always so impressed by the students' creativity, worth ethic, positive attitude and execution. I have to say, there is one particular Advance Ceramic class that I have a preference for.  The students within this class seem to be more passionate and into their artwork than the other Advance Ceramic class.  With this said, I am applaud by the work the students vision and create. Honestly, when I discussed with the students about their ambitious ideas I was a little hesitant and unsure that they could properly execute their ideas--they proved me wrong.  I learned from my students to be oblivious to intimidation and mental limitations and to simply create your visions. 

Though I already spoke about the cattle skull in the last post I just had to retouch about it again.  I absolutely love this piece because I'm so amazed that anybody could mold clay into an exact replica of a true cattle skull.  I love the fact that this student could create an astonishing 3D piece from observing a simple 2D picture she printed from the internet. Not to mention, this student went above and beyond Ms. Wagers expectations and this piece consist of three lids while she was only required to incorporate just one. 

This swirl is aesthetically pleasing and its texture is incredible smooth.  The creative student who made this piece started with a block of clay and with her fingers smoothed out the ridges and formed the twist top.  She then cut the twist in half, hollowed out the pieces, added an interior coil to secure the lid and was "donezo".  I was flabbergasted that the student created this in one class session (approximately 80 minutes). This student always inspires me and I truly am astonished with her creative ceramic art work. I know this student will be very successful in life because of how finely she executes her visions.

Above and below are examples of another student's work that is outrageous! The student really loves anything that involves giraffes.  This student created a container in a form of a tree (the lid is actually the leaves/tree top). The student wrapped the giraffe around the tree which makes the piece stronger because how ever the container is displayed the viewer will turn the piece or walk around it to see the story of the giraffe. It was fascinating to watch this student make her leaves because she used scissors to cut into the clay and create the texture. The student had to hollow both the leaves section and the trunk section so the piece wouldn't explode during its firing.  I really admire her concept of wrapping the giraffe around the tree because it adds more character to the piece and encourages the viewer to look around the entire piece.   

I am so proud of these students and how well they create their visions. I really do enjoy my time teaching and learning from these students.  As a student teacher I individually speak with the students about their pieces and discuss anything from how they can make their pieces stronger, if they are happy with it, how they are going to glaze it, etc. I believe all of the students are doing exceptionally well and they are creating amazing pieces of work. This week was a great week!