The slab pot I created was based off of an ocean theme. Having always loved the ocean and various ocean animals as well, I decided that creating a slab pot with various scenes of the ocean on each slab would be a perfect idea. Moreover, since the slab pot allows for us to put in a design inside the pot and on the top, I thought it would be awesome if I could create the dimensions of the ocean with the inside being the deep ocean (where the anchor is placed on) and the the top of my pot being an island over the ocean (with palm trees and a surf board). I think this idea allowed for my pot to be even more unique as it wasn’t just all slabs based on the ocean, but rather is more dimensional in portraying all aspects of the ocean, both above and under.
I feel like this was one of my favorite ceramics projects yet as it incorporated a lot of texture and designs. For example, I used the fish cut-outs to add them onto my slabs for additive relief and subtractive relief for the bubbles that fish are blowing out. This was really fun to do as it allowed me to decide which textures to carve from the slab and which ones to add on to enhance the uniqueness and creativity of my pot. |
However, I think that the hardest part of my slab pot was trying to create my palm tree. Because my palm trees required a lot of leaves that were relatively quite thick, it meant I had to use a lot of clay. But, because my palm tree branch had to be relatively thin to be realistic, the leaves had a hard time sticking on to my tree without making it flop or fall over. To solve this problem, I spent a whole class period and came up with the final solution of making my leaves as thin as possible while stabilizing the root of my tree with a circle of clay to help it stand rigid.
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