Required Questions
1. Tools have been more useful in this class than you would think. I experienced that working with clay a rib is super useful. When you use the clay rib it turns your piece from a beginner piece to an intermediate piece of work.Once you have your piece the way you like it meaning the size and shape, you can use the rib to smooth out the clay and remove any lines or stray marks. It makes your piece clean and presentable, which is the way i like my art to look. Another tool that was extremely helpful to me was the box cutter. A box cutter helps you cut through thick surfaces or materials. When i made my dwelling project i made a house out of plexiglass and in order to cut the correct size walls and roof i had to use the box cutter. Without using that tool it would have been nearly impossible to make a house that had even walls and clean cuts.
2. Through this class i have learned a lot about process, product, and tools. Before this class i didn't realize all of the tools there were for clay making. After taking this class i have learned how to use all of these tools. I have learned that the cut-off wire is really helpful in cutting a smaller piece of clay from the large bricks they come in. The wire tool is just a generally useful tool if there's a part of your piece you just want to scrape down a little bit especially if the clay is pretty dry. Another tool that not a lot of people realize its value is the clay tool box, it helps keep all of your clay tools in one place that way you don't lose them.
Pick 3 Questions
What was your favorite material that you used this year? Why do you like working with it?
My favorite material was plexiglass. Unlike clay, plexiglass doesn't change its texture and dryness overnight. When i worked with clay throughout the semester i had trouble with it drying too fast before i was done sculpting it, which was frustrating. That's why i liked working with the plexiglass, the form never changed and because of that the final project turned out more successful and cleaner looking.
Regardless of whether a project was successful or not, describe the one where you learned, grew, or developed the most from? Please explain.
The project I learned the most from was the Vessel project. When I came up with and idea for the project, I had a certain way I thought it would turn out. For this project I planned to use the wire I bought for the class supply list. Except when I was using it it was too thin and malleable so I had to try other wires. I also thought that this project would turn out to be a small sized bowl with tall sides except it turned out to be more large and flat and flexible. Through this project I learned that when you plan your art project and then you actually start to make it, the final product doesn't always turn out the way you expect to.
Choose 1 piece of art that you used skills and techniques learned from previous projects. Discuss your growth as an artist and how you incorporated these skills and techniques to create the piece.
I used skills I learned from previous projects in my butterfly relief piece. In my relief project the first major project of the class I used skills from the mini lessons that we did previous to the project. For example from the styrogami lesson I learned and developed my X-Acto knife skills. I use the skills to precisely cut the butterfly wings. In addition to developing my cutting skills, when I worked on the relief mini piece those techniques were the ones that inspired my main project.
