Culture Pot Reflection

For my pot shown below, I was inspired by the Pueblo culture. Traditionally, Pueblo pots are bellied out and their rim and base's are around the same size. I used some of these details and characteristics of the Pueblo culture to help shape my pot. Additionally, most of the Pueblo surface designs are geometric shapes, and the glazes used are generally earthy colors, however I used more contemporary designs through carving and darker colors. 

To start off my pot, I extruded coils and layered them on top of each other. Then after using lots of slip, wooden tools , and smoothening techniques, such as the rib, I started to work on bellying out my pot and focusing on its shape. After bellying it out, I was able to use the round coils and work my way in. Once I was done with the initial shape and had a bellied out pot, I noticed that the sides were uneven, so I used a paddle to even out the sides, but that didn't work. Later on, the next day, Mrs. Levenhagen showed me a mould that I could put my pot into, and after some smoothing out and pushing with a rib tool and sponge, the shape was perfect. After dealing with my shape issue, I managed to add on a rim that was the same size as the base of the pot and started to glaze. For my pot's base, I used a white LUG that covered the whole thing, then I inlaid a black LUG into the carvings of my design, and painted on a dark red LUG onto the bottom half of my pot. Once I was done with all of this glazing, I dipped my pot into the Celadon glaze, and into the kiln it went. 

One thing that intrigued me most about the Pueblo culture was it's shape and form. I really liked that the Pueblo pots were generally bellied out and that their rim's and base's were generally the same size. I also really liked that their glazes were generally earthy colors that were reused in patterns throughout the pot. 

One of the biggest challenges I faced making this pot was keeping its shape. Since my pot was so big, I had some issues with trying to keep my pot's sides evenly shaped. However, I was able to overcome this challenge by using a paddle, and lots of time with a mould. This was extremely helpful because by using a rib tool and sponge to fill in the mould, I was able to make a definite shape that I knew would be even and evenly distributed. 

Throughout this semester, I've learnt a ton about ceramics and pottery. I've learnt about the different kinds of glazing, firing, and design techniques. Whether it may be how to use the extruder, how to roll out a slab, or how to high fire a pot, I really enjoyed this class. In the beginning of the year, I thought that making a 3 inch high pinch pot was hard, but during some assignments and after a lot of problem solving I'm proud to say that I've been made to make 12 inch pots. I've also learnt a lot about glazing and that there are so many ways for you to design you pots. You can use LUGs during a pot's greenware stage, or even raku fire a pot during its bisque wear stage. I've also learnt that as long as you stay persistent and determined, you can achieve anything you want to and make something imaginary in you head come to life through pottery. 

Below, on the left is my very first pinch pot and to the right is my favorite pot. The pot on the right is my favorite because I had to go through so much to complete my designer cup and I'm so proud that I was able to create a mouth for the cookie monster, that you could store food in and use functionally. I also really like that I was able to bring a part of my childhood (the cookie monster), and turn that into a cup which I could actually use. Lastly, I also think that I used the most techniques and design features on this pot. Whether it was from adding on additional clay pieces, using different LUGs to paint my cup, or to add an additional layer to the inside of my cup, I believe that I've accomplished in this cup.  

Teapots With Heart Reflection Blog Post

Anya's Christmas Inspired Teapot

Part of this teapot project in ceramics was to design a piece that expresses something about ourselves and our past. My teapot, as shown above was made to represent many different things about myself, but before I do that I want to explain the process I went through to decide my theme. At first, I wanted to make a peppermint candy teapot, because since I was a little girl in the U.S., after going out for dinner, my family and I would eat little peppermint candies that we had a cabinet of at home. My twin sister and I both really love these candies, which is why I in the beginning decided to do a teapot around it. However, this idea of creating a peppermint candy teapot with a big wrapper around it as the spout and handle, wasn't going to turn out that well or functional. Which is why I decided to keep that idea of the peppermint candies, by making a red and white pot, which led me to Christmas. Growing up, Christmas was always one of my favorite holidays because no matter I lived in the world, my family would always go back to New Jersey to bring in the new year. Additionally, this aspect of Christmas is very important to me because family is something that I cherish and I don't know what I would do without it. 

Now that you know a little about the background of my pot's design, I would like to move further to explain the different designs and aspects of my teapot. Starting off with the handle, I painted it a striped red pattern to help me express a very big part of my childhood... the peppermint candies!  Secondly, going onto the middle of the teapot, and the main design, I decided to carve out a little snowflake. The reason I chose to carve out this snowflake is because every Christmas morning and the morning after a fresh layer of snow, my cousins and I would always go out to play in the snow for hours on end. Moreover, the reason why I decided to paint the snowflake and the presents on the lid of the pot light blue, is because blue is one of my favorite colors and every Christmas my parents would always rap my presents blue and my sister's presents red. Lastly, the reason why I added a christmas tree at the top of my lid is because some of my most fun and found memories of this holiday were made around our family tree.

After coming up with my idea for this teapot, I got to work on the actual form. To start off my pot, I used a lot of slabs. The first slab I rolled out was used to create the main circle shape that the snowflake is carved out on and the back of that. Then, to attach these two slabs together, I got a long, thin slab and using the slip and score technique, I attached it to both of the circle's edges. Secondly, after getting the main part of my pot's shape done, I moved onto the handle. For my striped, peppermint candy handle, I used an extruder to create a square like extruded part, which I attached onto the side of my pot in the shape of a candy cane. The reason I shaped my handle as a candy cane is because candy canes and peppermint candies taste very alike and pepperminty, therefore, creating this shape as my handle, would help me to express a very important part of my childhood and Christmas. Thirdly, after creating my handle and middle of my teapot, I decided to  create my spout. To do this, I rolled out a slab from the slab roller and wrapped that clay around a cylinder mold. Finally, after some attaching and lots of slip and scoring, I added on my spout to the circular core of the teapot and everything turned out great. Lastly, to finish make the lid of my teapot, I used the remainder of the slab used to create my spout, and cut it into a small circle. Additionally, to ensure that my lid stayed in place and didn't fall off, I created a "hooking" device. To create this hooking device, I cut out an even smaller circle from the previous slab and attached that onto the bottom of my lid. When I was done making my lid and was sure that it was secure, I started to decorate.

When decorating, I used a lot of special techniques to emphasize important aspects of my pot. For example, the first bit of decorating I did was done using a very thin carving tool. With this carving tool and a sponge, I made a large snowflake that covered the area of my whole teapot. While doing so, and part of the reason why I chose to carve on my snowflake, instead of paint, was because I wanted texture, detail, and aimed for it to look as realistic as possible. Furthermore, to make the snowflake really come to life, I also used a light blue LUG glaze and inlaid it onto the carvings. Secondly, I also used additional pieces of clay to create the christmas tree and presents decorated on top of my lid. To create these aspects, I pinched out shapes from the blocks of clay and used the tools available to help enhance the designs. For example, once I was done with the christmas tree, I used a carving tool to make little lines in the clay that I later inlaid darker green glaze into to help it pop. 

Overall, I'm pretty proud of my teapot and what I've accomplished. I didn't think at first that I would have been able to create such a detailed and well functioning teapot, but I think that after some problem solving and experiment, I'm glad I stuck with this idea. I'm also very glad that it came out to be just like what I imagined, because I reminds me so much of Christmas in the U.S. and the peppermint candies I love. However, if there was one thing I would watch out for the next time I made something like this, it would be to be careful when glazing small objects. When I was painting my christmas tree, some of the dark green glaze got onto the base of the lid and I wasn't able to wash that glaze off enough, so a kind of smudged out trail of green LUG remains a fourth of my lid.

Designer Cup Reflection Blog

The theme for my cup that I was trying to accomplish is a child like theme. For this particular theme, I first tried to make a disney related cup, however, one problem that I ran into was that I couldn't find a design which could incorporate food and drinks. But, after a lot of researching and looking through google images, I found a cookie monster cup, which I tweaked for the mouth to be an opening for cookies and other food you can have when drinking. This themed was really interesting to me because I loved watching Sesame Street when I was younger and my favorite character was the cookie monster, so I liked creating a cup which could represent this. 

I used a lot of techniques to create the shape of my cup including, using the slab roller and the extruded parts. First off, I used a slab roller to flatten out a slab in which I could wrapped my clay around a circular piece of wood and form my cup's shape. Another purpose that I used the slab roller for was to create the mouth of my cup. Since the cookie monster is famous for his love of chocolate chip cookies and is always seen with cookie crumbs falling out of his mouth, I wanted to portray this in my cup by adding an area in which food could be kept. Making this area for food was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but lucky, I got through it. After trying to push the slab down to the middle of the cup with it falling and breaking, never being able to keep the slip on around the slab, and always making the cup's side's crack, this barrier gave me quite a hard time, but I figured it out. And after doing so, I was able to use many other wonderful techniques to better my cup, which brings me to the extruder. At first I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with the handle of my cup and I didn't have a very definite idea of what I was going to do. However, after extruding some parts and looking at the pieces of clay I had to work with, I decided to make my handle a coil up piece of circular clay that represented the cookie monster's hair. This handle was very fun for me to make as I had done a coiled foot for one of my pinch pots before and this idea of coiled pieces was very interesting to me. Lastly, for the shaping of my cup, I added on extra pieces of clay to represent cookie monster's eyes. These popping eyes really helped the cup come to life and made it more animated and fun for children to use.

After finishing the shape and adding on all the final pieces of clay, I started to glaze my cup. However, instead of glazing my cup after it was fired once, I used LUG's to glaze my cup when it was in it's green ware state. This new type of glazing was very cool for me because using LUG's gave me the power to change the coloring of my pot after it came out of the kiln if I didn't like it and to do some last minute touch ups if I missed a few spots. The LUG glazes that I used were dark red for the mouth, teal blue for the inside, outside, and handle of the cup, and black and white for the eyes. Once I was done painting on these LUG's I put my cup in the kiln and hoped for the best. The next class, after it came out of the kiln, I did some touch ups with the LUG's and then dunked my cup in a bucket of clear glaze. Once this was done, I put my cup in the kiln once again and was finally done!

All in all, my reactions to this piece are pretty good. I enjoyed the overall process and loved getting to work with the LUG glazes. I liked that my pot was very kid friendly and I liked that it was able remind me and many of my other classmates about our childhood and sesame street! I also was really proud of the fact that I was able to create an area for food to be kept in, which I don't think any of the the other cups had. And though the making of my cup was a little hard at times, I've grown to appreciate and respect the people who do this for a living. It took me so long to figure out what I truly wanted to make out of my cup and even then, when I finally got an idea for my cup, it was hard for me to execute it. So what I've realized is that it's hard to come up with feasible, realistic, and likeable design ideas, but if you work really hard and analyze all aspects carefully it'll eventually work out in the end. I never would've been aware of all of these things if I hadn't had to make this cup so I'm really appreciative of that.

Above is a picture of a cup that I think was the best designed and I really look up to. I loved the fact that the cup has an interactive handle which connects to a fun basketball hoop. Also, inside the cup, there's a small basketball which I think is a really cool way of incorporating the cup's design idea and adding an extra piece of clay to the design. I also really liked the fact that the cup maker's glazing was done very accurately and that there were no cracks, bumps, or a thick rim around the top of the cup.

Who Am I?

1. I will always consider America my first home, but for now my second home is Singapore. After moving out of America, my family and I moved to Taipei, then Hong Kong, and then Singapore. Though we moved around a lot, I would still call America my home and the place I love most to go back to because my sister were born there, I've grown up there, and lastly, most of my family is located there. When talking about my family and relatives around the world, most of my younger cousins, aunts, and uncles are settled in the U.S., while my grandparents currently live in India. Overall, I think that home is really where your family and loved ones are. Home is a place where you are free to be you, always feel loved and supported, and can be yourself no matter what. Without the comfort of your parents, siblings, and other family members there, your home wouldn't be the same. And so, since I don't have that much of a strong connection or relatives here in Singapore, it's not my first home, America is.

2. My heroes are probably my mom and dad. My mom, like my dad, went from being poor to becoming this amazingly successful woman. Though her road to greatness wasn't always the smoothest, she still managed to become the captain of Goa's national table tennis team, earn a full scholarship to college, raise two twins with the help of my dad, work with multiple banks, start her own business, do a Ted talk, and now work for Johnson and Johnson. Her story truly inspires me and pushes me to do better everyday. My mom worked restlessly throughout her whole life to get to where she is today, and in that time she never lost slight of who she is, what she believes in, and always strived to do her best, no matter the hardships. Which is why I aspire to be like her and achieve the many things that she has in her lifetime that still holds so much more.


3. I am petrified by stray animals. Basically, stray dogs and cats make me want to cry. I believe that my fear of these stray animals started in India. When he was younger, my uncle was unfortunately bitten my a dog with rabies which forever negatively changed his life by making him disabled. Though he has remained the bubbly, happy, and positive man that I love, I still think that this event weighs him and his life down sometimes. He isn't able to achieve what we could've and he won't get 100% of what kind of a life he wanted. Ever since this incident, I've always been horrified by stray dogs and cats, and I hope that no one will ever have to experience what my uncle did. I'm most scared by the fact that these stray animals could have rabies, a detrimental disease, or even pounce on you and hurt you forever. I don't think that I'll get over this fear anytime soon, but I'm try and now I think that I'm improving slightly every time.

4. When somebody asks me what my passion is, I'm never really sure what to answer. Sometimes I believe that answering with something like singing or dancing would be really cliche, but honestly, I've been dancing since I was three years old and till this day, I've developed a real passion for it and traveling. Traveling is extremely fun for me because I get to experience different cultures, people, and places, which really fascinates me. And though, I've been dancing forever, I think that my love for dancing has really only started to developed and during my time at SAS. For example, before Singapore, I was an extremely shy little girl and didn't have the confidence to perform in front of others and share my ideas. However, with the help of my classmates, peers, and teachers like Mrs. Rodocker in middle school, I've grown to be comfortable in dancing in front of others and I am confident of what I can do. Like sports, playing an instrument, or drawing, there is always space to improve and as I'm still learning and growing every day, I'm thankful for what dancing has done for me and without it inspiring and engaging me daily, I wouldn't be able to express myself as I do now.


5. One of my all time favorite foods is chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. This ice cream is basically made up of a base of vanilla ice cream and then sprinkled on with chocolate chips and big chunks of sugary cookie dough. Since I've never really loved chocolate as a child and I was never open to the idea of eating chocolate, I only very recently started to eat this delicious ice cream. But now that I've tasted the sweet vanilla ice cream and cookie dough, I don't think that I'll ever be able to not eat it again. I mean, sure I have to dig out the chocolate chips before I eat the ice cream, but it's a small price I'll happily pay because of the great things that come with and from chocolate chip cookie dough. The time I most appreciate the particular ice cream is when I'm sitting at home in America around the TV, with my cousins and eating bowls of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream as we watch movies during the summer time. Whenever I eat this particular ice cream, it reminds me of my fun times in America with my family and makes me happy. It also urges me to try new things and step outside my comfort zone. When I think about it, I figure, if I can handle chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and just have to take out the chocolate bits, then I think that I can try other foods with a little bit of chocolate too.


6. A couple main logos that I use or are the most familiar with ar Nike, Apple, and Singapore American School (SAS), and Apple. Nike is a store that I use to get my dance clothes from, and as you read above, dancing is one of my passions so I'm extremely grateful for these shops. Adding onto that, these two companies remind me of my time in the U.S. as I shopped with my cousin and bonded over sports stuff, creating life lasting experiences. Secondly, SAS is a logo that resonates with me and is one that I respect because of how much I've grown as a person here. Sure, in the U.S. I have lots of family and great times to cherish forever, but in SAS I've made life long relationships and have grown so more much as a person. So whenever, I see the SAS logo, I will always remember what SAS has done for me and the great times I've had in this school. Lastly, Apple is a logo I see everyday, whether it be on my laptop, iphone, or even other apple products around the house, I'm very used to it. Apple is also a logo that I really like because I like the story of Apple as a company and the people behind it that fully transformed that world into what it is today.


7. I think that the picture at the very bottom defines me best as a person as it is a picture of my family, and to me as a person family is everything. Family is home and family is who and what will always be with you no matter what. Though this photo has an endless amount of meanings related to it, ranging from birthdays, to family get togethers, to even times that we play wiffle ball on the street or jump on the trampoline, I don't think that I would be able to make an object or pot that could truly sum up this photos. If I wanted to make an object that symbolizes my character I think that I would want to go with something that represents one of my passions... traveling. As briefly stated above, traveling is something that I love to do and especially when it's with my family and friends, it makes the trip a whole lot more special. Since I was recently in Turkey and during this break learnt a lot about its ancient pottery techniques and pieces, I would love to create a traditional turkish pot. This will sum up me in ways relating to family, travel, and creating new experiences and trying new things as I said I would after eating chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.

Lidded Slab Containers

My Lidded Slab Container

The background and shaping process: To the left are a couple pictures of my lidded slab container. Unlike most of my ceramic works, I would say that this pot happened to evolve each class as I learnt new techniques. At first, when I had just begun, I didn't really know what I wanted for my container, all I knew was that I wanted it to be original. And so I went along with it. I first started off this process with rolling out a piece of clay on the slab roller and then, fortunately or unfortunately, my slab turned out to be quite big, which is part of the reason why my container is large in size. After attaching a top, bottom, and finishing the sculpting of my container, I was a little lost. I didn't know what direction to go in for my stamps. One idea that I had was to use fish stamps and go with an ocean theme while another idea was to use the bamboo stamp and cover the whole pot with it, but all of these ideas had already been used, so I decided to go in a different direction and use circular stamps. These cone like figures were very interesting to me, and so using the biggest one I could, I created two circles along the middle of my container and imprinted wing like designs onto the sides of the circles. To help the designs stand out more, I used a carving tool and went over the textures as I increased them in depth. After doing this and to create a border along my pot, I used the back of a slip brush to poke holes along the top and bottom of my container. Once I was done creating the body of my lidded slab container, I decided to use extruded parts to construct my lid. Since I had used the extruder once before, I was pretty excited to have another go at it and now I was feeling pretty confident to play around and use it to its full extent. This time around, I extruded a couple pieces of clay. The first one I extruded was a sharp, square like piece while the second one was a thick, circular piece. Using these two types of extruded parts, I created an arch over the lid of the container, with two square and two circular pieces all connecting at a small ball of clay with lots of slip and scoring. And lastly, once my clay had hardened a little and everything was properly intact, I used a needle to cut out my lid which I made sure included multiple locking devices. After cutting my lid, slipping and scoring, and lots of shaping, I was done with this part of making my pot and it was ready to go into the kiln.


The glazing process: Once my pot came out of the kiln and it was ready to be glazed, I was sure that I wanted to use the solid, intriguing, and interesting high fire glazes. Though I knew what kind of a glaze I wanted to use, I wasn't really sure where to start. The class before, we had learnt about inlaid glazing and I was sure that I wanted to try that. So I dunked my pot and lid into blue root teal and started to inlay glaze. To do this, I had to get a damp sponge and start rubbing the glaze into the textures and creases of the pot, while still removing the layer of glaze accumulated on the not textured surface of the pot. After about fifteen minutes of this inlay glazing and after the glaze dried up a little, I wanted to add in another color to the mix, and so I dunked my whole pot and lid- inside and outside, into the smokey merlot glaze. Repeating the same process, I rubbed the smokey merlot glaze into the circular and wing like textures of my container and once it was dry, I dunked only the bottom of the pot into the Celadon glaze. The reason I only dunked the bottom of my container and not the whole thing, was because I wanted a contrast in colors. After all of this glazing was done, I put my pot and lid into the kiln, and hoped for the best possible outcome.

A Fuller View of My Container

The final product and my reaction: Overall, I'm happy with my lidded slab container and I really like how it came out to be. At first, I was a little worried that maybe my pot would've been to big and something would've happened to it, but I actually think that it's size helps it to stand out and it what makes it special. I also thought that I wouldn't have enough designs and textures to truly cover up the lots of space in my pot, but I like that not everything is so crowded and cluttered with hundred of designs and stamps. Lastly, I was a little worried that the glazes I chose wouldn't turn out that well together, but I like the contrast in colors and how the glazes work together to complement each other. I think that I've gained a lot from this experience as it was my first time using the technique of inlaid glazing and now that I've used it once, I will definitely want to use it again in my future ceramic forms. I also am very happy that I've got to experiment and handle the stamps that so well contributed to my piece, and I can't wait to use them again in another one of my pots. Without the great new techniques and tricks, I learnt in class throughout this process, I don't think I would've been able to produced a lidded slab container like the one I did, and I'm excited to make some more pieces similar to this!

Designer Cup Blog

My first idea for my designer cups were chip and dale cups with tops as plates to keep your cookies in. However, now that I've browsed around and looked through lots of photos, I've come up with the idea of a set of ocean themed mugs. I would like these two cups to be very similar in shape, size, and design, but different in color, because that is what will make them stand out. The colors that I think would best represent these pots and my idea are dark blue and red. I want to keep my colors simple and solid, so that the design and ideas can really come popping through. Also, if you look at a lot of children's cups the designs are very solid, clean, and sharp, so that is what I would like my mugs to be like. Some symbols or cut out pieces of clay that I would stick onto my mugs would be starfish, crabs, and anchors, which, again, go along with that ocean and tropics theme I wanted. To really show a clear idea of what I want my mugs to look like, I've included two photos of mugs that I aspire to produce. The photo of blue and red striped mugs are what I want my design to look like. However, the solid black mugs are what I want the shape of my mugs to be like. Combining these two pictures and types of mugs together I hope to get a design that ikea and I will both be proud of!

Pinch Pots COMPLETED

Before:
Below is a picture of my three pinch pots for this first unit in Ceramics. I wanted to have a record of my pots before they go into the kiln for a second time, just in case they broke or anything fell off. The pinch pot in the back is my pot with feet and it's feet consist of a coiled up piece of clay spiraled into a circle. The pot in front of my footed pinch pot, is my bellied out pot. Along with it being bellied out, I wanted to make my pot look like and beaker and that's why during glazing I will add lines and measurements to fulfil this design. My final pinch pot is organic and shaped like a tree. The top of the tree is a squared pot, and the bottom flows out into a stand covered with clay shavings resembling fallen leaves.

After:

Below are pictures of my three pinch pots for this first unit in Ceramics. Unfortunately, my footed pinch pot isn't done yet and that's why there are only two photos, however, it will be done soon and I'll update my blog post when it's done! Along with my pictures I'm just going to tell you a little bit about my vision for each pot, the techniques I used, and the glazing process each piece went under.

Bellied out pinch pot-- I constructed my bellied out pinch pot in the shape of a beaker, because I like science and thought that this would be a fun little pot! In the end, I decided to raku fire this pot, because of it's unique shape and I wanted it to get that look shiny and luminous feel that raku fired pots give off. While glazing this pot, I went all out. I first painted on multiple layers of lustrous copper, then a splattering of tarnished silver, copper patina, red speckle, and a blue raku fire glaze, and lastly, I painted on white coat at the top which really stood out in the end . Overall, I'm very happy with my pot and I like the contrast between the white and mix of different colors on the pot. 

Organic pinch pot-- My organic pinch pot is constructed of a square pot and a footing covered in clay shavings, that represent leaves. I only came up with the idea of a tree when I was done shaving the once thick sides of my square pot and realized that I had so many shavings left over and wanted to put them to good use. To glaze this pot, I decided to use high fire glazes and blend them all in while still inlaying colors into the texture of my pot. While glazing my pot, I started off with pouring on a layer of smokey merlot and then dipping the top of my pot in blue root teal, oatmeal, and celladon. I really love how this pot came out because of its unique mixture of colors and how the shavings are still visible, though everyone thought they wouldn't be.

Footed pinch pot-- My footed pinch pot is constructed of a wide circular pot that goes out at the top, has two extruded flat, rectangular parts as handles, and a coiled up piece of clay as it's foot. The reason I really like this pinch pot's footing is because it's unique and the fact that I was able to make it out of only an ordinary piece of coiled up clay. I also found it fun to experiment with the extruded parts and use a more flat and rectangular piece as a handle, compared to the common circular pieces. To glaze this pot I decided to only use low fire glazes and layer them onto a cool design. The first color I brushed on was a dusty rose from the teacher's pallet glazes. Then I layered on a speckled blue grey LJ glaze that went all around the middle of the pot. Lastly, to give the inside some color, I poured in the jewel brown LJ glaze that gave the pot a contrast in colors. Overall, and mainly glazing wise, I decided to use more bright glazes to decorate the pot as most of my other pinch pots are relatively dark. Though, this pinch pot didn't turn out to be my favorite, I still like how it's different compared to my others and now that I've experimented with low fire glazes I think that I will do better with them next time.

Blog Post #1- What is Beauty

CERAMICS 1- 2015 1ST SEMESTER

BLOG POST # 1- WHAT IS BEAUTY?

Ceramics Monthly May issue, 2009- p16
Article: Tulip Vases from the Twelve Designers ("Tulipa Vase") by Lotte van Laatum

As an artist and designer part of this exhibition, Lotte van Laatum specializes in the social-cultural and ecological aspects of design. Around 1600, Dutch diplomats brought the tulip, which has its origin in Central-Asia, from Turkey to the Netherlands. Since the tulip was very popular in Turkey as a symbol for life and fertility, it was therefore commonly used in textile patterns for the kaftans of the Sultans and as a pattern in different ceramic objects. After the tulip was introduced in The Netherlands, it became an extremely popular and favored flower, however, this tulip fever collapsed in 1637, leaving many people bankrupt. Today, the tulip is still the symbol of the The Netherlands and the vases in this collection are an expression of shared identity.

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Tulipa Vase, 14 in. (35cm) in height, earthenware, 2008-2009

Why these are Beautiful

I love both functional pottery and pottery used as a piece of decoration to enhance a setting. I appreciate the beauty of things that are usable in everyday life and the things that I can aesthetically admire. The reason I chose to write about this piece of pottery is because I love it's vibrant colors, design, and unique shape. I love that every time I look at this piece of pottery I see something new and beautiful in the very fine and intricate details. This piece of pottery, though not as functional as a dinner plate, can enhance a table or room, and bring some energy to the atmosphere. With this breathtaking piece of pottery, a mediocre table or a plain room can be easily enriched. Each part of this vase though organic and special, still is symmetric and clean. The vibrant use of colors and patterns is captivating enough to keep me wondering what the artist, Lotte van Laatum, was thinking when crafting this wonderful piece of art. This pottery will inspire buoyant conversations around the room, at a table, and will most definitely inspire me to try using similar designs, patters, colors, or shapes in my ceramic works.

Math 8+ End of Year Reflection

During the duration of this year, I've learnt so much in math, grown in many ways, and feel fully prepared for next year!

However, before this year, I had struggled with linear equations and their applied problems. I struggled with analyzing and putting together the pieces needed to come up with an equation or answer for the problem, because I didn't know what to look for or what information I could use. Being only introduced last year, I didn't yet how to properly and efficiently graph linear equations using the constant rate of change very well. However, during my our time spent on linear, inverse, exponential equations and Parabolas, my understanding of graphing and equations has grown so much. In fact, I can state- with full confidence- that I now understand how to manipulate and use parts of an equation, graph, or even word problem to my advantage when solving a problem. 

For the most part, as I grow older and move up in grades, in math class, we usually just build off our learning of math from Intermediate school and don't learn much new material. During 7th grade, if you were to have asked me about quadratic equations, factoring, the second way to writing a linear equation, or inequalities, my answer would be a straight up no. However, this year I've learnt so many new and unknown to me before, things in math. And with these new things did come challenges. Sometimes I sat there in math class super lost and confused, but after working harder and using my background knowledge on math I was able to put the pieces together, and answer my own question. 

With a lot of success in my learning this year, I still feel that I could grow to be stronger in a couple areas. Though I've improved so much compared to last year, I still think that I could improve on my ability to answer applied problems. I now know all about linear, inverse, and quadratic applied problems. However, one type of word problem I would like to strength my skills in is exponential applied problems. I understand and am pretty good at exponential applied problems in which there is exponential growth, but when it comes to exponential decay, I need to work on that a little. So my goal for this summer and next year is too be confident in my ability to solve exponential applied problems including exponential decay. I also need to take make sure that next year with the many tests that come, to read math problems thoroughly, before I answer them, and to look over my work in a more detailed way, before I hand in my test. Overall, I've really enjoyed math this year and can't believe how much I've learnt in such a short period of time. 

Independent Writing Project

For my independent writing project, Mackenzie and I created a video including poems and videos that educated viewers on our lives as twins. I'm the older twin and Mackenzie is the younger twin, so we thought that it would be cool to create a video with both our twins and all the other twins in eighth grade. As part of our project, we shared our experiences as twins in poetry form and also played videos and photos simultaneously. As a goal set at the very beginning of our independent writing project, we wanted to make sure to make this video informational and yet, sill funny. To make this happen, we included poems covering topics like: the competition between twins, the difference in each pair of twins' grades, and the different in each pair of twins' personalities. I hope you like it!

Social Studies Letter to the United Nations

Dear the United Nations,

We are two concerned and curious eighth grade students from the Singapore American School. This year in Social Studies we focused on everyday people and the role they play in this world, as part of the human race. Through our many studies and multiple guest speakers, we were introduced to the different points of view in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Patrick Daly, director of the movie David, was also able to share with us his opinion on the issue based off of his experiences in Israel. Through all this, what stuck with us most was the Palestinian Refugees problem. We wonder, why, even with it’s own organization working to fix it, is this problem not yet solved? Why, 40 years later, are the refugee camps growing instead of shrinking in size?

As one out of the 762,228 refugees in Syria, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) promised Sameetha a proper education for her children and food, water, and medical facilities for her family, but instead what did she get? She now lives in a crumbling makeshift city in Syria and has accepted the fact that she and her children will be stuck in this refugee poverty cycle for life. There are thousands of cries for help from Palestinian refugees who need a home, but is anyone really listening?

The UNRWA’s counterpart, The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has instead, during the 21st century, been able to find tens of millions of durable solutions for refugees around the world. We firmly believe that the UNRWA should adopt UNHCR’s principles. The UNRWA should be proactive in getting its refugee’s- if wanted- a citizenship for other countries. The UNRWA should make sure that the label of a “refugee” is not transferable throughout generations, as it is now. If the UNRWA does not adopt these principles, the amount of Palestinian refugees in the world will continue to grow, rapidly. Following these guidelines, there will also be a better chance for refugees, like Sameetha, to get out of the poverty cycle and live a stable life.

Beyond the fact that the UNRWA needs to become more proactive in this issue, the UNRWA also needs to be using its resources more wisely. The UN spends three times the amount money in funding the UNRWA compared to the UNHCR, and it also has 30 times the employee's. Although the UNRWA’s intentions were originally good, they have not been able to produce enough durable settlement solutions for these millions of Palestinian Refugees. With all the money given to the UNRWA from the UN, the UNRWA should be ahead of the UNHCR in solving this issue of refugees. However, on the contrary, it seems that the UNRWA is not using its resources to its’ greatest potential and has not been able to produce sagacious enough solutions.

We understand this refugee predicament is not as simple as it may look, but at the end of the day, all Palestinians just want to go back to their homes in Israel. They might refuse the thought of settling with a citizenship to any other country, however, during this conflict in the Middle East, a whole new generation of refugees have been born. A whole new generation who only know the life of a barely education, dehydrated, and unfed refugee that has never even been to Israel. the UNRWA should begin to find new places for these people to live, since it is clear they won’t be able to return to Israel within the foreseeable future. UNRWA should put its money and funding towards helping families who want a citizenship and are willing to rebuild their lives in a safer and more stable country somewhere else. They could help a family start a new life in, say, Australia. With opportunities like this, many Palestinian Refugees will likely jump on the bandwagon and slowly start to rebuild their lives in a secure, risk free, and more developed community.

If, even after that, refugees are still adamant against becoming a citizen to other countries, the UNRWA should put their fundings towards improving its refugee camps. Right now, refugees are living in worn out, unsafe, and dilapidated communities with little access to basic education and healthcare facilities. According to the UNRWA’s website, 479,519 refugees are currently given a basic education, 344,493 refugees have been granted a loan, and 3.1 million refugees have access to basic healthcare. However, this is nothing compared to the noted 6.5 million Palestinian Refugees in the world right now, keeping in mind that one in three worldwide refugees is Palestinian. At the moment, it seems to be as if the UNRWA is trying to keep these refugees as refugees in the poverty cycle for generations and generations to come. Yet, with so many Palestinian Refugees in this world right now, the UNRWA needs to use its money more sensibly and cautiously.

The UNRWA should not just believe in protecting Palestinians Refugees’ rights as refugees, but also their rights as human beings. By changing the UNRWA’s principles and by spending its funds more wisely, the refugee problem which has remained unsolved for forty years can finally have a solution. Everyone deserves a home, whether its in Israel, Palestine, or anywhere else. The United Nations, the UNRWA has the potential to give millions of people a home, they just need to realize that promise. We sincerely hope you consider our suggestions.

From concerned students,

Anya Devgan and Riley Britson

Annotated Bibliography:

1.

During the 30 minutes, after his speech in the auditorium, Patrick Daly, helped Riley and I to find our voices on this issue and what kind of a change we wanted to see for the Palestinian Refugees in the near future.

2.

"What We Do UNRWA." UNRWA. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

http://www.unrwa.org/what-we-do

This website was found on the SAS Library database and we knew we could trust it as it is the official website for the UNRWA. After reading about what an amazing organization the UNHCR is, this website helped to put things into perspective. We also used most of the statistics from the website in our piece as evidence and proof of the UNRWA’s work and achievements. This site also helped us to notice that the UNRWA is not necessarily a “bad” organization, it has helped a lot of people and to help the rest it just needs some guiding into the right direction. It also gave us a view on what kind of an organization the UNRWA sees itself as and its accomplishments that they are truly proud of.

3.

"UNHCR Statistical Yearbook 2013: Chapter 6 - Demographic and Location Data." UNHCR News. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

http://www.unhcr.org/54cf9a8f9.html

This website was accessed from the SAS Library Website’s database. This website was very helpful in the way that it gave us a very detailed insight into what the UNHCR is like as an organization compared to the UNRWA. We also really appreciate finding this website as it- through tons of graphs, tables, and stories- was able to give us a varied amount of information on refugees from around the world. This assisted us in realising that there are so many solutions possible to help the millions of Palestinian Refugees that are suffering. It also aided in realising that with the right principles and outlook on the problem, it’s possible for an organization like the UNRWA to reach and touch so many struggling refugees’ lives, which connected to part of our final solution.

4.

"Life in a Palestinian Refugee Camp." Life in a Palestinian Refugee Camp. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/ref-halsell.html

This article, found from the SAS Library Website’s database, was where we discovered the story of Sameetha and her family. After learning about all the facts and statistics involved in the Palestinian and Israeli conflict, it was interesting and very helpful to read about someone’s real life experiences as a Palestinian Refugee. This article included daily testimonials in what life as a regular, impoverished, Palestinian Refugee was like and how hard they had it. It also helped us to understand that through all the politics, numbers, and money, there is a real, growing, and hurting problem affecting millions of people. It doesn’t matter how old or how young, these millions of Palestinian Refugees are hurting and just barely scraping by, stuck in a never ending poverty cycle for generations to come.

5.

"Syria On Track To Become World's Largest Source Of Refugees." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/02/28/283991476/syria-on-track-to-become-worlds-largest-source-of-refugees

Being one of the very first we looked at, we accessed this article from the SAS Library Website’s database. Though there was a four minute long voice recording on the life of a Palestinian refugee in Syria, just looking at the picture at the beginning of the article, really put things into perspective. Since the article had a lot of facts and statistics, we decided to integrate it into our piece, helping to make our argument more powerful. This article also helped us to understand that though some people might not acknowledge this issue of Palestinian refugees as not big a problem as ISIS, there are still so many of these refugees living in crumbling and horrifically scaring settlements, that we should be ashamed.

6.

"Palestine-Israel Journal: The Palestinian Refugee Problem: A Possible Solution." Palestine-Israel Journal: The Palestinian Refugee Problem: A Possible Solution. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

http://www.pij.org/details.php?id=601

This article is similar to the one written above as a solution-based argument to the United Nations. So, we decided to use this piece as a kind of mentor text which gave us lots of important background information and examples of solutions. Originally, we had a lot of trouble figuring out what our solution to the very complex and tricky Palestinian Refugees conflict should be, we really appreciated finding this article. From reading about the proposed solutions and ways people have been trying to help, we began to change our solutions a bit, growing them to become, at the end of the day, plausible and reasonable resolutions.

7.

"The Most Practical Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." The Most Practical Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

http://www.factsandlogic.org/ad_135.html

This site really went in depth about the conflict and we were able to learn a lot from it. Similar to our’s, it talked all about the problem of UNRWA as an organization set aside only for Palestinian Refugees, and how it isn’t really solving any problems, circling back to that idea of unrealized promise. Being another exemplar that we looked up to, it had points similar to the ones we wanted to make in our letter to the United Nations, so we built off some of the ideas presented in this article.   

8.

"UN Photo Archive Tells Story of Palestinian Refugees." The Times of Israel. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2015.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-photo-archive-tells-story-of-palestinian-refugees/

We mostly used this website for its statistics and eye-opening photos. It is really amazing to see, through the lense of a camera and presented as a photo, the kind of life and horror millions of Palestinian refugees face in their day to day lives. This website really put everything into perspective, because when we scrolled down and read further into the article, we realized that it was so much more effective and powerful to instead of reading about it, actually see it. Compared to the still very important statistics, being able to actually see these photos, helped us to see the full picture.

100 meter sprint

Sorry for the video taping, my group member was confused on who she was videoing, so you can't really see me that well!

Illegal Drug Abuse Project

I was in London when this project was assigned, and Mr. Bildfell told me I didn't have to do it :)

Drug Abuse Public Service Announcement (PSA)

April 17th Assembly Performance

Here's a video to the April 17th peer council assembly performance by Mrs. R's seventh and eighth grade students. Unfortunately I wasn't able to perform in the eighth grade dance as I was in Malaysia attending the Malaysia Model United Nations Conference (MYMUN). Good job guys!

Alcohol Prezi

To learn more about the consequences, regulations, and causes of drinking everyone in my P.E. class had to make an educational Prezi. This Prezi includes a lot of useful information and real photos to give viewers a real insight of what drinking can do to you. Enjoy!

Unit 4 愚人节故事

我的好朋友叫 mary 姓 waters。她来自日本，可是他的爸爸要去新加坡工作。所以 mary 和他的家人要去新加坡。在新加坡 mary 要上新加坡日本学校。Mary 要去这个新的学校因为她的前校长说这个学校很好！Mary 十四岁，上八年纪。明年她去高中。mary 有很多的兄弟姐妹。她的妹妹是一个幼儿园的孩子，她的弟弟是一个小学生，上五年级。明年 mary 的弟弟需要去中学，他不喜欢去中学因为在中学他要做很多的作业。

从机场到 mary 的新家途中，她要去看看新加坡日本学校。在新加坡日本学校附近她看到一个老师。
她问老师：“你好老师你可以帮我吗？你可以给我介绍新加坡日本学校吗？”
老师说：“我不可以给你介绍学校因为我要去校长的办公室。我可以叫一个学生给你介绍学校。”
mary 说：“谢谢你！”

老师叫一个学生帮 mary，学生答应了。学生和 Mary 一起去看看学校。Mary 问学生她们可不可以去看看新加坡日本学校的设施。学生带 Mary 看看设施。学生说，“新加坡日本学校有一个传统。就是每一个新的学生都要穿着衣服从三楼跳进游泳池里。新加坡日本学校有五层楼。这座楼是很高的楼。” Mary 不喜欢上很多的楼梯可是如果她不听话，在学校她就没朋友，所以她不得不上楼。mary 不知道她可不可以坐电梯，所以她用楼梯上楼。

一 ...  二 ... 三 ... 跳！

Mary 从三楼跳进游泳池里。校长听到 mary 跳进游泳池的声音，他很生气，所以校长下楼去看。那学生快快的跑掉可是 Mary 还在那里。
校长说：“你不可以从三楼跳进游泳池！”
mary 说：“对不起。我的朋友说新的学生都要从三楼跳进游泳池。”
校长说：“你的朋友是谁？”
mary 说：“我不知道她名字因为我是新来的学生。对不起。”
校长说：“没关系。可是如果你从三楼跳进游泳池，你不可以上新加坡日本学校。”

History Alive! Project

My task is to bring a topic from an era that I have studied this past semester to life in a deep, relevant, informative, and engaging way.

I need to consider the use of images, words, recordings, text, and music, to tell the story of my topic. My organized final product will reflect my strong research, connect to modern day life in a relevant way, and include a comparison of perspectives. In short, I will craft a superb story.

Project Details What is the topic and thesis for your project? How did you learn or become interested in your topic? How did you research your topic? Why did you select this category? Exhibit? Performance? Documentary? How does your topic fit our unit theme (Civil War to Civil Rights: Protest & Perseverance)	1. Topic: Susan B. Anthony Thesis: Not only did Susan B. Anthony fight against all gender related stereotypes to have her voice heard in the United States, but also implemented her ideas into actions. 2. I had to click on a couple of topics to learn my final topic of Susan B. Anthony. I first went to women’s rights, then the women’s rights movement, and then the woman suffrage movement. Once I started learning about the woman suffrage movement I found out that Susan B. Anthony was a very influential person that helped fight for all women’s right to vote. And though Susan B. Anthony didn’t get what she was fighting for during the period of her lifetime, she was successful in ensuring women’s rights to vote in a couple of years due to the 19th amendment. 3. Using the databases given on the bookmark Riley got from Mr. Starker. The three main websites I used from the HS online databases, was GALE’S Menu Page, SIRS, and Discovery Education. The website that I found most helpful was GALE’S Menu Page. This site gave me so much information on Susan B. Anthony and to make things even better, I knew that I could trust these sources because they were from a reliable database found my Mr. Starker. I also really liked SIRS as it told me which sites were primary sources, which were secondary sources and gave me a better idea of the different sources available to me. Discovery Education gave me really amazing photos of Susan B. Anthony as primary sources. 4. I'm going to do an exhibit that covers the topic of Susan B. Anthony and only put in information that supports my thesis, which is: Not only did Susan B. Anthony fight against all gender related stereotypes to have her voice heard in the United States, but also implemented her ideas into actions. Along with my exhibit I want to give a my audience something to be interested in while I'm presenting my exhibit. I wanted to while presenting my information and educating my audience to interact with them. I will try to imitate the life of Susan B. Anthony and what she went through to be this amazing spokes person for mainly the women's suffrage movement. 5. Susan B. Anthony, throughout her lifetime, fought for civil rights and what she believed in. Whether it was fighting against slavery, fighting to reduce the consumption and sell of alcohol in the U.S., or even fighting to give all women the right to be politically active and able to vote. No one gave her what she wanted on a silver platter, she had to protest against the set rules and regulations, protest against the stereotypes, and persevere through the tough times.
Logistics of the Project: Where will notes/work be stored? How will resources used be tracked and separated into primary and secondary sources? How will time in class and outside of class be best utilized? If you’re working with a partner, which parts of the project are assigned to which person- How is the work being split?	1. The notes will be stored on the document titled “History Alive Research". 2. On a separate document titled “Bibliography” I will store all my sources. The sources will be divided into primary sources or secondary sources and within that, photos or websites. This information will also be posted on the same History Alive Research document mentioned above. 3. I will write all of my script work and find all my pictures during class time and put together my exhibit at home. I will also write my 500 word story or information pieces during my class time. 4. I’m not working with a partner. *** All of my documents, important work, and information will be stored on a document title “History Alive! Master Doc”. This document is placed in my shared folder under a folder called “History Alive! Project”.