Woven Bowl Reflection

Woven Bowl Blog Post
Construction
Photo 1: Entire piece
Photo 2: Rim/finish	Photo 3: Detail
Reflection: Describe what you enjoyed about the weaving technique. I enjoyed the freedom we had in coming up with a design and the state of mind the weaving technique put me in. During this class, I could concentrate on the clay strips and coils, forgetting all other aspects of school that stress me out. Although complicated and intricate, the weaving technique was very satisfying and calming. What did you find difficult in the construction process and why? For my basket, I wove strips in the center and then extended my pattern into one made by pairs of coils. I found it difficult to weave the paired coils during the construction process because they dried easily and would rip as I worked. Because of this, I either had to replace the broken coils, which required me to restart a lot of my work, or fix the mistake by squishing the two ends together without totally destroying the coil's structure. Also, as a perfectionist, I found it difficult to center my first strip without a ruler and it took me a while to trust my own judgement.
Glaze Record
Weave: Albany Slip Brown (PC-32) Finish: Blue Rutile (PC-20) Detail: True Celadon (PC-40) and Deep Firebrick (PC-59)
Post fire glaze photo	Post fire glaze photo
Final Reflection
Describe your thoughts regarding the final results of your piece: Even though I wanted to scrap my bowl when I first finished the weave because of some slight imperfections, I am surprisingly happy with my final result. I like that my rose and leaves have features such as folds in the flower and lines in the leaves that make them look realistic. Also, I am happy with how my rim came out. At first, I was very nervous that my rim would be choppy and not look as one smooth design because I had to mesh together two twisted square coils while not compromising their structure. But, in the end the details and folds in the clay came out well. Which areas do you think you need more practice? I think I need more practice in choosing the right combination of glazes. When I took ceramics 1 during my freshman year, I remember not paying attention to the glazes I chose and not placing enough importances on parts of the process after construction. In fact, I did not even know the difference between high fire and low fire glazes. Now, I realize there is a lot of value in choosing the right glazes and that the colors I choose can really transform the total outcome of my piece. What would you change about your design? I would reconsider the combination of glazes I used for my piece, or more specifically my details, because I think that there could be a better contrast. I had trouble finding bright red for my rose detail, so I would look harder for another glaze (maybe one that fires white) or rethink my use of high fire glazes. I would also choose a deeper color for the leaf detail, because it lacks contrast with the rim of my bowl. Perhaps I would use the Dark Green (PC-45) glaze. What areas of the project do you think you needed more clarification or instruction and why? I think that I could have used more instruction on glazes. Coming from ceramics 1 in my freshman year, I did not know or remember much about glazes: I forgot the difference between high fire and low fire glazes,  an I wasn't too sure about the difference in finishes or which combinations would go together. In fact, the class after constructing my bowl, I took around half the class to decide which glazes to use. So, maybe a short review lesson on glazes and some examples of how different types of glazes fire would be useful in giving students like me a refresher and a starting point for them to consider what glazes they should use for their bowls.