May

My organic shape is this mountain with a river and the lid is supposed to sit flush. 

The first idea for my final was a mold over this full plate, but the small bowl in the middle was going to be hard to do and my piece kept cracking. 

I relied on the mold for the shape of my plate, and it looks good on the inside. When I made this, it molded underneath the clay and onto the board. If I did a mold like this again, it would be better to do a plastic bag stretched ontop of the mold so it can come out easily and be dried. 

When I created my teapot I made a small ball, cut the lid off and hollowed it. I wish I left it smaller, but the shape was very not uniform when it was first made. 

I wish I had made a more uniform slab of clay before draping it over the mold, but some of the edges made the piece look better. 

I like using glaze as shading, but I've never tried it before with food edges. I used a medium brown for the base, and dark brown for the edges and chocolate spots. With a fan brush,  I splattered glaze on the bottom of the piece in one layer and am hoping it will add dimension.

I wish I had started my final sooner, and was able to finish it, but I like the feet with the chocolate chips and i added shading with a darker glaze around the rim. A better idea would be to add another foot for stability, and attach the feet when the plate is more damp. I used about 1/8 inch of clay for the plate, and it seems stable but thin.

I created this piece on a wheel with clay mixed with pink and blue glaze, intending for it to be a spoon rest with an interesting foot but I cut the piece in half to make shelves. 

Clear glazed organic shape piece

I cut this piece in half to make shelves, but left them for too long and they dried out. I wanted to make a spoon rest for my mom and liked the piece before, but the glaze in the clay did not show as brightly as I thought it would. 

I added the bite mark just from an idea, and I think it looks nice. 

I wish I had made the handle smaller and more suited to my hand, but my idea was to have a handle on the side that is easy to hold. 

The lid to my teapot doesn't fit well since I cut it before expanding the ball of clay, and the handle is quite thick, but the spout is functional. Once this is out of the kiln, I want to clear glaze the terracotta. I wanted to carve designs into my teapot but it was made quickly and then left to dry on the kiln shelf so it was too dry for more carving.