Origami Installation

I created my cranes out of paper. I used instructions to make the first few, but I got the hang of it and did the rest myself.  As a class, we made several cranes. We then came up with the idea to hang the cranes in the lobby of the school to create one large installation. We lined the cranes up in two different "V" shapes by order of size. This lesson taught us how to work as a team and put all of our ideas into one large work of art. A process is the steps taken to make a product.

Tray and Cup/Bowl

I created a cup using hump molds. I thought the process was frustrating because the clay would not stay in the shape that I wanted. I experimented with different forms and had to start over quite a few times. I did not use the underglaze on my piece. The product of my piece was not good because it broke in the kiln. It was not a successful project for me.  If I could change something it would be making the cup thicker so it would not break.

Dwelling

For this project I crocheted a birds nest using yarn. This project was very challenging because I had never crocheted before this. I made a few practice ones before making the final one. The yarn was difficult to use because it had thin strands coming off of it (I chose this yarn for this reason because it made it look more realistic). I successfully created the whole nest, with few mistakes (you can't even see them). The bottom of the nest was challenging, but somehow I did it.

"Between the Folds" Documentary

I enjoyed this documentary. It is about artists and scientists from MIT and NASA. They have devoted their lives to the unlikely medium of modern origami. The film follows them through their determination to reinterpret the world in paper. They show a strong passion towards art, form, expressiveness, creativity and meaning. I expected to be introduced to a different side of origami that I had never seen before. What I was unprepared for was how far beyond "beauty" and "technique" that this art can take us. This film discovered a deeper meaning in the art and science of folding paper. Each artist approached their work with a passion and clarity that lead to greater discovery. The film is a perfect balance of informative storytelling and artistic inspiration.

Vessel

A challenge that I faced during this project was coming up with the initial idea. I had to start over three or four times because my original idea kept falling apart. Another challenge that I overcame was putting the glaze on the piece. It was difficult for me because of the shape of  the bowl. The entire bowl turned out to be a success. My goal was to make it look like a sun or sunflower and it does. In the future, I would put more coats of glaze on it before firing it so that the color looks better. My piece is a vessel because it is a bowl. It can hold various items ranging from candy to jewelry. It is a functioning vessel because it can be used.o

Molds

I thought that the mold process was fun and easy. I was a little anxious that it wouldn't turn out looking right since it was my first time. In the end, my piece turned out looking pretty good so I think that this process was a success. My baby hand looks almost exactly like the mold that I made it out of. 

Vessel Mini Lesson - Pit Fired Piece

I started by cutting out a flat cup shape in the clay. I then took the two ends and stuck them together to make the cup shape. I cut out a circular shape for the bottom. For the shape at the top, I folded the clay over about every half-inch. This gave it a design at the top so that it doesn't just look like a normal boring cup. After it being in the kiln, I prepped it for by wrapping it in aluminum foil and adding salt, paper towels, and even some cheerios. This is a style of work I am drawn to because it was fun to do and exciting to see how it would turn out in the end. I also really liked this project because everyone's piece was unique.

Relief (Mini Pieces)

Paper Relief

I had trouble coming up with an idea for this one, but it ended up looking kind of like an eye. It was my least favorite of the three.

Clay Tile Relief

This one was my favorite of the three. I had already done something like it when I took Art 1, so I had a better idea of what I was going to do. I decided to do a flower/sun type thing. I enjoyed putting the glaze on it which really made it stand out.

Cardboard Relief

I decided to do flowers for this one too. I thought this was a really cool idea, I would have never thought of doing this with cardboard but I really enjoyed it. 

Relief (Main Piece)

For my main relief piece, I decided to use cardboard. I first sketched out the beach with the palm trees and the sun. Then, I transferred it over to the cardboard. I left the bigger palm tree alone and cut the top layer of the smaller palm tree so that it looked like it was in the back ground. For the sky, I cut the top two layers away so that only the last layer was left. I left the sun alone. Then, I just painted everything and decided I was going to paint the sky as a sunset. I found the different layers of this piece to be successful. The cardboard gives it texture. Next time, I would put the sun in the center of the sky so that it looked like a more realistic sunset. I was inspired to make this piece because I knew the texture of the cardboard would make the trunks of the palm trees and the water look cool. 

Inspired Artist

These are delicate, layered paper sculptures of birds by Canadian artist, Calvin Nicholls. He works with paper and has been featured in many magazines like Sommerset Studio Magazine and has won various awards like the Society of Animal Artists Award of Excellence. His personal website is http://www.calvinnicholls.com/. His work inspired me because of the amount of detail each one consists of. Iit draws me in because the birds look incredibly realistic. You can see the hair on each one. 

Sytrogami

This project was successful because I was able to create a sculpture out of Styrofoam. It only took me two Styrofoam cups to create this. I did not need to use glue for this project. I was able to get all of the Styrofoam pieces to fit together to create this sculpture.