I made these projects over
the course of my second semester, Advanced Ceramics class. 
The theme of my projects is Jesse’s Farm, because Jesse was my
inspiration to take ceramics and the Guyer Farm is my second home. 
I also chose this because it directly relates to ceramics in that the
clay comes from nature and farms are based upon nature. 
To make these projects I had to use many different techniques including
centering, footing, choking, and my own imagination to decide how my projects
should look.

     Each project that I have
created portrays my theme in one way or another but the projects that I have
chosen to display with my theme project are my set of three, choice, theme
choice, wheel and hand, and my lidded projects. Through each of their looks and glazes,
a different aspect of farm life is shown. 
For my set of three, I used red clay with clear glaze which turned out to
be a brownish color, representing dirt, the basis of a farm. 
My choice is glazed horizontally, half clear and half blue which give the
appearance of the sky meeting the pond at Jesse’s house. 
This same technique was used for my hand and wheel project, but instead
glazed vertically. The unevenness of the glazing gives it a fuzzy appearance,
which reminds a person of a ripple of water. My final project is my lidded project,
which is glazed black. This project represents the darkness of night when we are
at the farm with no lights around us.  
 
       To make these
projects, I had to not only employ the skills that I learned in beginner
ceramics, but add new skills that I gained in Advanced. 
I, of course, had to be able to center, pull up, choke, and foot but also
had to learn other techniques in order to make better and more difficult
projects.  To make a plate, I had
to learn how to pull directly out, instead of up and I also had to learn to make
lids for many of my projects. 
Another skill that I needed was the ability to visualize how to make my
projects relate to the theme, both in color and appearance. 
It was also very important for me to learn how to make good handles and
other things that I needed to add on to my projects and attach them so that they
would remain on and look good. 
Although there are probably many other techniques that I used, these are
a few of the main ones that I needed throughout my time in
ceramics.

     The decision that I made in
regards to my projects are important because they must convey to others the
feelings that I am trying to create. 
Because of this, color choice for my projects was extremely
important. The colors had to give
the feeling of farm life. 
Therefore, I had to pick natural colors.  It is difficult to understand the
feelings that I have when I am at the farm which made it that much more
difficult to produce the feelings that I wanted others to feel from them.  By using blues, greens, and browns for
the majority of my projects, I created a feeling of nature and natural beauty.
Nature is what makes a farm a farm which is why it was so important for me to
include many of the colors of nature.

     Creating a project in
ceramics is fairly simple.  Having
the ability to create a certain feeling or send a message through your projects
is the hard part.  I believe that
this was the most important thing that I learned in Ceramics because it is
something that can translate to so many other things areas of my life. The use of colors as well as shape, are key to displaying a feeling or in my case, the theme of farm life. 
The skills that I have learned in ceramics are skills that I will be able
to use throughout my life and I have Ms. Heideman to thank for that!

I made these projects over the course of my
second semester, Advanced Ceramics class. 
The theme for my projects is Nature because that is schematically, how
they relate to one another.  I also
chose this because it directly relates to ceramics in that the clay comes from
nature, therefore the basis of ceramics is nature. 
To make these projects I had to use many different techniques including
centering, footing, choking, and my own imagination to decide how my projects
should look.
    Each project that I have created portrays my theme in one way or another
but the projects that I have chosen to correlate with my theme project are my
set of three, choice, theme choice, wheel and hand, and my lidded projects.  Through each of their looks, and
glazes, a different aspect of Nature is shown.  For my set of three, I used red clay
and glazed clear which turned out to be a brownish color, representing dirt, the
basis of nature.  My choice is
glazed horizontally, half clear and half blue which gives it the appearance of
the sky meeting the ocean.  This
same technique was used for my hand and wheel project, but instead glazed
vertically. The unevenness of the glazing gives it a fuzzy line, just as the
ocean does not cut straight across to meet the sky. 
My next choice is my theme choice, which is glazed black and white. This project represents many things,
including yin and yang or the comparison of light versus dark. 
This too, can translate to the contrast between night and day.  
      To make these projects, I had to not only employ the skills that I
learned in beginning ceramics, but add new skills that I gained in
Advanced.  I, of course, had to be
able to center, pull up, choke, and foot but also had to learn other techniques
in order to make better and more difficult projects. 
To make a plate, I had to learn how to pull directly out, instead of up
and I also had to learn to make lids for a good portion of my projects.  Another skill that I needed was the
ability to visualize how to make my projects relate to the theme, both in color
and appearance.  It was also very
important for me to learn how to make good handles and other things that I
needed to add on to my projects and be able to put them on so that they would
remain on and look good.  Although
there are probably many other techniques that I used, these are a few of the
main ones that I needed throughout my time in
ceramics.
The decision that I made in regards to my projects are important because
they must convey to others the feelings that I am trying to create in them.  Because of this, color choice for my
projects was extremely important.

For my theme essay, I have decided on nature.  This makes sense becuase most of my projects are glazed with colors found in nature.  Here is my outline: 
Paragraph one: I made these projects second semester in Ms Heideman's ceramics class.  I chose a theme of nature due to the colors I used for glazing.
Paragraph 2: List theme projects and how they are related to theme
Paragraph 3: HOw: choking, lid making, shaping the bottom while footing, glazing
Paragraph 4: My choices of glaze and the looks of my projects all come together to create a cohesive theme, displaying what I have learned in ceramics for the past year.
Paragraph 5: Talk about hwa

As of now, I have decided to go with the theme of Colors Found in Nature.  I have not completely settled on this decision but it seems to be my most likely choice at this point.