For my final sculpture project I decided to go all out! I decided to make a large (4'x4') mosaic table top for my patio table. I broke many plates and glued many pieces of china to create this mosaic. It was a big job but now I am glad I did it. It looks so nice compared to the plywood top it had previously. I am going to try to stain the grout darker with some acrylic paint. I will then seal the grout and paint the edge of the table. The piece does add a lot of beauty to my garden.
Thanks to Jamie my sculpture instructor for allowing me to create projects that enhance my home and my life.

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I have been saving chipped and broken plates for awhile because I wanted to make a mosaic table top. So for  my sculpture class project I chose to make a mosaic top for a plant stand.  I found the project fun and challenging. After breaking the plates with a tile nipper I had to arrange the pieces like a puzzle (pieces that did not fit together!). Then I placed grout between the china pieces. This piece now sits on my front porch between two white wicker chairs. The mosaic table top has added a nice touch  to my porch.

This is my butterfly on the rock sculpture. I carved the rock shape and the butterfly out of plaster of Paris. I used a hammer and chisel to create the rock formation. And to create the butterfly I used a small butter knife to carve out the shape.

I liked creating this project because I knew it was something I was going to keep. It now resides in my back yard. The birds have already christened it, but that just helped to make it look more natural!

This is my sculpture of Fran, a model who came to model for our sculpture class. I found this project very challenging for many reasons. First I had never sculpted a person's head before or observed a real breathing person to portray their likeness in 3-D. It was difficult to see every little detail, I think it is the details that make or break the piece. I felt my sculpture did resemble Fran but not as well as I would have liked it to. I know this project helped me to observe details more carefully.

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Sculpture

This is a shelf that I made from plaster of Paris. I used a plastic container for the original shape. I chiseled away a portion, then carved the design. The tools I used for this project was a rubber mallet, a chisel and a butter knife. The plaster was soft so it was easy to carve.

Mold

I made these bowls using a mold. I created a mold using a plastic ice cream bucket, a plastic yogurt container and some plaster of Paris. I mixed up the plaster in the ice cream bucket, I placed the yogurt into the plaster to create the actual mold. I held the yogurt container in the mold until the plaster started to set up then I removed the yogurt container. After the mold had dried I added slip to the mold. I let the slip dry until it was about of a quarter of inch thick then I poured it out. From that mold I created three different bowls and decorated them. I also made a mold from a soap mold that I had. This was a fun project.

Final Project - teapot

My final project is not a dainty bone china teapot. I can say I have a greater appreciation for the artisans who create beautiful fine china. I collect teapots, the pretty ones that is. Anyway I will chalk this up as experience. I did like working with clay, and after a lot of experience I think I could create a nice teapot.

Ceramic Hand

I fashioned my hand to look as realistic as I possibly could. The hardest part was getting the hand, palm and thumb to look convincing. That took a long time. After creating the hand and thumb I attached the fingers, bracelet and ring. I wanted to incorporate into the piece a personal meaning. So, to do that I engraved a cross into the bracelet to represent my faith. Also, I added the ring to symbolize my marriage commitment.

Rockin' Robin Animation

This is my first attempt at animation! This project was a very detailed process. First I drew the bird in many different positions which made the bird move. For instance, just to get the bird to kick his leg behind him and put it back down again that took eight different drawings. After I finished all the drawings, I then placed the drawings into a program where I could add the music "Rockin' Robin".  I enjoyed working on this project.

Functional Ceramic Pieces

Here are my first ceramic pieces! In the design of my pieces I used three different techniques. I used the pinch technique in the scalloped oval dish. The snowman box is made using the slab technique, where I rolled out the clay then I cut out a top, bottom and four side to create the shape. In the pie shaped dish I used the coil technique. I found the coil technique to be the most difficult simply because I wanted the sides to be smooth and to get that look I had to work hard to work out the round coil shapes. Overall this was a very fun project and rewarding.