Artist Statement

As I expand my horizons in shape and form, I thought it would be interesting to throw some different types of pottery this trimester.  This specific project gave me the chance to try something different - not a vase, not a pot, and not a jar. I wanted to make something for my Dad who is an Astrophysicist and loves space.  I thought about how to use the form of this project to allow light to project out in shapes of outer space. It seemed like an easy jump to a candle holder to make it all work.  I used a smaller tier base to put the candle in and a broader upper section where the shapes could be cut out and formed.  The darker glaze has a shimmering effect that plays off the space theme well!

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This piece focuses almost solely on the elements of Shape brought out by the cutouts of stars, spaceships, and moons.  The Emphasis of the jar is clearly on these cutouts and makes it easy to forget the rest of the Form which brings out certain Variety with the narrower and wider tiers that bring the piece together.

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This piece was pretty straightforward from a design perspective.  I knew what I wanted to accomplish and the construction of the form had no issues.  There was however a bit of a hang-up on the glaze used.  I was actually going for more of a gold color but looks like I either didn't get the mix exactly right or didn't put enough on.  I will be getting some additional insights from Mr. Manders to help avoid this issue in future projects.  It is a good thing that it came out darker since I can say that it was meant to be the blackness of space!  

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The process was as follows:

  - Wedge one tennis ball sized ball of stoneware clay
  - Throw 1 cylinder on the wheel
  - Use your fingers and a sponge to widen out the base
  - Make the opening wider than the base
  - Use thumbs to form a lip in the middle of the cylinder (creating a goblet form)
  - Trim skirt clay away with a wooden rib tool
  - Smooth out the surface of the goblet with a sponge
  - Use a wire cutter to remove the goblet from the wooden bat
  - Let stand to dry slightly leather hard
  - Cut out stars, a rocket ship, a UFO, and a comet with a needle tool to create gaps for

     light to shine through
  - Use a ribbon trimmer to create a foot ring
  - Let stand to dry leather hard
  - Bisque fire the light
  - Use glaze to finish
  - Glaze fire it for completion