Artist Statement

As I expand my horizons in shape and form, I thought it would be interesting to throw some altered cups this trimester.  This specific project gave me the chance to work with matching pieces together while varying the size of each individual piece.  I really wanted to work on technique here and used the different sizes of the same cup shape to show it - Contrasting patterns of two horizontal lines with symmetrical thickness, created by applying thin strips of tape before glazing gives the pieces contrast on the same cup form.  The white clay color from the lines of tape seemed perfect to apply a darker glaze to create more contrast in the pieces.

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This piece plays with the elements of Line and Form brought out by the horizontal lines running around the cups - the contrast between rough lines and smooth glaze around the rounding shape of the cups body. The Pattern and Repetition of the cups are brought out using those same rough lines making it a focal point both to the eye and the touch.

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This project allowed me to learn how to manage using tape to create a unique glazing technique.  The tape was successful in keeping the glaze from getting on sections on the pieces but there were still some casualties. Some of the glaze came off around where the tape was placed when peeling it off so the lines are not as clean cut as I hoped. Next time I will have to layer on the glaze a little thinner to help with the peeling issue I’ve encountered. While it is frustrating to have the glaze not work as planned, it definitely gave me the opportunity to learn and adapt my vision to a more rustic look before going on to larger and more time consuming pieces!

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The process was as follows:

  - Wedge the clay and roll into three soft-ball sized spheres
  - Center sphere on wheel and use thumbs to pull up to create mug form
  - Trim away skirt clay with wooden rib tool
  - Cut away from wheel with wire cutter
  - Place on wooden bat and wait to dry turning leather hard
  - Trim away excess clay with ribbon tool to finalize shape
  - Repeat for all three mugs
  - Place in the kiln and Bisque-fire
  - Apply thin tape strips around the outside of bisque fired mugs
  - Glaze with brushes for color
  - Peel off tape to reveal pattern
  - Place in kiln and Glaze fire to finish hardening the glaze