This semester, we spent a great deal of time on pottery and making clay sculptures. I learned a great deal from making three pottery pieces. All of my pieces were created by hand using only a pin tool and a sponge. The three pieces I made were an ashtray and two feet that I will be using for bookends. I will now go into the process I used in creating each piece.
             First, I created my ashtray. I decided to make this ashtray because it was a simple way to ease into pottery. I first took a large slab of clay and rolled it out. I used the three-eighth sticks to ensure that my clay would be thick enough for its eventual firing in the kiln. I then took the pin tool and traced a circle from a medium-sized bowl. Next, I took a smaller bowl and traced another circle inside the bigger one. With the extra clay that was from the difference in size, I made a rim for my ashtray. I used the slip and score method to attach the rim and it worked quite well. The ashtray was then left out to dry for a few days. It was fired and I am in the process of glazing it.
             My second and third pieces were a pair of feet that I wanted to use for bookends for my DVD collection. This idea came to me out the blue when I was playing with the clay and one-piece began to resemble a foot. In seeing this I began to mold it more and more when I eventually ended up with what looked like a small child's foot. I then took another large chunk of clay and had to duplicate the shape that I had stumbled upon by accident. I eventually was able to roll and press out a similar foot to the other one. I used a pin tool to create the toes by simply cutting them out of the end of the foot. I then took a regular pen and dug holes in the tops of the feet right above where the ankle is. I did this to ensure that the feet had room for air to escape so they would not explode in the kiln. They were then dried and fired and I am in the process of firing them. Pottery is...