A weekend visit to Fremantle Art Centre Gallery formed the basis of my inspiration for my final artwork for my ceramics art class. I was moved by some of the pieces on display in the cabinets. Work by well-renowned artist Sandra Black was also featured in the exhibition which further influenced my ideas for my final work. Crackling glaze, defined thin curves, and spouted edges were all the features I loved the most and tried to incorporate into my design.

However, as all projects do, not everything went to plan. When creating all of my pots, testers included, what I had envisioned was not always how the final product ended up. For example, initially, the crackling glaze that formed on my first pot was an unexpected however welcomed mistake. I was not intending for the glaze to crack and had accidentally over coated it however in the end it only enhanced the pot further and made it much more interesting to look at. For another tester pot, I wanted an ombre type look however I couldn’t get the paint to mix the way I want so I ended up just putting some paint on randomly. I wasn’t happy with it until I decided to clean it up the next day with a damp sponge. Wearing down the paint with the sponge left an interesting random splattered paint type look that I am ecstatic with.

For my final pots, I had originally planned to have three however time was a struggle and I only ended up making two, however, I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out. Another issue I faced with my final artwork was the size, it was very difficult to know how big your art would be at the beginning. My second pot was initially very oversized. It was too thick and much too tall to the point where I was unable to mold the clay. Eventually, I decided to cut down the pot by about two-thirds, making it much smaller and easier to manipulate, and I’m so glad that I did. This solution meant that my second pot not only turned out so much better than I could have hoped when it was too tall but it ended by fitting the aesthetic of my previous pot much better.

Time was a major influence in this project. It meant having to prioritize quality over quantity in many cases for myself. However, a little bit of time pressure is always healthy for finishing a project well which I believe applies to my work.

Overall, I am very pleased with my artwork and was able to meet my targets throughout the project. I would have loved to make a third piece, however, I love the simplicity of my current pair and would rather the quality over quantity. And while my pieces were inspired by those I saw that weekend in Fremantle Art Centre, they are my own and I am very proud of them.