This week my mask came out of the kiln. I was very thankful that the mask came out in good condition. I only have one small crack that I can hopefully cover up with some glaze. I also started painting the glaze onto the mask. I've been taking my time painting in small areas so hopefully I'll finish painting by next week.
This week I finished my African mask. I finalized the mask by smoothing out some areas and adding texture/details to other areas. To make sure the clay pieces that I added on will stay on, I blended the sides down to the mask using the top of a fork. I also used the fork prongs to poke holes in the back of the masks so it hopefully won't explode in the kiln. I'm still indecisive on what colors to use...
This week I worked on adding detail and relief to my African mask. I added on the lips, the under eye areas, and the middle downward triangle by scoring and slipping. I decided to make the lips extra big because most African masks have exaggerated facial features. I also added some designs using a needle tool and a bobby pin.
This week I began sculpting my African mask with clay. The shape of the mask is oval and so far only had eyebrows and a nose. I'm doing my best to make all the facial features look exaggerated like a real African mask. I'm really excited to continue working on this.
On Friday I also made a fabric bowl for the silent auction. Even though the bowl is for a good cause, I dreaded making it. the fabric was very thick and the glue was not cooperating. This is what my pit fire piece looks like before being put in the pit fire. I used the terracig to paint on different designs and paint certain sections. I liked the placement of the terracig on the piece, however I'm not liking the shape/ condition of my piece. I had plans on making a roof type thing for the top of my piece but I was pressed for time and was not able to complete that part. I also think that I made the piece too big and average looking. I wish I had made a smaller, more creative shaped piece. The condition of my piece worries me. The cracks in the corners make me nervous that the piece will just break and fall apart. (I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.)
This week I used the metal spoon to smooth and shine my pit fire piece. After allowing my piece to dry up, I painted certain sections of it with terracig. I actually had a lot of difficultly with this because while using the terracig, I forgot that the consistency was so liquidy. The terracig actually dripped in a straight line, but I was able to make that into a consistent design for my piece.
This week I also came up with some African masks ideas for my next project. The pictures below are some masks that I might use as inspiration for my own mask. Village BowlSo this week my bowl was brought out of the glaze kiln. I'm so impressed on how vibrate and rich the colors turned out. People in class even told me that they would buy it, (I would never sell my bowl). But overall I really love how the bowl turned out and I'm glad that I used the colors and designs that I did. All of these things really added to the cultural vibe of the bowl, which was my overall goal.
In addition to my bowl I made a small coaster-like object to go underneath of it. I'm not sure if this piece has been fired yet. Once it has been fired I will make a final decision on whether to include it or not. This week I finished painting the glaze onto my bowl. This was probably the most time consuming part of the whole project. In order for me to get into the small crevices of the different designs I had to use a super small paint brush with a super steady hand. Keeping my hand steady and staying within the lines/designs was by far the hardest part of painting. For example, it was very frustrating when I accidently got black glaze where I wanted the clear glaze to go. I also painted the circles on the outside of the bowl a solid purple color (looks pink in these pictures). Thankfully I had no problem painting this part of the bowl.
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