Fun with Ceramics!

A couple weeks ago I helped out with a kid's academic camp here at the university I attend.  On that day they were going over to do some ceramics with one of our art professors, and I got to play around with it too!  I have always wanted to take Ceramics but it has never really fit in my schedule or been something I needed credits from, so this was perfect!

We made what the professor called, "pinch pots."  We started with a ball of clay about the size of a small fist, poked a hole in the center with our fingers and then literally pinched the sides until they were in the shape we wanted.

I was pleased with the shape that mine ended up being, but I thought it was just to plain.  So, I molded some petals and made a flower that I attached to the side.  And then I finished it off by carving my first initial into the bottom on the inside.

Then on Tuesday we went back to the ceramics studio to glaze our creations after they had dried and been fired.  I choose "neon green" for the bulk of my pot.  I was going to try to not get any green on my flower and glaze it a different color, but getting in between the crevices was impossible.  So the whole thing ended up green, but then I got the idea to just glaze another color ("cantaloupe") over the green on the petals.

And I love how it turned out!  Gotta love happy accidents!