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Wednesday 9 March 2011

Tomorrow morning is fast approaching !

So 10am tomorrow morning is the deadline, so I've been very busy finishing things off. Last evening was spent turning my thumbnail photos, of the work, stage by stage into a record of my progress in my sketchbook, annotating as i went. It was quite a satisfying process and it made me reallies just how much work I've done, and how much i have learnt.

Yesterday I worked on my case study illustrating the process of planning and running an art workshop for primary school children. I had thought I would be a big task but it turned out to be quite a straightforward process once i got to grips with it and was shown some example's of layouts. Today I spent the majority of my time fleshing it out the text with the information I had collected and adding the photos that accompanied the work, as well as working out the layout so that it showed logical progression throughout the project.

The next job was compiling my portfolio which was far simpler this time round compared to the last project  where I had hundreds of fabric samples to mount up. This time it was as straight forward as deciding on the order of the photos including my various ceramic vessels, tiles and the mock ups of my surface patterns put into context as gift wrapping cards and tags.

I had collected a large amount of research and have complied it into a document at the end of my folio. As usual the amount of research i actually did was far larger than what i was able to present but I was unable to print a record of everything I looked at - as you can see from this blog.

Final thoughts- I have relished the chance to try a different media in working with ceramics. It was not what i expected to be doing at the start of the project, i had expected to use textiles as in my last work but the project developed natural into this area due to the subject matter I was researching, namely ceramic tea and coffee cups and saucers and pots this developed into a new thirst for knowledge as i had previously had very little to do with the area. After a short time it seemed only natural that i would follow through this research beyond simply decorating a ceramic surface but to form the ceramic body itself.

I set myself a short one week deadline to get to grips with the clay and if it did not go well quickly enough i would have to revert to my first plan. However i was surprised to find that I loved the processes involved. I noticed similarities to my previous knowledge of jewellery making, forming and finishing metal. Also the tactile and technical likeness to the process of baking.

I am keen to continue in my journey beyond this project and hope some to develop into the area of jewellery making once again. This time combining my knowledge of precious metals and developing area of ceramics. I would like to investigate the properties of porcelain both within slip casting and throwing and also to try hand building. I have never before worked with precious metal clay but this seems a very interesting combination between ceramics and precious metals together, borrowing each others techniques. I would also like to develop my understanding and experimentation with ceramic glazes and decorative techniques.

This project has made me look at the viability of my work in the market place and i have come to the realisation due to others positive responses and my own discoveries during working, that my decorated tiles are worth moving on further into the marketplace perhaps to be sold on Folksy.com or at craft fairs. They are quick, easy and enjoyable to make and i hope that they would sell well in the contemporary craft market place.

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