Starting off this semester in ceramics, I had a lot of difficulty making a project at all. Taking two years off of ceramics made it more challenging to get back into it. To gain inspiration, I would look up different pictures of art and look at different plants and colors in my free time. What I realized was that the pictures I repeatedly looked back to were those of flowers, trees, or landscapes. As the semester went on, my projects became more advanced, and I started to develop a consistent style that appeared in most of my work. When it came time to think about my theme, the decision was very easy. My ceramics theme involves nature; incorporating natural shapes, colors, and designs into my work. 
     This semester, the majority of my projects fit in the theme that I chose. Some examples of these projects are a vase that is thin at the bottom, wide in the middle, and thin again on the top. On this vase, I have painted a tree, and leaves on the sides. I have also painted what looks like branches coming out from the inside of the vase. Another example is also a vase that I made that is wide and has a small lip that was pulled out from the top. I glazed this vase with a brown color, leaving out a triangle on the side and glazed that triangle green. Theses colors were inspired by nature and the shape was inspired by the simplicity of nature. Some other projects that I have made that reflect my theme are my teapot, which is glazed green and has a hand made butterfly on the spout, another plate which is glazed a rusty brown color, and another vase that is glazed with that same rust color. The majority of these projects have a natural looking green or brown color, and have a simple shape.
      Most of my projects have been made with the same method of throwing on the wheel. After throwing the project in one day, I will either take my time with glazing them, or add accents to the project. On my teapot I added the butterfly, and on my tall project I cut out triangles on the sides of it. When Throwing on the wheel, I always start out with a basic cylinder shape and work from there. I tend to lean toward making vases and taller projects. Glazing is usually what takes up most of my time. Generally, it takes me multiple days to glaze a project depending on how complex I would like it to look. Even on the simple glazes, it takes me extra time to make sure that they are perfect and lump free. I also like to stain my projects. I have made complex designs in my work such as trees and branches. When I paint these on, it can take me anywhere from one class period, to three. After I have stained my ceramics, I then dip it in glaze. After it is dipped in glaze, I leave it overnight so that it is completely try, and then wipe off the bottom so that it does not stick to the glaze kiln.
     These projects show my theme by natural colors, designs, and simple shapes. I chose this theme because I have always been draw toward art that is in the colors of earth or that are of nature. I draw my inspiration from simple shapes and natural colors. On certain projects, I got the idea to glaze them the way that I did because of something that I saw in nature, whether it was moss on a tree, or the entire season of fall. I have always loved that nature is most beautiful in its simplest form. The shapes and designs flow, but once you look closer, you realize that there is more complexity than previously thought.
     This semester, I have chosen my theme based on what attracts my eye the most. My work already had a consistent style, and it was easy to develop a theme from this. Seeing beauty in nature is a gift that a lot of people have, but seeing the beauty in the simplicity of nature is something completely different. I have always loved hiking and taking pictures of the natural environment. This is why this theme conveys who I am perfectly, and is something that I thoroughly enjoy.

Starting off this semester in ceramics, I had a lot of difficulty making a project at all. Taking two years off of ceramics made it more challenging to get back into it. To gain inspiration, I would look up different pictures of art and look at different plants and colors in my free time. What I realized was that the pictures I repeatedly looked back to were those of flowers, trees, or landscapes. As the semester went on, my projects became more advanced, and I started to develop a consistent style that appeared in most of my work. When it came time to think about my theme, the decision was very easy. My ceramics theme involves nature; incorporating natural shapes, colors, and designs into my work. 
This semester, the majority of my projects fit in the theme that I chose. Some examples of these projects are a vase that is thin at the bottom, wide in the middle, and thin again on the top. On this vase, I have painted a tree, and leaves on the sides. I have also painted what looks like branches coming out from the inside of the vase. Another example is also a vase that I made that is wide and has a small lip that was pulled out from the top. I glazed this vase with a brown color, leaving out a triangle on the side and glazed that triangle green. Theses colors were inspired by nature and the shape was inspired by the simplicity of nature. Some other projects that I have made that reflect my theme are my teapot, which is glazed green and has a hand made butterfly on the spout, another plate which is glazed a rusty brown color, and another vase that is glazed with that same rust color. The majority of these projects have a natural looking green or brown color, and have a simple shape.
Most of my projects have been made with the same method of throwing on the wheel. After throwing the project in one day, I will either take my time with glazing them, or add accents to the project. On my teapot I added the butterfly, and on my tall project I cut out triangles on the sides of it. When Throwing on the wheel, I always start out with a basic cylinder shape and work from there. I tend to lean toward making vases and taller projects. Glazing is usually what takes up most of my time. Generally, it takes me multiple days to glaze a project depending on how complex I would like it to look. Even on the simple glazes, it takes me extra time to make sure that they are perfect and lump free. I also like to stain my projects. I have made complex designs in my work such as trees and branches. When I paint these on, it can take me anywhere from one class period, to three. After I have stained my ceramics, I then dip it in glaze. After it is dipped in glaze, I leave it overnight so that it is completely try, and then wipe off the bottom so that it does not stick to the glaze kiln.
These projects show my theme by natural colors, designs, and simple shapes. I chose this theme because I have always been draw toward art that is in the colors of earth or that are of nature. I draw my inspiration from simple shapes and natural colors. On certain projects, I got the idea to glaze them the way that I did because of something that I saw in nature, whether it was moss on a tree, or the entire season of fall. I have always loved that nature is most beautiful in its simplest form. The shapes and designs flow, but once you look closer, you realize that there is more complexity than previously thought.
This semester, I have chosen my theme based on what attracts my eye the most. My work already had a consistent style, and it was easy to develop a theme from this. Seeing beauty in nature is a gift that a lot of people have, but seeing the beauty in the simplicity of nature is something completely different. I have always loved hiking and taking pictures of the natural environment. This is why this theme conveys who I am perfectly, and is something that I thoroughly enjoy.

Thesis: My ceramics theme involves nature. In my work, I try to incorporate natural looking shapes, natural colors, and painting of natural scenes onto my projects.
-What the projects are:
         They are usually pieces that are thrown on the wheel and have natural looking movement and shape. They generally have natural colors and are relatively simple. My main pieces are plates glazed in browns and shadow green, vases with scenes painted on them, and projects that started out as cylinders and were chocked or pushed out, so that they had a better looking shape, yet still kept a simplicity.-How they were made
       The majority of my projects were made on the wheel and started out as cylinders. Some projects I pulled out at the top so that they had lips, and some I chocked at the bottom and the top so that they had more shape to them. With my teapot, I added on a handmade butterfly to the side of the spout to give it more personality, and to help it fit in better with my theme.
-why this theme?      
           I chose this theme because I have always been inspired by nature. I love the way that the natural world is most beautiful in its simplest form. The art that I am most drawn to is that with simple greens and browns, and paintings of valleys, or the countryside.