My theme is simplistic femininity. This theme represents me and my art. Looking back at all my projects I have done this semester I have realized that I have taken a lot more time on each of my projects than I have on my last semesters in this class, I took more pride and had more fun creating all my projects this semester.

The projects that I have made this semester that go with my theme are a teapot and teacups, a striped bowl, a small vase and a poka-dot mug. The teapot has a pink and red flower on the lid along with two teacups that have red flowers on the side. The next project that I made was a bowl with red stripes on the outside. There is a short vase that I made that was originally going to the main part of the teapot that I made, but it was too small, so I kept it and gave it a design and now it fits right along with the rest of my themed projects. I made a mug with a bunch of dots all over it. All of these projects took multiple days to create and all have more than one glaze on them.

My teapot and teacups were all started on the wheel. I started with the main part of the teapot and threw that on the wheel. After throwing that I then threw a lid and a spout to be attached later and I also threw the two teacups. The next day I then footed the main part of the teapot, the lid and the teacups. Before I footed I pulled a three small handles. After allowing the handles to dry a bit, I attached one to the side of the teapot. I then cut the spout so then I could put in on the opposite side of the handle on the teapot (making sure that it was at the correct level so the teapot could be filled all the way up with tea and not spill out the spout). I then put the other two handles on the teacups. The following day I created a flower to add to the top of the lid for the teapot and I carved out a flower on each of the teacups. After allowing them to sit in a bag for another day I then took them out and let them dry and placed them in the bisque kiln. For the teapot I glazed it clear first and then painted red stain on the edge of the flower and then painted pink stain on the inside of the petals. And for the teacups I painted just red glaze in the carved out part of the flowers and then dipped in clear. After glazing I then put them through the glaze kiln. Another project was a bowl; I threw it on the wheel.  The next day I footed it on the wheel and then let in dry. After I let it dry completely I put it in the bisque kiln. I glazed the bowl clear first and then I painted red stain on it in stripes around the outside and placed it in the glaze kiln. The next project that I made was my short vase on the wheel. The next day I footed it and then I carved out a design on the top of the vase. After it came out of the bisque kiln I glazed it clear and then I stained purple in the carved out design. And then I put it in the glaze kiln. Finally, I made my mug on the wheel, just like the rest of my projects and footed in the following day. I then added dots over the entire outside of the mug by slipping and scoring them all on. The dots are all different sizes and placed them all to fit together perfectly. After it can out of the bisque kiln I glazed it with the black satin glaze. I wiped the glaze off the dots and then I painted on clear so that they would stand out. Then I put it in the glaze kiln.  

How does each of these go with my theme? Well each of these projects has something very unique to all of them. For the teapot and teacups, the flowers make them all very feminine. The shape, size and glaze help with the femininity as well. This project is simple too because there is not every much going on in this project. There are really only two colors in this project, then red/pink and the clear. My striped bowl is defiantly more simplistic than feminine unlike my teapot which was the opposite, with more femininity prominent. Like the teapot the bowl also consists of two colors, red and clear (if clear counts as a color) which is very simple. The shape and size of the bowl make it feminine. The little vase just like the other two previous projects this project was glazed with only two colors making it simple. The one design on the top of the vase is simple. The size and shape are similar to the teapot that I made and like I said before it has a very feminine feel to it. And last, the mug that I mad, like the rest is only two colors. This is a simple mug shape, but the dots that were added have a very precise and feminine look to it. 

In society we see femininity and simplistic things everywhere. What is femininity? How is it defined in society? Most people think women. But in art what does it mean? Is it something small, with a curvy shape, with soft designs, the colors? That’s what I think of when the word femininity comes to mind. Simplicity on the other hand, is a little more straight forward than femininity. Simplicity is something that’s not necessarily easy, but there are usually not a lot of steps. It has little distractions and not very much going on, yet enough to make it interesting. These are both themes that are seen in the world; either in art, people, or nature. Simplistic femininity is a subtle and comforting touch to a place with such harsh bold statements around us.




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