Jack’s Ceramics Portfolio

I think that I improved my ceramics creation technique a lot. For the magnets project, my magnets were not very smooth and were more asymmetrical than I would’ve liked them to be. In the following projects I worked on my craft and I improved my projects by making them smoother. I am proud of my work because I think that my pinch pot and coil pot look pretty good. I was able to greatly improve the quality of my work by learning how to smooth out the clay.

This semester, I learned that I actually could be good at art because I am generally not creative and have been close to failing all of my previous art classes. I also learned that it is very important to pay attention to detail and I think that I can apply this to other classes such as English. I think that what I have learned in ceramics will benefit me in my English classes because I can be a better writer by paying attention to detail.

I think that the studio environment of the classroom was very beneficial because my classmates and I can bounce ideas off of each other. This is something you cannot do in a silent classroom. I also think that this environment was beneficial to my artwork because it makes the class seem less formal which makes it easier to ask for help. It is also a nice break from the serious classes.

My favorite project this semester was the coil pot project because it seemed like I could actually create something that I could use. My least favorite project was the magnets because they were my worst quality of work and I really don’t like magnets because I am a more minimalistic person and I think magnets add unnecessary clutter to surfaces.

Some of the strengths that I showed in class were my attention to detail. This came through in the coil pot because I was able to make it almost perfectly smooth.

Something that I would like to improve on is creativity. I think that it is very hard for me to come up with ideas on what to create and also what sort of decoration I want to add onto my pots. I think that if I was more creative, my projects would stand out more and not be too simple.

I think that if I was given the opportunity to exclude some of my projects from the portfolio I would choose not to because I think that if someone saw my portfolio, they would see the improvements that I have made in my technique. I think that my work really improved project to project. The magnets that I made were not very good and I think that the coil pot that I made was pretty good.

I think this semester that I definitely did improve my skills and I was able to work properly based on how difficult the projects this semester were. For the most part I am proud of my work but I think that there was a lot of room for improvement. The wolf sculpture looks not as good as I thought it would be and the sunset mug doesn’t really look that good.

I learned this semester that if I really try to do my project that it will look good. I think this can be applied to school (not at Benet anymore) by just putting my mind to what I need to do and getting it done.

I think that the studio environment of this classroom is very helpful because I have more space and I can just get up and move around when I need to and I can’t do that in other classes.

My favorite project this semester was the where I’m from. I hated the poem, but I liked making my mugs because I can actually relate it to myself. My least favorite was the self-portrait because it was really hard and I can’t really say it represents me as much as the mugs.

One of the strengths I showed in the class was (for the most part) just focusing on my project and getting it done on time.

One thing that I would have liked to improve was my ability to paint and glaze. I was not very good at it and it shows in my sunset mug.

If I could exclude one thing from my portfolio it would be the sunset mug because I don’t think it looks good. I think that it has too much detail for my current skill level.

Even with all of the challenges that I faced, I would still say that ceramics is my favorite class.