Musical Heart

The concept of this heart was beautiful, I wanted to make a heart with the beginning notes of Cannons in D, and I was really excited to make it, but then I had to choose the colors. I don't think it turned out the way I wanted it to, but it still looks nice. I wish I had just made it that black color in the middle, or change the orange to a blue, but other than that I really enjoy this heart.

It's a little smaller than my other hearts, so it took me about two hours for this one. Even though it doesn't look the way I wanted it to, I'm happy with the way it looks. The hardest part about this heart was how small the inside of the arteries were, I usually use my fingers to shape them, but I had to use a tool this time and they didn't turn out as consistent as the other hearts of mine. But I would like to continue doing smaller hearts, because they look more delicate.

Wood Grain Heart

I absolutely love this heart, it is by far my favorite. I made another one similar to this one last year, with an actual wood grain design, but with this one I just used lines.

I started off with the body, and I started using a rib to smooth out my finger prints and seams, but it also has teeth on one of the edges, so I tried using them to add a bit of texture, and I ended up liking the way it turned out so I added them all over the heart. Once I had fired it the first time, the texture felt sooo cool and I wanted people to be able to feel the texture with glaze on the entire heart, so I experimented with stain instead of glaze.

And it was awesome. The heart is really shiny, as you can see from the end view of the heart, and it feels so cool when you touch it, so I'm very happy with it.

This one took me about four hours as well, it took a while to make the lines and keep them clean.

Broken Rope Heart

Alright so this heart took a little while, but it turned out alright. So I used twine to make a wrapped rope effect on the body of the heart, which created a really nice texture. But after that, I forgot about it, because I put it too far back in my cubby so it dried out too much before I could continue shaping it, so one of the arteries cracked in the middle and I wasn't able to fix it.

So I worked around it and added a few more chips and cracks and made it a 'broken' heart. It looks intentional, and it does look intentional, so I was thankful for that.

I used a crystal glaze for the outside, and I'm a little bummed because it doesn't really show through the pictures, but there are a couple flakes of crystal through out the heart.

Then I just used a regular red glaze for the inside, and where the red and the crystal collide, there's a little bit of mixing, but mainly it's a striking contrast.

This heart took me about four class periods, so about four hours of work. I'm really proud of this one, and I love the way the glazes turned out!

Little Brown Heart

I mainly made this heart just to test out a new glaze, so it doesn't look like my other ones, but I actually really love this one!

It only took an hour, because making it was simple and smoothing it out was quick because it's so small, and glazing was quick too. I'm a little bit disappointed though, because I carved out the word 'Dream' in cursive on the top, but I didn't carve it deep enough so the glaze covered it up and you can't tell unless you look really closely.

There wasn't really anything that was difficult for this one because it was  such a simple heart to make, but it was a fun break from my bigger hearts!

Sail Boat Heart

I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but I carved a sailboat on this heart.

The balance for this heart is a little off, it's difficult to stand it up on it's own because I tried using a different tool to try and flatten the bottom, but it didn't work very well. I carved the boat out and tried to make each part of the boat a different depth and pattern, which didn't work for the flags, but it still looks pretty.

This heart actually took me about four hours, because I was trying to be careful with shaping the boat, so it took me a little longer, but I like the outcome. The glaze is one of my new favorites, I don't remember what it's called though, but it has little crystal spots that looks like snow flakes, and the color is really soft and calming.

The hardest part was trying to make all of the parts of the boats look clean and even. I took an extra class just to make it smooth, but it was totally worth it!

Oregonian Heart

This is one of my most recent hearts, I am not posting these in the order that I made them, mostly because I can't find the pictures in order!

Anyway, I made all of my hearts out of ceramics and used glaze or stain to make the colors. For this heart, I used a speckled glaze for the outside, so it looks like confetti or cupcake sprinkles, depending on who looks at it.

I cut out the tree in the middle, so you can see the inside of the heart. I didn't think about that while I was glazing it for some reason, so I didn't paint the inside and I kind of regret that. But I like how the rest turned out.

My hearts typically take me about three class periods to complete, so I'd estimate this was about three hours for me. It was fairly simple, so I didn't have to worry about super intricate details.

The greatest challenge of this heart was definitely the tree cut out. I wanted it to be more detailed, but the clay wall was too thick for great detail, so I had to simplify the outline. I took a guess with the white speckle glaze, I had no idea what it would look like, but I think it's one of my new favorite glazes!

Final Semester of Senior Year!! (post first)

Alright guys, this is it! The final week before being let loose into the world! I will be graduating so

very soon, and so it's time once again for an update on my school work for AP art.

The second semester is dedicated to one aspect of art, we call it our Concentration pieces. We decide on a theme for the work for the rest of the year, and we have to try and stick with it. I of coarse deviated from the theme a couple of times to work on other stuff to give myself a break, so I'll post those at the end too.

Anyways, my concentration this year was ceramic hearts, and I explored different textures created with tools and markings in the clay and with different glazes. I started making hearts last year in ceramics class, and my mom suggested I continue with them this year.

And because of my wonderful grandmother, I have started selling my hearts in a cute little store! It's called A Little Twisted and Crafty, and right now I think it's still located in Newberg, Oregon, but it might have already moved to Gaston. They were kind enough to let me sell my hearts through them, and I've discovered that people really like them! 

I'm hoping to continue making hearts even after graduation, and I'll be updating this blog much more often then. I will try to post after every heart I make instead of twice a year, so stay tuned for that!