Project Conclusion and Resolution in Relation to Context

I feel I have concluded this project well as I have started to refine my vessels and have made 3 pots with four sides and a base. Towards the end of the project I started to explore how I could continue my mono printed design onto the inside of my vessels, as well as on the outside, as the inside of the first few pots I made looked very stark in comparison to their highly decorated exteriors.

This image shows how bare the inside of the vessel looks without the mono printed design on it's interior.

Here are some images of my final vessel with the mono printed design continued on the inside.

I have also started to test out how I could use glazes to add colour to certain sections of my vessels where the stamps haven’t picked up any of the mono printed colour and were looking a bit bare. I really like the effect I have created by wiping away the glaze off the raised surface of the stamp with a sponge. 

These images show some of my glaze tests so far.

If I had more time I would like to experiment with some more under glazes to stain the glaze, as on the ivory stoneware clay I don't feel the glazes have been as effective as they have turned out too pastely and not the colour I had intended to create. 

In this image below you can see the pastely colours of the glaze I applied.

If I had more time I would like to make more vessels as I have learnt from making these ones so far that I need to let the pots dry out slower as one pot has cracked and the side of another one came off. This is because the top of the pots had dried out quicker than the bases. To stop this from happening in the future I intend to place my vessels in the damp cupboard to enable them to dry out slowly and also to place a plastic bag over the top of the vessel to allow the top of the pot to dry at the same rate as the bottom. I will also try standing my vessel on mesh to let air get under the pot to enable it to dry out more evenly. However I feel I have started to work towards my vessels being of a high standard and am pleased with what I have produced so far.

I feel my choice of context (Flow Gallery) is still appropriate as I am still working towards making high end, contemporary, one off vessels and am also still very interested in exploring surface pattern and decoration techniques. However I have found out during this project that I would have liked to have explored group as a project title as I have started to think about how my vessels interact together and have enjoyed starting to create a surreal city scape with my pieces.

The key motivating factors behind my practice are to carry on creating vessels and to explore surface pattern and texture in ceramics more as I have really enjoyed experimenting with mono printing and using plaster stamps in this project. My long term aspirations are to be able to develop my work to a high enough standard to be able to be exhibited in Flow Gallery or the Contemporary Ceramics Centre one day.