physical touch:

I signed this piece with my handprint. I wanted to make the entire plate about physical touch. I created indents on the sides with my fingers that make texture. The image is of two people cuddling. I made this plate the largest because it is the love language that means the most to me.

gift giving:

Gift giving is my second most loved love language. the image is a heart shaped box with a ribbon and a tag with a heart. I signed it made with love because its meant to be a gift. I porously made the edges rough to highlight the fact that it was handmade.

words of affirmation:

text: front: …i love you.. back: …more than anything…

This plate represents the words of affirmation love language. the image is of a text bubble with a heart in it. I made this plate the smallest because its difficult for me personally to express my love through words.

This dragon chimera was made with inspiration from the Hercules beetle. The strength of this beetle represents my emotional strength, I am able to be strong for others around me as well as hold my own emotional weight. Over my time at riverside I have evolved to be someone strong like the Hercules beetle. The delicate wings of the Hurcules beetle represent my feelings that may be hurt easily by the people close to me who live under the strong shell I have grown for the rest of the world. The crumpled ashy coloured wing represents my “dark side” this wing is destroyed because of pain I have felt in the past, it represents the negative emotions and actions that often come from trauma and pain. The clear and metallic wing represents my “light side” and my transparent and kind personality.

I wanted to try to make a salad bowl using a slump mold. I used a slump mold with thick sides, I was going to create a lip on the bowl but as the clay dried the sides unfortunately broke off.

second, I wanted to create a jar I made the base on the wheel  then made the lid out of a slab.

I started by making a armature with two balls of newspaper. after this I paper mashed the egg shapes, once they were dry I was able to cut them open and start forming the head of my dragon. i created a cone shape using newspaper armature then covering it in paper mashe.

To make the shape of the exoskeleton on my  beetles head, I first coverd some areas with fabric and glue to create a smooth surface. Then using paper mache clay I molded the head to create a strong and hard cover. for the eyes I used marble pebbles to create a glossy eye. I painted the backs of these eyes with white paint for the highlight and black paint over top. I hot glued the eyes to the side of the head, but Ive moved them since to be more accurate to the anatomy of a Hercules beetle.

I added small bits of fur to the underside of the horn on the Hercules beetle to act as the setae that beetles use to improve their perception of touch and sound.

To create the silky shinny texture that adorns the outside of the exoskeletons outside I painted on a coat of clear shiny acrylic medium.

After I had to create a body and wings for the beetle dragon. do create the wings I used a heat gun to heat up cellophane to mold onto a shaped cutting of wire. The cellophane only sticks to itself so it was difficult to attach it to the wire. What I did to solve this problem was folding the cellophane over the wire so it could adhere to itself around the wire. I used paper mache and painters tape to create the body of my beetle.

inspiring animal:

The Hercules beetle is named for its incredible strength being an insect. These beetles can carry up to 850 times their own weight. Beetles are a perfect example of metamorphosis as they evolve into these large insects. Hercules beetles evolve to have a strong exoskeleton as well. Under this cover though they house intricate transparent wings. The strength of this beetle represents my emotional strength, I am able to be strong for others around me as well as hold my own emotional weight. Over my time at riverside I have evolved to be someone strong like the Hercules beetle. The delicate wings of the Hurcules beetle represent my feelings that may be hurt easily by the people close to me who live under the strong shell I have grown for the rest of the world.

dragon:

Dragons in history appeared as a god mother in the middle east who transformed herself into a legged horned serpent.

In China dragons appeared as having deer antlers a camels head, a hares eyes. a serpents neck, a crocodiles belly, eagles claws tigers claws and buffalos ears. these dragons were said to bring rain, uncover treasures and granting wishes.

I waned to touch on the dragons horned serpent neck in my sketches.

Pacific tree frogs threatened by pollution in BC. The water ways and forests that make up their habitat are being disrespected from deforestation and pollution. Chemicals leaking into the waterways are especially harmful for frogs. Pacific tree frogs breathe through their skin and get poisoned when dangerous chemicals are brought into their respiratory system through their skin. 

The frog that I sculpted has a dark underbelly that contrasts with how they traditionally have a soft white underbelly. I chose to do this to represent how their skin is damaged by their surroundings. 

To help these guys out, avoiding single use packaging, choose recycled products and recycle them again afterwards. Planting trees when you can and being mindful on your consumption of unrecycled material.

1. After researching pacific tree frogs and the dangers they face, I could start my sculpture. Starting with creating a newspaper armature then rolling out a clay slab. I did not forget to get rid of the air bubbles. After rolling out the slab I was able to drape it over my armature and start to shape my frog. After this I added details like the eyes and shape of the arms and mouth. The last step was to add texture which I did using slip drops for a bumpy texture, along with caving divots using  metal tools.                                                                                                                                                         
2. The head of my frog is hollow, the shape made on the bottom of the head is meant to act as a support if my sculpture must be hung up.
3. Once my sculpture  had been bisque fired it was time to paint. I used colours green, brown, yellow, red and white paint to paint my frog. I mixed these colours together to create different tones, highlights and shadows.
4. After painting was complete I added a clear coat of glossy acrylic to create the effect of wetness on the skin. I also added shimmery dust to places I wanted highlighted like the eyes of my frog.