Platter Final 

For my second semester final, I decided to make an untraditional platter. I took my love of throwing on the wheel, and I chose to work with that. I tried my best to make two bowls similar in shape, height, and size, and it wasn't easy. I did about seven attempts before I was happy with these two. My original idea was to connect three identical bowls in a half-moon shape, but I'm not an artist who does things uniformly. My art, especially when I'm throwing, does its own thing. I don't necessarily have a plan or an idea of what I'm making, but rather, I follow the clay and see what it wants to do. I've thrown bowls that I consider perfect for my skills, and later, someone bumps into it, or I accidentally hit it with something, and it's not perfect anymore. I still choose to fire it, and I still think they're beautiful, but some people don't. My art has imperfections, but that doesn't mean that it's still not useful. The bowl on the bottom of the photo has a black dot protruding out of it. I have no idea what that is, if it's from the glaze or where it came from. The bowl on the top has about an inch indent on the side, making the surface uneven. The trim on the two bowls is disastrous, and I will acknowledge that I'm not good at trimming, no matter how many lessons I get and videos I watch. It's not perfect, but it's okay because it doesn't have to be. It's uneven where the two bowls are joined, and the glaze is spotty, but I'm still okay with it.

I really love this piece. I think it's perfect and that it represents my art well this year. I'm proud of my art, and I think I learned a lot. This piece is by far not my best work, according to its perfection, but I put a lot of effort into it, and it's by far my favorite. The biggest lesson I learned this year in Ceramics was letting go. I had to learn to let go of the things that are not in my control, like how a piece will dry or how a glaze will react in the kiln. Although I think that's a bigger lesson in life than in ceramics.