This week was an eventful one for me in terms of learning my skills with clay. I tried some new techniques and was
able to paint my projects from the week before. They are definitely hand made, I’ll put it that way. This is not terrible due to the fact that I have just started and am still learning! In my last blog I was talking about sanding down myprojects before painting. I did not end up doing this because I noticed that they were not actually as dusty as I was expecting. Therefore, I went right in with the paint and I think they turned out good in this regard! The paint went on smoothly and evenly and dried great. For this I just used acrylic paints. I decided to go over everything two times to make sure it was opaque enough. The sand dollar came out not too bad paint wise! On the other hand, my other dish with the pearls turned out a little wonky. If you have been following along, I was worried that some of the pearls would fall off of the dish once it dried. This did happen, although not as many fell off as I expected. Eventually, once I get my hands on some glue, I will glue them back on. Because I was treating 
this piece as more of a trial than anything, I decided not to paint the base white and just leave the bare clay underneath. I added a little blue bow on top for some colour and I was actually pretty impressed with my bow, considering my lack of painting skills. After the paint dried, I went over it with a few coats of mod podge to seal it all in and make it shiny. There are some spots and imperfections, but I like to keep the mindset that eventually that these will show my journey and how far I will get with this project.
This week, in terms of actually sculpting, I decided to make another little dish. I wanted to 
practice adding walls so with another small one so in the future I can make a bigger one and hopefully turn it into a candle! Another thing I mentioned in my blog last time was the scoring technique to add walls and other things to the clay. I watched a tutorial on YouTube by the account called Crokd. It was helpful to see what parts needed to be scored and how to smooth it all out after the fact. I noticed that the smoothing process went way smoother this time, pun intended. I can already 
see myself improving. As I wait for it to dry, I am planning on what I should paint on it. I would love to paint the base blue with little orange slices, although the oranges might be a little advanced for me so I will have to practice before hand. Overall I am very excited about this one because it looks better than my first creations already. If anyone has any suggestions or resources they know of for clay art I would love to hear them in the comments!
Hey Makenna, what a cool thing to be doing for this assignment! I am always someone who likes things hands on and learning by doing as well so learning skills like this would be something I like to incorporate into my future classes.
One questions that sticks in my head though is if it is a messy process?
Hi Makenna! Omg, I have wanted to get into pottery for the last couple of years, but I have never gotten around to it because I would have to attend a class. This seems like such a great alternative. I will have to go back and read your first blog to see where you started and what supplies you needed!
Sounds like you had an awesome week with your clay projects! Love that you’re trying new techniques and rolling with the imperfections—it’s all part of the fun, right? Can’t wait to see what you come up with next! Keep at it!
Hi Makenna,
I think it is really cool you chose to learn how to do Clay Art. I don’t think I’d have the patience to do this activity so hats off for you learning this art. I look forward to seeing what you make and seeing the progression you make as the weeks role on.