The ceramics piece I have created is a raised laid down piece of a head and shoulders with many flowers and leaves decorating one side. To create this piece, I first had to take the air-dry clay and make sure there were no air bubbles as that could cause it to explode when being fired. I use many cutting tools to create my portrait ceramic piece, these were mainly sharp pointed tools to cut the shapes for the flowers, leaves and the base.  

My inspiration for this piece is a woman called Juliette Clovis who created ceramic busts with things like butterflies and flowers on rather than facial features. My original design was a 3D bust with 3D roses and rosebuds however it took me a whole lesson to do one 3D rose, because of this I changed my design to something much simpler allowing me to finish the piece in the time frame given. I still put the 3D rose on my piece as the main feature however the bust is now a laid down flat piece and the 3D roses and rosebuds are much simpler and 2D flower designs. I have chosen this design to represent me because I often like to use nature in my work. This is because I feel nature and humans are very similar, we all grow and eventually wilt but the life we lead is full of adventure. 

To improve on my finished ceramic sculpture, I could have done some further detail in the 2D flowers giving them more depth and definition. If I had more time I would also have done a couple of smaller 3D roses to also add on the piece showing the original effect I was going for. I feel the shape of the shoulders weren't quite right as they were uneven so if I was to create this piece again I would make sure the base shape was correct before adding other pieces on top. 

When making my ceramic piece I did it over one lesson a week meaning that when I came back to work on it the clay had become quite dry. To overcome this, I often had a water pot and sponge to allow me to dampen the clay again making it easier to work with. My piece consisted of a lot of pieces being attached together which isn't always easy with clay because when it gets fired, if it isn't connected together correctly it will fall apart. To make sure I had attached it all properly I first needed to use a sharp tool to score the areas I am joining together. I then used a mix of clay and water on those areas and stuck them together making sure its bonded well. The mix of clay and water is called slip. 

My favourite part of my ceramic piece is the main 3D rose feature, this part took the most time to construct together but I feel I created an effective and realistic piece. I quite like the composition of the ceramic portrait because even though I wasn’t able to create a bust I feel the flowers and leaves are positioned in a way that makes it aesthetically pleasing and peaceful to the eye.  

I feel that my ceramic piece isn't as successful as my 3D sculpture piece. They both portray a similar meaning with one being for happy and floral and one being a little earthier. I prefer the 3D piece because its more cubist and rough however I still feel my ceramic portrait is pleasing to see, more so than the 3D sculpture. If I had created the bust I may have preferred my ceramic piece however I had more time to create the 3D portrait sculpture than the ceramic piece.