Ok, these are basically in order of construction, There is one more that I don't have with me at the moment it's a lot like #1 except the opening is really wide and covers nearly half of the rim around the bottom. Enjoy
The red plastic things are calipers and they are spaced 1 inch apart to give you some perspective.
I'll probably type a little about each piece if the mods let this stay up overnight. There are a lot of pics. The calipers make these pieces look tinier than they really are.
If you are interested in this then please take the time to do the following
1. rate the pieces on a scale from 1 to 10 (1=total crap 10=most beautiful aquarium ornament in the universe) decimals are ok
2. rate them in order least favorite to favorite
3. point out what you consider flaws in design including placement size or shape of the holes
4. make any other comments you would like to.
1
difficulty=4
time=about 1 hour
This piece was really a practice piece. I was getting a feel for the clay again because It's been a while since I've fooled with it. I am not really happy with the holes in this piece. When I did them I didn't even consider there might be another way, I just cut straight lines so that I could fold off the excess coils. Another problem is that I cut them at the base, This really cuts down on the overall structural stability, IOW this piece will probably break in transport.
2 (this piece is meant to be viewed from the back it is open and is supposed to sit against the glass so you can see the fish, notice the two openings worked into the coils on top rather than cut out of them, a fun piece to make but challenging, and umm kinda ugly)
difficulty=8
time=about 2 hours
This piece started out as an arch. I laid out a single coil in a sinuos (spelling) arch shape, Then I added coils on top smoothing the inside edge for stability. As I added more coils I decided to work the holes into the pattern so I just cut across one of the waves in the arch, supported it with some carboard strips and built on top of it. When I got to a decent height i decided that i was not happy with it so I made some changes. I measured a few distances with the calipers and built a face piece seperate from the arch then once both pieces had dried a bit i stuck them together with some slip (very wet clay). This was a very difficult piece, and it didn't turn out very good but I did get some good practice.
3
difficulty=3
time=about 1 hour
This was an attempt at improving on the design in pot 1. Notice that the side is smoother, it is not such a drastic change from the vertical top part to the slopeing sides. This was achieved with even pressure on the transition point. After a few minutes of pressure the transition was much smoother and because I did it slowly the strengthening inside wall was not broken. This is the piece were I figured out how to make odd shaped holes. I still didn't go to dramatic with it because I was not yet used to the strength and plasticity of the clay, In other words I was afraid that If I made the shape of the holes to dramatic then the piece would collapse, you'll see in a few more pieces I let that fear go.
4
difficulty=1
time=about 45 min
This is one of my favorite pieces to build. It's small and simple, so I can build it quickly and because the walls are so uniform it is very stable. This is the first piece that I tried a new technique for making small unifrom holes. I simply take a straw and put it against the clay then I spin it until it punches through. Works very well.
5
difficulty=2
time=about 1 hour 30 min
This piece was great fun. I basically built piece number 4 much higher and made the top open rather than coiled shut. This piece started out as a tube if I remember correctly but the longer I built the wider the opening got, until eventually it would not pass as a tube, so I made it a house with a hat. I cut the hole in the top with a bottle cap. I also used the straw on this piece in several places.
6
difficulty=1
time=about 45 min
about the same as #4
7
difficulty=6
time=about 2 hours
This piece was very challenging and a whole lot of fun to build. I started with a VERY long coil. I wound it around in one long loop the shape that I wanted the outside walls to be, then I added coils inside of the loop and smoothed them over. As I built the walls higher the flat wall kept leaning outward and nearly fell over, I had to take two coils and brace it to the walls on the other side as it dried to get the shape that I wanted. I wish I had cut more holes into this piece but at the time I didn't realise that the clay could take it.
8 (no top no bottom meant to lie on it's side)
difficulty=3
time=less than an hour (i should really get a stop watch)
This was my second attempt at building a tube. I thought that the reason that the walls on my first tube kept getting farther apart was because I was smoothing the inside walls so with this tube I decided to skip that step and just press the coils together more firmly. Well about halfway through the construction the walls started to give under the pressure of my hands adding coils so I had three choices stop where I was (no good the piece was very small at the time), scrap the whole thing and start over, or smooth the inside walls. I chose three and I'm glad I did. I used the straw exclusively on this piece. I wish I could make all these pieces over now that I know what kind of punishment the clay can take.
9
difficulty=4
time=little more than an hour (counting 10 too)
this piece started out like #1 & #3. Once I finished it I decided I would cut it in half, So I did. I almost couldn't get it off the plastic to move it to the drying shelf but with a lot of patience persistance (and a good bit of smoothing parts that came off in the process) I got them off and placed them against the wall of the drying shelf. Then I cut them and decided that I would use the straw on one and not the other.
10
difficulty=5
time=little more than an hour (counting 9 too)
11
difficulty=2
time=1 hour
This piece was supposed to be like the house with the hat but I screwed up and accidentally put a roof on it so the hat would have been pointless. So I decided to try something new with this pot. I was looking on ebay for coil pots and I saw one that the coil ended by falling over the edge of the pot, I decided to incorporate this technique into my work, What do ya think? I put the extra holes in it after I made pot #12.
Next time I try this I will let more of the coils fall over the side.
did i ruin it?
12
difficulty=4
time=1:30
This piece was my true experimentation piece. I did what I had planned on doing with pot #11 and built the walls with no top or bottom flareing out the sides to make a wide base. Then I measured the top with calipers and constructed the hat, I then proceeded to cut as much clay out of the piece as I could. I don't think I'll be using the straw anymore unless it gets rave reviews from you guys. I like the jagged look caused by the knife as it slices through the clay in a tiny circle. It's very difficult to time the cutting right when I do this. If I cut too soon the piece will collapse, to late and the coils will rip apart under the pressure of the knife. I had a lot of fun making this pot.
13
difficulty=5
time=1:30
I made this piece because it was too late to cut more holes in piece #7. It's a lot like 7 just shaped a little different and a lot more holes cut into it. I flipped it too soon and it nearly collapsed but I reshaped it and cut it up. Hope you like it, it's my favorite piece i think.
all
I put a lot of thought and energy into these pieces I hope you enjoy looking at them and reading about there construction. If you would like more pictures of the pots I will PM them to you no problem. I would really appreciate it if I could get your opinions on what I am doing. I really trust you guys and respect what you have to say. Another plus of getting advice from you is that you can be honest with me, I don't have to worry about you saying "oh that's pretty" while thinking "eww why?" Honest opinions are highly valuable and hard to come by. Thanks for taking the time to look at my work and thank you for your opinions. And William and the rest of the mods thank you very much for running such a great forum. I read a post by william that said that he thought this site had saved 100's of fish I think the number is much higher and I hope it keeps going up for years to come. If any of the mods read this please answer me about me putting the TFF website on my tags. thank you.
I probably won't even know who buys them, But you've given me an idea. I think I will put my e-mail on the tag and ask for people to send me pictures of the pieces inside there tanks. I'll post the ones who do send me pics. I am going to give one to my GF and sell one to my mom, she said she wanted one (I already gave her the one in the 55 so don't fuss at me about that please) I'll take pics of those and post them for you guys.
if anyone sends you in-tank shots, post them for us, eh? ^^
Hey! Your loving sister here. OK detailed feedback here we come!!
