This was the very first time that I have ever dealt with anything ceramic. This was a fun little project that I enjoyed doing! When i started this project, i wanted to create a bowl so that it could have a potential to be usefull inside of my house. It is actually being used currently to hold apples in the kitchen as almost a decorational piece, but it still holds an edibile food ready and waiting to be eaten. While i was creating this project, we cut out on paper what the project would mold after, and what it the outside (without the paint) would look like. I started out making it almost like a snowflake. I wanted complete symetry with this project and tried to create it without an end or a beginning. The was a bit scared in adding the edges of the bowl. But i wanted to add a texture to this project and I wanted something that I didnt see anyone else doing, so the tiny yet plentiful ridges fit the bill. I didnt exactly plan for it to be very big, however the final product is actually a bit medium sized when comparing it to bowls around the house hold. It is not the size of a mixing bowl, but it is noticibly bigger than a bowl that would hold cereal for example. The medium that we used for this project, was white clay. Ofcourse, it is called white clay because when it dries it becomes white, but when molding it in its earlier form, it is actually a very gray and dull color. The clay was very easy to mold around a bowl i used to create the bowl like shape of the ceramic. A lot of students used the slump technique to make their ceramics, but i decided on the hump technique. This means that I put my slab of clay over a bowl, instead of inside it to create its shape. If i had put it inside the bowl, I wouldve been using the slump technique. Now, back to my wanting to base this ceramic around a snowflake. The red portions of the ceramic was created with red clay, that worked to add details to the project. I wanted it like a snowflake (as before mentioned) so the symmetry was important. I applied the paint in triangles by using free hand because there was no template for this part of the ceramic. It was actually an almost last minute idea to add, but I am glad I did it. Unknown to the viewer because of the pictures, there is actually a design on the bottom. This design is an almost sun looking symbol that was made with the white clay and acts as the stand for the ceramic bowl. I would say that I learned a LOT from this project. I had never used clay to make something usefull, and I had fun doing it! It also made me respect the people who do this for a living becasue getting the thing to stay in the shape i wanted was a BIG challenge! the clay was a lot bigger and more plentiful than there was place for it to fit on the bowl! if I could go back, i would change the object that i mold my clay around so that it looks a bit smoother on the structure of the ceramic.