Madison Richardson's Coil Cylinder

Madison Richardson

Coil Cylinder

The symmetric coil cylinder I created has a shiny and smooth texture that has a flat bottom surface but forms equal sides all around. The pattern I used was inspired a Vera Bradley design because all of those designs are made with unity. I painted the pattern with a turquoise blue, coral pink, a frog pond green, and purple and speckled blue grey colors. These colors formed nice contrast with one another and put emphasis on one specific area. Tiny flowers surround the curvy lines that are connected to the leaf pattern on the other side.

The materials used to put this piece together was the pug mill, slab roller, and my hands. To form and smooth this piece, I used a rib and cut the extra clay off with a knife to make it proportional. To begin this cylinder, I made a slab and cut that into a circle for the base, I used the coiling method to place on top of the circle of white clay. After forming this clay together, using a wooden tool I smoothed the coil and base together. To make the cylinder 6 inches I continued to put coils on top of one another and smoothed. Once I finished constructing, I used my fingers and smoothed the interior and exterior. When it gets to the leather hard stage, I used a sponge to smooth out the wrinkles or blemishes I needed so I could start my design. As soon as the piece was bisque fired, I rinsed it and started to carve out my design and then painted with the under glazes to add to the design. Lastly, once the under glazes were fired I used the clear transparent glaze to coat the entire piece and it was fired again. The designs on my piece cooperate with one another and look very collective. The colors had contrast and really popped out. There was movement and rhythm that will lead the viewer’s eye because of the repeating shapes and continuing lines. It had progressive flow and curvy lines all around the cylinder pot.

As a result, I was very pleased with my coil cylinder because it was very balanced and proportional which is a nice visual to look at; it made the piece have a feeling of equilibrium and stability. The piece had lots of variety including, different lines, shapes, colors, textures, values, but one solid form. The best part of this piece is that it has harmony and variety all in one. It was created by achieving and using similar elements around the work giving it an uncomplicated appearance but at the same time there is plenty of different figures around it.