Coursework

I have always had a sweet tooth. When I was young, I ate my sweets and desserts out of normal bowls, and have always wished that these bowls were cuter and more appealing. Thus, for my coursework, I have created 3 different containers specially designed for storing desserts. They are animals transformed into containers, which I hope children will receive well.

First up, I had to use aluminium foil to get the structure of my animals. The aluminium foil is compacted and crushed together.

Process of making the octopus

Experimenting with pens to see if the legs are sturdy enough to hold the chocolate sticks

Next, I had to wrap and plaster paper clay all over the containers. It was tough as when the paper clay dried, cracks appeared, and I had to smooth them over with paper clay slip.

Lastly, I spray painted the animals. The octopus is done with different shades of white, yellow, orange and red, giving a blended effect of a yellow-orange octopus. The whale is done with blue, and dark blue for receded areas. White and silver spray paint is drizzled over the whole whale to give a polka-dot effect. The turtle’s body is done in a marble effect, with excess light green, green and dark green paint sprayed together. The paint mixes and gives a natural marble effect. The shell is done in similar way to the octopus, and the polka-dots are done in the same way as the whale.

Prep board attached to give a summary of the final work in different positions

Close up of turtle and octopus

The octopus stores chocolate sticks

The turtle stores jelly

Close up of whale

The whale stores a slice of cake or one whole muffin

I have only worked with clay in curriculum time, which means that I have only done 2 clay works before. My first clay work was very basic, it was done when I was 13. It was a dog, and consisted of a pinch pot for the body, another smaller pinch pot for the head, and 4 rectangular blocks for the legs. That was my first real experience with clay. My next clay work was a little more complicated. I did it when I was 15. It was a cat with its body serving as a bowl. The theme was containers. My work consisted of half a pinch pot for the body as a bowl, a pinch pot for the head, and four smaller rectangular blocks for the legs. I also included a carved out pumpkin with clay as an accessory. It was a pinch pot, but I cut off a little of the top to make it empty. Then I carved out the eyes and mouth of the pumpkin.

I have always been intrigued by clay, thus I decided to work on clay for my coursework. I liked the container idea we explored last year, so I decided to build on it this year. My cat was not good, as the container (its body) was very ordinary and boring. I wracked my brains for more creative ideas for my coursework, and I think I have succeeded in this aspect. I also wanted more vibrant and creative colours, instead of the usual block painting I did for both my previous clay works. I think I have also succeeded in this aspect, by experimenting with spray paints, different styles of spraying, and many different colours in each clay piece. All in all, I feel that this coursework has wrapped up my journey with clay in AEP nicely.