Though art could represent many various ways of self expression to the creator, it is most of the time that the artist wishes to share their passions and adoration for to these passions to the world through their works. However it is truly the time and efforts that they put into their craftsmanship that genuinely draws viewers to the pieces. This is because of the psychology behind caring. Whether or not the beholder even enjoys the artwork, they will enjoy the piece just for the level of detail and technique that the artist cares so much for. In other words, when the artist cares, the viewer will care.
When constructing my tripod mug, I was actually fairly successful considering that it was my first ever attempt. Truly, the only problems that acted as a barrier in my progress was the interior tripod bottom. Unlike the other students that left the seams as-is, I had attempted to smooth the creases. However it appeared to be pretty difficult, as some parts would be uneven and overlap, the feet would compress, and the fact that I either used my whole hand or small tools to smooth the seams would contort the cup in some way. But despite this, I had excelled in every other way. The mug ended with a smoothed out exterior with even feet, careful glaze work, and good proportions for the grasping of the handle and the drinking of the mug. Overall, I learned to smooth the seams differently, but to keep on with my current techniques in designing a tripod mug.
When doing sgraffito on my tripod mug, I learned just how much precision played into the mug’s creation. Specifically, if you were to etch out the wrong section of the mug on accident, the entire design would either be ruined or need to be reworked. This occurred first when creating my practice sgraffito tile. In this tile, I had done the lining of clouds in the background and had messed up on one part of it. To compensate for the accident, I had completely scratched out the clouds. In the end, the design look much worse and had actually ended up making the clay crack in half in the kiln. However, when working on my mug with the same design as the practice, I made sure to first etch lightly, then to gradually deepen the line work. By doing it in this manor, it had made a world of difference to the piece.
To complete this mug, it required much persistence on my part. It is this kind of persistence that lead me to overcome my past mistakes and have a drive to make my next project better using better techniques. Persistence holds so much importance to the creation of a piece because it helps it to become the best it can be by allowing the creator to grow beyond what an artists original works are.