Nothing seems to bring more inspiration than the becoming of spring. The new year brings new promises and new ideas. Spring is often associated with the symbols of new beginnings, and flowers, the bringers of beauty and hope. Artists tend to create pieces inspired by this season because it represents more than just the ending of winter, it’s the idea of turning over a new leaf. The coil pot represented is telling of new ideas. In my case, as a freshman in high school, this is unequivocally a new experience. Even as my freshman year is almost over, I still am making new discoveries and finding new ideas. Constantly, students must blossom. My first ceramics class has reinforced many ideas, but none more important than to look at a different angle, see the bright side of things, and start over. All these linking back to the symbols of spring. Overall, the creation of this piece is inspired by new beginnings.

My favorite memory of Seattle is walking back to our minivan rental car, from a Macklemore concert at Key Arena. It was a clear December night, and the city was quiet. We walked through Seattle Center and around the Space Needle without seeing a single person. Although I love a city’s nightlife, there is something very special about a quiet city at night in December. I wanted this piece to perfectly capture that moment with the stars above and the bright office buildings in every direction. Our project was to create a piece that fits together with something else, or that you make in pieces. I chose a butter bell because I thought it would perfectly show all of the buildings and the feeling of night.

Inspiration wise, I just wanted a tea set to have around the house and really liked the shape of English style teapots and thought it would be a good challenge making the long, curved spout. Originally the teapot started as a jar; which is why it has the flangeless lid, but after consideration of the finished shape, it seemed better and more useful to me as a teapot. At the time, I had also made and fired a set of teacups as practice for production work. I glazed them experimentally, layering different glazes together, which turned out really wonderfully. So, to connect the teapot with the set, I used the same glaze style- using a blue and green glaze under a clear, smooth, glossy glaze; but this time with a lighter, matte blue.
The pieces in this set were huge steps up in the progression of my ceramic skills and are great symbols that represent that development.