1) The document is a collection of descriptions by Julie Belanger of various ceramic pieces she has created, including a rustic wooden-looking candle holder, a pumpkin face pitcher, a personal accessories bowl, and others.
2) For each piece, Julie provides details on her creative process and techniques, such as using pin tools to create patterns, rolling clay to form shapes, and combining pieces.
3) She also shares personal stories and inspirations behind some of the pieces, drawing from memories of places she has visited or people in her life.
2. RUSTIC
WOODEN-LOOKING CANDLE
HOLDER
I loved making this piece. I let my mind flow with other creative images. I came up with this design and
these patterns because I remember seeing a real wooden one in a store up in Northern Michigan.
My Technique: I like my pattern that I made for this piece. The colors I used were dark shinny
blue, silver and light red glaze to make it look wooden. I like these colors. I made a candle plate that
goes with this piece and it is same colors. It’s beautiful! I took a hunk of clay and rolled it into a ball.
Then I pulled the sides apart with my hands and formed into a hollow and added clay to shape the
holder. After that I used my pin tool to draw a design and cut it out. I also added clay to the bottom of
the piece. Then I took more clay and rolled into a snake shape and flattened to stick it on my candle
holder piece. I repeated the same method. I used my pin tool to start drawing the pattern onto my
unique final finished piece.
3. PUMPKIN FACE PITCHER
During my ceramic open lab my instructor was demonstrating
cylinder forms and he took a two litter soda pop bottle and cut in
half. Then I put clear plastic wrap around the bottle and rolled
the slab of clay onto the bottle to stick onto the plastic wrap.
Then I rolled out a small piece of clay flattening them two inch
length for the eyebrows. I rolled two small balls of clay and
pressed down to flatten into small circles for the eyes. Then I
pressed them into the piece. Then I made a weird shape nose
with a garlic press pattern and I stuck the nose on the pitcher
after I did that.
I made six inch tube form rolled out one inch
piece I also did a pattern with the small garlic
press for the mouth and added onto the face of
the water pitcher. I formed a wide band on the
top in order to create a pouring spout. The rim
of the top looks like whip cream and chocolate
chips.
The last thing I made is the handle. It is done!
4. PERSONAL
ACCESSORIES BOWL
When I get home I can leave my personal items like
keys, phone, sunglasses, coins etc. I like to have a
place where I can save them, something nice and
personal. So I made this bowl with this in mind, now
every time I come home I save all my little things in here.
5. LAYER BY LAYER SALAD
BOWL
This is my favorite salad bowl, my
family loves it. I got inspired by the sun.
When you look inside it looks like rays
of fire. I applied odd pieces of different
shaped strips all around the outside of
the bowl.
6. SHOPPING CART
I love shopping for groceries with my friend
Donna and every time we go I get to push and
fill the cart with my own items. This is fun and
exciting to me. So I thought to make one so it
reminds me how I enjoy this.
7. DIAMOND CUP
Making this piece was a lots of fun. I used clay layers wrapped in
a form of a cone so it can turn into a cup.
It is interesting how the layers can be seen at certain angles.
I applied several pieces on top of each other so it became a
unusual combination of layers of diamond shapes, for a 3D view.
8. ELF BOOT
When I made this piece I had lots of fun. Every time I see it, I smile. I got
inspired by the a little green Elf, and imagined how their boots were and
this is what I came out with.
I remember when I went to Ireland with my parents, my uncle and
aunt, my brothers and cousins to play golf we went shopping and I saw so
many little statues of green leprechauns ( little green elves).
9. THE LION KINGS WALL PLAQUE
One time I went to a fantastic live theatre production of Lion King with my my brothers in Detroit
Michigan. Another time, a year later, I went with my sister in Chicago to see the Lion King again. I
loved it so much that fell in love with the story and I couldn't wait to see the movie. When I saw it, I
loved the music by Elton John and this lion reminds me of the movie “The Lion King”. I was trying
to make exact original lion of Mufasa (the king) and Simba who is the new born baby lion.
Here is the Technique:
Step 1: I have a clear plastic lid and I put the lid onto the clay and I drew the circle and trimmed the
extra clay from my creation.
Step 2: I used my silver pin tool to draw onto the clay and I made a hole at the edge of my plaques
so they can be hung on a wall. My second piece to the right is Simba.
10. CEREMONIAL CANDLE HOLDER
MY DREAM
I had a dream one night where I was in a town in India in the
jungle and I can see my piece where the Indian women were
holding it. Every woman had a candle inside the piece and they
were carrying it to the bonfire. They were having a ceremony.
The chief of he group came toward a woman that had a baby in
her arms and he put a red dot on the baby’s forehead. That
baby turned out to be ME.
11. MY BEAUTIFUL PIECE
“THE MISSING PIECE”
I remember, when I made this bowl I got inspired by Lori, my sister in law, my brothers
wife. She had a bowl like that so I thought I should make one just like hers. But after I
finished it and took it to the kiln to be fired, everything was fine up to this point. I noticed
that after it was bisque fired the instructor took it out he noticed it was in pieces, so it did
not make it. Than I decided to make another one.
12. FISH MOUTH
This is my fish. It opens it’s mouth like a whale as if he was going to eat lots of small
sardines, but he is a small fish himself. He is hungry and is waiting for something to come
close to his mouth so he can eat it, perhaps a smaller fish, crab or shrimp. He is lazy and fat.
But is beautiful and lives in the Pacific Ocean reefs of Puerto Vallarta where I have my second
home.
13. How did I make this bowl? I rolled out a big ball of clay. I used a plastic round lid and drew
around it with my pin tool to cut out the big circle and drew the smaller size in the middle of the
big circle. I made the third circle attached all together and smooth it with my finger. Then I used
my white pipe rolling pin to make a flat piece to stick to the bottom together with my flat piece to
hold it really good.
I was making the flat strips first and I put the strips together. Then I smoothed it with a special
wooden tool that has flat edge and the other end of the tool has smooth flat wooden side. I
formed the strips layers after layers also smoothing each other together. Then I had 5 cut outs
and I left it open for a design to be decorative.
BOWL WITH OPEN SIDED
DESIGN
14. BUILDINGS
I made this for my sister as a gift. I thought of this because my sister Gigi loves shopping and
so I made her own shopping mall. I had planned to add a bridge connecting each buildings
but the bridge I made broke. So I thought to make an elevator for the tall buildings, it is
there, it is just that you can’t see it. And the other buildings are department stores with
products that you can see through the glass windows and they display the merchandise that
my sister and my mom loves to buy. They are shopping buddies because this is their favorite
thing they do together.
