Chapter I describes the purpose of the project, which was to develop a body of work that exhibits all that I am at this point in time. The questions I presented to myself were the following: 1. A successful piece is defined by what parameters? 2. What visual qualities indicate my passion for clay and my enthusiasm for life? Chapter II lists and explains the five parameters of a successful piece, which are composition, firing, mark making, color contrast, and movement. Furthermore there is an explanation on how these parameters visually display my passion for clay and my enthusiasm for life. Chapter III is a summary concluding that by discovering my five parameters of a successful piece I now understand the elements that I am searching for in my work. My work will grow from this understanding as long as I have the same passion for clay and enthusiasm for life.

Organic forms representing nature, but not particular species, are combined with elements signifying attitudes toward the natural world with an emphasis on North American culture. The viewer is encouraged to consider human effects on the environment. Aquarium Night Light and Trophy both refer to the human tendency for commercial exploitation coupled with the creation of nature images we sometimes seem to prefer over the reality of the natural world. Reliquary metaphorically connects traditional religious connotations associated with saints' relics to both a biblical injunction to use anything we needed from the natural world and our contemporary belief that exposure to nature can have beneficial effects on human mental, spiritual, and physical health.

The body of work originating from this Problem in Lieu of Thesis consists of paintings on canvas that incorporate representations of plant material. The impetus for the paintings was black and white photocopies created from mounds of plant material placed on a copy machine. The resulting copies contained forms that were organic in appearance, but unrecognizable as known objects. Parts of the most interesting and ambiguous copies were used to develop the imagery of the paintings. The new forms served the purpose of creating visual interest from unexpected images. Combined with traditional painting techniques, the selected forms produced paintings of mysterious and playful worlds similar to those parts of the environment not readily accessed, such as galactic space, microscopic organisms, and ocean depths.

This thesis identifies and analyzes gendering in the art writing devoted to Lee Bontecou's metal and canvas sculptures made from the 1959 - 1964. Through a careful reading of reviews and articles written about Bontecou's constructions, this thesis reconstructs the context of the art world in the United States at mid-century and investigates how cultural expectations regarding gender directed the reception of Bontecou's art, beginning in 1959 and continuing through mid-1960s. Incorporating a description of the contemporaneous cultural context with description of the constructions and an analysis of examples of primary writing, the thesis chronologically follows the evolution of a tendency in art writing to associate gender-specific motivation and interpretation to one recurring feature of Bontecou's works.

The images that I sculpt deal with reflections of human traits. Wood lends itself to this endeavor, offering minimal resistance to manipulation. Keeping the origin and qualities of the material while manipulating it into another object is a statement within itself. Letting the wood do what it does naturally keeps the viewer in touch with the fact it is still just an object of nature. Wood does not make itself any less real because of the relationship of the sculpture to it as wood.

During World War II, Lee Miller was an accredited war correspondent for Vogue magazine. Miller was trained as a surrealist photographer by Man Ray, and her wartime work, both photographic and written, is indicative of a combination of journalism and surrealism. This thesis examines Lee Miller's war correspondence within the context of Vogue magazine, establishing parallels between the photographs and writing to determine how surrealism informs it stylistically and ideologically. Using surrealist techniques of juxtaposition and an unmanipulated photographic style, and the surrealist concepts of the Marvelous and Convulsive Beauty, Miller presented the war as a surreality, or a surreal reality. This study concludes by using Miller's approach to suggest a new concept of journalistic practice: surrealist journalism.

The body of work created during this exploration indicates that painting approach can actively integrate with the clay element. The main point is the surface manipulation during this process. There are four factors relate to this manipulation: timing, action, style, and size. Overall, the painting approach can be modified to create a truly active relationship with clay element. The final touch by the fire and glazing techniques reflect paintings approach may be used in a variety way to decorate the clay element without any limits. Moreover, the painting approach need not be subordinate to the clay element. It can be used not only to complement the clay, but also to enhance any given clay pieces no matter what the shape is.