Breaking clay rules and wide-eyed wondering

head for twine and fossil

fired once to Cone 04

terra sigillata, oxide stains, underglazes

clay is leather-hard with three layers of white terra sigillata

 

little hole for metal pin which will help anchor head onto body

 

hands dangerously far out from body

making it precarious

 in harm's way

 but too dry to fix

head getting bone dry--terra sigillata buffed with an old cloth

features made up with underglazes

hair has a Copper Luster glaze I mixed up

for blush I used crushed up clay body brushed on (like blusher!)

face done-hair next

 

checking for fit

 

fresh out of kiln-bisque-fired to cone 04

(looking Minoan)

layering of blue and yellow in the eye came out as a lush shimmering green

 

after first firing--needs to go back one more time as I need to do the back

and still worried about that hand

Sometimes I get caught up in a moment and forget about the "clay building rules."  The one in particular about appendages and things that stick out.

I really love how far from the body that hand is, but it is in a position to get knocked off.  Fragile. Yet I couldn't find it in me to change it.  Besides with all my indecisiveness, the clay made my decision for me drying fast and bone dry.  So into the kiln it went.  At least now it isn't brittle.  It is vitrified.

What was I thinking--oh, yeah---I liked the way it looks.  I still do.  A ceramic hand away from any supporting, bracing structure.  No buttress, no hidden wires. Not pressed against anything.  There's a feeling of depth, of personal space in that little distance.  Ethereal.  Delicate. Strong, a touch defiant.

I will need to think on this a while.  I will build another body and seriously deal with the depth and supporting structure--without compromising that feeling of space.  And I think I know what to do now.  It just might work.