
Time to create. My artwork was accepted to be in the second annual Brandi Fenton Sculpture Show and I did not have any large sculptures available.
There was a photograph of a dog holding three balls in its mouth on my notice board, put there with the idea of my doing a painting of it. I loved the image so much I thought it would make a great sculpture.
In my imagination the dog became a hound, I liked the idea of a rangy body, long limbs and big feet.
I started off by measuring my kiln to see how big I could make it. Then worked out how big the foot print of the sculpture would be in relationship to the finished size and marked my work table as a guide.
Next I made a small Marquette to help me visualize the outside shape as I would be coiling making a hollow form to make the dog.
Then got started rolling coils using a cone 5 clay.
sculpture Marquette Too fat Too tall working on the front legs and attaching them off with the tail Wrapped up while I work on the face. In the kiln ready for the first firing.
A couple weeks later she is totally dry and ready to be placed in the kiln. Whoops!
She won’t fit !!!!!! Well I never said math was one of my strong suites. Because she is triangle, she takes up more space than a more rectangle piece.
So now what to do…… call round all the potters I know to see if anyone has a kiln bigger than mine. No luck there. Okay time to amputate. Saw off the tail and reattach it pointing to the side. Now I do have quite a lot of experience in attaching dry clay together. (That was how I joined the totem-pole animals together, up to 5 animals standing on top of each other circa 1990)
Okay back in business once her tail is repositioned. She now fits inside the tape measurements marking the maximum size and therefore she should fit in the kiln.
All done.

