The eyes have it
The nose knows
Everyone needs a mouth
Take a little break....
Express Yourself
Flipping the lid
Underglazed details
Ready to dry
He’s obviously a sweetie – he’s got several little bee friends visiting.
I introduce you to Benjamin…no (are you ready for this) ….
Ben Stung!
It's not done yet - drying, bisquing, glazing and the knowledge that at any point he could shatter or explode - it will be a few weeks before Ben Stung is ready for his debut on http://facejugsbysun,blogspot.com/ but watch here for the finishing of Ben.
I introduce you to Benjamin…no (are you ready for this) ….
Ben Stung!
It's not done yet - drying, bisquing, glazing and the knowledge that at any point he could shatter or explode - it will be a few weeks before Ben Stung is ready for his debut on http://facejugsbysun,blogspot.com/ but watch here for the finishing of Ben.
Made it through the Bisque!
He's transparent
Waxing - but not bikini
The green goo on Ben's eyes and bottom, as well as on the rim of his hat/lid is a wax that will keep a coloured glaze from covering the white clay and will stop glaze from coating the clay where the face jug will be setting on a kin shelf. Glaze that hits the shelf will attach Ben to the shelf (creating a very large base that is not ever intended!)and/or create a terrible mess for clean up. Other kiln users truly appreciate it when you do not cover the shelves they need in glaze.
And so he is glazed
And now Ben Stung has glaze. Each face jug is glazed different, to suit the personality. In Ben's case his hat/lid is done in transparent. The speckles in the dark clay will create a lovely texture for his hat and it will preserve the yellow bees. You can see how the wax has resisted the glaze and left the eyes, teeth, and bees their proper colours. The colour chosen for his face will not be revealed at this time. Why? Because it is not all that unusual for the glaze to come out a different colour than chosen and creating false expectations at this point isn't sensible (and would make it appear that I don't know what I'm doing).
In fact, look long and hard at him now because this could be the past time Ben is seen. The glaze firing has a few dangers:
- Glaze running and sticking to the shelf in a way that destroys Ben when he's removed;
- The glaze being a colour you can't possibly abide and it's only fair to put Ben out of his misery;
- A fault that made it through the bisque firing takes this opportunity to explode (and will destroy the pieces adjacent in the kiln, as well as maiming Ben);
- The glaze "crawls", leaving unsightly bald patches which can be refired, but seldomly prove successful;
- A succesful firing can turn horribly wrong, and the base of the piece can inexplicably drop out, even a couple of days later; and
- Never forget that in the course of unloading, things have been known to drop when handled carelessly!
So keep an eye here. I hope that none of these things happen and Ben Stung will make his debut here in the next couple of days!
Ben Stung here - making his official debut! Nothing exploded, ran, stuck, dropped... we seem to be home free! And his story? Well:
Ben Stung has a healthy fear of bees;
At the pain of their sting, he won’t sneeze.
The bees all know that he is afraid;
They’ve all come to visit and have stayed!
At the pain of their sting, he won’t sneeze.
The bees all know that he is afraid;
They’ve all come to visit and have stayed!
Ben is 5 inches tall without his bees covered chapeau. The hat/lid increasees his height to 7 inches. While the glaze didn't come out quite as expected, it is a nice compliment to his hat and shows off his friends the bees quite nicely!
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