Me and Bugs

I started this piece last Friday. That day I got the base done up to the necks.  Saturday I got the bunny head and the skull mostly finished, but didn't attach either of them. Sunday I attached the heads, carved the teeth on the skull and then added the ears.

It's a little freaky right now without the irises on the eyes. I mean, I know that's not the only reason it's kind of freaky. After all, it is a two headed sculpture with one skull head and one old-school Bugs Bunny head.

I have to finish the eyes yet and then I want to add a carrot-themed fascinator to the skull head. After that, I'll underglaze it before the first firing.

Those damn wire whiskers are going to be the death of me, I'm sure of it. They're embedded in the clay, but the slightest knock to them makes them pop out and tear up the clay around them. Next time I'll just put holes in and glue the whiskers in after its fired. (In fact, thinking about it now, I may pull them out while the piece is still wet and glue them in later.)

As part of my reference material, I used this series of images from the first "official" Bugs Bunny cartoon, Tex Avery's "A Wild Hare." (This cartoon was nominated for an Oscar, believe it or not.)

Just looking at that series of pictures cracks me up.

Here's a story about me and Bugs Bunny:

When I was in elementary school in the mid- to late-1970s, I used to come home every day and watch Looney Toons and Merrie Melody cartoons on TV. (They were on at 3:30 in the afternoon and I would never, ever miss them.) I so loved Bugs Bunny that when I was about eight years old and found out that he was voiced by Mel Blanc, I told my grandmother that I wanted to marry Mel Blanc. She said, "Who is Mel Blanc?" And when I told her that he did Bugs Bunny's voice, she said, "Those cartoons are so old! He's probably at least in his 80s by now."

Up until then I had no idea that I was watching cartoons made in the '40s! But it didn't matter. I still wanted to marry Mel Blanc.

So I guess this sculpture is a little bit about the idea of being married to Bugs Bunny and a little bit about the idea of keeping close the spirit of Bugs Bunny and embracing what he often represented: a kind of boundless joy mixed with humor and the absolute disregard for decorum except as an object of mockery.

Bugs was a big influence on me, now that I think about it.

The Latest Kiln

We fired a cone 3 kiln on the 5th and cracked and unloaded it the next day. It's all the usual suspects:

As per usual, I am more focused on the flaws rather than any successes. For example, the crack in the crook of the fox's arm got worse in this firing. (It's a garden piece anyway at this point.)
And the skin on this piece turned a sickly brownish green color, rather than the soft fawn brown it was supposed to be.

This calavera is close to being done. I want to put one more wash of dark underglaze on her to bring out the white of the bones and push back the hollows of her cheeks. But otherwise, she's finished.

Anyway, it's getting to be time to move on to some new work!