Decision Is Months Away

I am working on a new vase carving. I haven't carved a vase in a long time. (I glazed a vase not too long ago, but I bisque fired and glazed it because it was too thin to be carved.) Dave threw this vase. It's probably a bit more than an inch thick.

You can see a little more of the texture in that photo. These are little ancient barnacle-like creatures inspired by the 1924 geology textbook that I keep in my workspace. They're mostly solid, just carved down and away from the small round hole that is carved into each one. Because it's mostly solid clay, the whole thing is pretty heavy. It's going to take a long time to dry.

It's taking a long time to carve, too. It was kind of an ambitious project for me and it's a bit tedious to boot. Getting to this point has taken a few days. (Though I've only been carving for about three hours at a time because it's murderous on my shoulder to carve vertical surfaces).

 

When it's bisqued, I'm going to slather it with iron oxide but leave the outside completely unglazed otherwise. The little holes will get a shot of some non-runny, shiny glaze, though I can't decide whether to make them dark little holes or light little holes. No hurry though; that decision is months away from needing to be made.