Friday, September 28, 2007

More shrinking



Here are all three sizes of the Celtic Pony - 3.25", 1.5" and 7/8". I used the same glaze on all three, and fired them together, but for some reason the smallest one came out a very different shade of green. That's part of the fun of ceramics. You never know exactly what you are going to get until you open the kiln!

I have another neat trick with moldmaking that I want to share, but I need to color-correct the photos first. Hopefully I'll get those up this weekend.

Edit: I forgot to mention. I made another of the smallest size, and placed a tab on the back to make it a button. My only problem was that I didn't mark the mold before I pressed the clay, so I had to guess how to orient the tab. I guessed wrong, so it's oddly oriented relative the the direction of the pony. But it's a really cute button otherwise! And now I have the mold marked for the future.

2 comments:

Emily said...

Whoohoo, buttons! You're very right, the backing would need to be something able to withstand stress.. but I have no idea what would do the trick. I suppose they could also just be decorative buttons - they're sure cute enough!

And yes, heheh, kids do grow sooo fast. Brave woman, trying to knit for kids!

Lesli Kathman said...

What I tried on the one that I did was to form the back from the clay itself. I think it will be pretty sturdy. Maybe I should sew it on something my kids wear, and let them "crash test" it! :^)

That's how I tested the first few earthenware pendants I made. I strung them on necklaces and treated them like the rest of my jewelry, which is to say... carelessly! So far they have all held up fine.