Okay, so my birds are still working their way closer to the soda kiln… I’ve added some colored details to the twigs & leaves! Not quite sure what I’m doing with the birds yet… I have too many options, but not enough decisions!!!

So I spent part of the night “processing” my clay… taking bags of kinda-wet reclaim, kinda-dry stoneware, and some random scraps of clay left over in a few bags sitting around my studio. It’s always nice to work them all together to make a “new” clay that is all evenly blended… and to get rid of a bunch of random clay bags lying around my studio!

Instead of wedging them all together, I like to alternate thinly sliced layers of each clay. Then I take the stack and cut it in half vertically… stacking one half on top of the other half. A little slam on the table, and then I repeat the slicing, stacking & slamming. Time after time. Eventually the clay layers thin out enough that the clay appears to be blended.

You can see that every time you slice and stack, the layers are getting thinner & thinner…

Sure, it still needs a little bit of wedging… but this is so much easier than wedging all of the clays together from the start!

The flock has flown into the kiln… ready for a bisque firing.
And let me just say, I’ll feel a LOT better when these have all successfully “survived” the bisque firing. So much safer when they are “solid” and not so fragile as when they’re just dried clay!

So they’re finally assembled… lidded jars with birds on them!
Wheelthrown & stamped lidded jars with handbuilt birds on branches as handles! I’ll let them sit out to dry slowly so I can put them into a bisque kiln early next week.

And then I need to figure out how I’m going to finish them… soda-fired, glazed, details, oxides, underglazes… so many options!!! And yes, there’s already a plan brewing…

Now that my birds have all been assembled, I let them sit in the damp box overnight to even out the moisture levels and let them “stiffen up” just a smidge. So tonight I started attaching them to the lids of the jars. Like avian handles… birds on twigs & leaves. I used a few folded yellow Post-it Notes to help prop-up and support the branches while they set-up. I had hoped to make the birds a bit more realistic… but these make me smile!

And slowly the “flock” is coming together… lots of feathers, lots of wings! The damp box is working great. I don’t do a “lot” of handbuilding… but this commission project requested “birds.”

So I’m giving them BIRDS!!!

It’s been kinda fun to watch these little guys come together. Every little piece you add makes them cuter & more magical.

First it was the tails… but then what a difference a beak can make!

Making leaves & adding heads… and loving the damp box!
Keeping everything in one place and at the right wetness to keep working with things!

Starting with some pinch pots… back to Handbuilding 101.

I’m not sure how long these “birds” will take me, and I want to keep them moist & workable. So I’ve added a plaster slab into the bottom of a plastic container. I just pour some water onto the plaster slab which soaks it up instantly… and a lot more water than you would expect. Then I can just set my pieces on top of the damp plaster, close the lid and everything will be pretty much as I left it… and ready for more attachments!

Still under wraps… procrastinating as usual these days… but gotta focus and get these moving along! Using some photo references to formulate my plan. This project is gonna be “for the birds.”

And no… this is NOT an episode of “Portlandia.”