Sculptural Hand-Building

This winter I decided to do another pottery class, this time in hand-building (where clay is molded using hands rather than a potter's wheel). During my first class, I made a fish!

For years we had gold fish, so I thought I would find it easy. But without a photo reference, I wasn't sure how big to make the fins or the mouth... (It's amazing the details one forgets when trying to draw or sculpt an animal from memory!)

In order to see what can be done using this technique, Terry and I drove across town to a gallery where my instructor has four pieces on display. (Three horses and one fox.)














I'm not sure I'll  be trying a horse (or any four legged animal) any day soon. But it was interesting to see what can be done in this medium. The sculptures are hollow. Venting air holes are needed so that the piece won't explode when baked in a kiln. In the case of this horse, the holes are hidden. (Pegs go into the holes to hang the horse on the background.)














But why are the holes in the front of the fox? They could have easily been put in a less visible spot. I'll  have to ask the instructor why she chose to make the venting holes look like gunshots... Or at least, that's the way they look to me!