Post #686911 by TikiAno on Mon, Jul 22, 2013 4:35 PM

Here's the update on the Anthropologist Stew Cannibal Bowl. Last week I started glazing it- used 7 glazes to put details into the limbs, fingernails, hiking boots, shoelaces, and socks.

I had tested a lot of my glazes on this black clay body, wasn't too thrilled with how they came out- it seemed the clay would suck out any gloss in a usually-high gloss glaze. I decided to take a risk and use a white underglaze on the interior of the bowl to help the top glaze come through a bit more. My plan had always been to leave the outside of the kettle unglazed- this clay fires to a rich black when it's fired. I let the white underglaze dry, then grabbed a different jar of glaze and started coating the inside...

Oops! Having already done all of the details on the outside of the bowl, I accidentally used the same glaze for the interior layer as the hiking boots!

I used a sponge and removed all of the "root beer" glaze, along with the white underglaze. I was laughing, but it took a while. Once it was all gone, I left it out to dry, then painted the underglaze on once again.

Then added the "correct" glaze on top of the white.

I had also added extra glaze under where the hand had fallen off the bottom of the bowl when bisque fired. My fingers were crossed, not having used glaze to fuze broken pieces that had fallen apart during firings (though Mike and Wendy assured me that it would work). Today I went back to the clay studio, slightly concerned how things would work out.

The repair had worked, the glaze colors looked great. First look:

Side view: hands on one side, and hiking boots on the other, act as the "legs" for this bowl:

Close up: Hiking boots:

The black clay can have some strange side effects- the skin color was not supposed to look like a zombie grey- though I'd like to say that the anthropologist has been "stewing" for a while. The fingernails did turn out well:

Only one issue w/ the interior glaze- not sure if it was due to the white underglaze, but some of the glaze cracked off as I examined the piece (visible in an earlier picture). I decided to use a dremel and grind off some of the glaze- due to this fact I'd say that this bowl should be used for display ONLY, not for drinks. :(

I am working on one last addition to the bowl, and may be adding some acrylic paint to make the edges of the bowl interior more "finished." The grinding left a slight white mark along the edge.

In any case, it was a fun and interesting process, hope you- or whoever gets this- enjoys.

[ Edited by: TikiAno 2013-07-22 18:42 ]