Post #810986 by MadDogMike on Sun, Oct 15, 2023 11:07 AM

Working on my piggy again. Rolled out a slab of brown clay and layered it over the Styrofoam form. Added ears, eyes, and a tail.

The plan is to split the pig and allow it to dry and firm up a bit. I coated the pig form with Modge Podge so that I can use it again if I want. I'll pull the two halves off the form and then rejoin them.

"If was at that moment he realized he had messed up"
I have used this technique several times without the Modge Podge. The tissue is stuck to the foam with paper, it serves as a mold release so the clay doesn't stick to the form. The paper sticks to the clay and I peel it off or it burns out in the kiln. Alternatively I dissolve the foam out of the clay with acetone. I don't have to split and rejoin the clay but I can't reuse the form. I thought I had a solution to save the form for later use in case I wanted to make another. But with no paper to serve as a release, the clay stuck to the form. I ended up using acetone so now the foam form is destroyed AND the pig is split.

Used a score and slip method to rejoin the pig halves.

Next, cut off the top of the pig to make a lid and added a lip to the lid so it doesn't slide around

Rolled another slab for the bottom, scored and slipped it on. Dished the bottom to form a "foot" or rim that the dish will rest on. This helps it to sit flat after firing. Check out the foot on any coffee cup (drink the coffee before turning it over ;) )

Rolled some clay coils to fill the seam inside between the sides and the new bottom

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2023-10-15 11:08:54 ]