Right now I have several sculptures in varying stages of the process-

One of the ‘pool’ sculptures (started here) has now been fired and glazed. This is not finished, though- I’ll be adding translucent green resin to fill the inside, and making porcelain nymphs who stand in the water. I decided to leave the outside of the walls unglazed, because I prefer the look of the bare porcelain, but I sanded the surface so it has a smooth finish like stone. I did put a clear transparent glaze on the inside, which is mainly to seal it and make it completely watertight for when I pour in the resin later. The resin will not entirely fill the pool up to the top, so a bit of the glazed area will still be visible on the inside walls, giving it a wet look. I also glazed the “dots” on the outside, because I plan to add gold luster there (gold luster needs a base coat of clear glaze underneath it. The gold luster will need to go through another kiln firing.)

My other pool sculpture has gone through a bisque firing but has not had a glaze firing yet. At this stage I sanded the entire surface inside and out. Since the porcelain is not fully high-fired at this stage, it’s a bit softer and easier to sand now. I do the sanding while the porcelain is soaked in water, so as not to create airborne dust. Pictured here it is still a bit wet from sanding. It is still in two separate halves, because they’re designed for the maximum size that will fit in the kiln, but later I will connect them together. Unfortunately there is already a small crack in one of the pieces from the first kiln firing , which I will try to repair, but it may not make it through the glaze firing without breaking. (Large, flat shapes are particularly difficult).

Meanwhile, my porcelain “cloud-bands” have been slowly air-drying for a couple weeks, and are just about ready to go in the first kiln firing. The sculpture has been drying on top of a screen so as to get air circulation underneath it, so it dries evenly on all sides.