Everything can’t always go according to plan.
The large bridge, along with the other large pieces were fired Monday. I went down to the studio Tuesday evening to unload. I was very disappointed and heartbroken that my bridge not only warped more than expected, but it cracked about three inches on one of the archway seams.
Here’s the good side
It was a difficult project to master first try. For one, I was dealing with 40 pounds of wet paper clay, just the weight alone was difficult to manipulate and move. I was uncertain how such a heavy mass would react under such high temperatures, though I may have had too much faith in the type of clay I was using.
This kind of stuff happens and I did learn a lot from my mistakes. I spent a great amount of time reinforcing the connection between the pathway and the arches. I knew this area was proned to splitting from previous examples of smaller models. Because of it’s size, the archway had to be constructed into three pieces. I carefully attached them together using slip and filled in any creases but I should have maybe attached them on an angle instead of side by side. This would have given it more strength at those weak points.
Besides the bad news, all the other pieces came out beautifully. They’re a little darker than I expected but the colors are vibrant and consistent which was another aspect I was worried about. Because of the shear size, I had to guess the happy medium between too much glaze and not enough. If too much glaze was applied, it could run and stick to the shelf and because it had so much vertical surface area to do that, I was extremely cautious.
That’s all I have for tonight.
Jayn
Caving Inn 