Bossk Dreidel

This is the second in a series of dreidels incorporating images/molds of the bounty hunters from The Empire Strikes Back. This one features Bossk the Tradoshan, seen very briefly glaring down at the disdainful Imperial officers in the film. The Hebrew letters have evolved into carved positive images instead of scratches on the surface of the clay. I'm still not happy with the gimel.

Gamorrean Column

This turned out looking somewhat satanic, but it's meant to be a Gamorrean, one of the pig-like guards from Jabba's palace in Return of the Jedi.














Maria lends the Gamorrean column an earring.

IG-88 Statue

I've been waiting for this piece to get finished for a long time. I'm pleased that I was finally able to recreate the clunky robot feet of the Kenner figure. I was making the IG-88 dreidel at the same time and the statue's feet have Hebrew letters on them (you can see the shin sides in the picture). My only complaint is that the statue's feet aren't exactly level and it wobbles as though it were Bender instead of IG-88.

Small Hallucigenia

An interpretation of one of the Burgess Shale animal freaks.



It just suddenly occurred to me that this looks a lot like my small dog taking a shit. I'm not sure why, but Hallucigenia always comes out dog-like for me.

Cat Column with Tongue and Cat Column Without

My Zuckuss Dilemma

This is a sculpture of the head of the Gand bounty hunter Zuckuss (not to be confused with his droid hetero lifemate 4-LOM).















Unfortunately, a piece of the column became detached, possibly due to an air pocket in the clay.














The detached piece still fits easily into the column,
















so I'm trying to find a way to reattach the piece during the glazing process.

Son of Skull Shroom

...because "Skull Shroom 2" sounds like a bad sequel.

Triangle Head Atavism

The Other Beholder Again

Here is the finished copy of my beholder. In my professional opinion, it was made by a boy in third or fourth grade. I like how the eyes are colored like green olives stuffed with pimentos. I like the raw primitivism of object to the right.

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Pig-like Entity

I'm out of new work again. This is an old sculpture of a pig-like entity, given to Maria, who collects objects shaped like pigs.

Opabinia

Another Burgess Shale monstrosity, this is Opabinia, a five-eyed, pincer-snouted sea creature which lived long ago and may or may not have contributed to the phyla of today.






An artist's conception of Opabinia.

Nun Progression

This is a series of clay objects made from a mold of a plaster statue of a nun with a bowtie. The clay wasn't thick enough to capture the detail for the object on the left, but I kept it for its blank larval countenance.











The nun with a bowtie is Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American citizen to be canonized by the Catholic Church.

Bill the Cat Column

This is an early Cat Column sculpture that was weighted incorrectly and couldn't stand up on its own. I've since adapted it as a garden decoration.

Pikaia the Burgess Shale Chordate

This is a new sculpture of Pikaia, the Burgess Shale chordate, to replace the one I sold. It was placed too close to one of supports used to layer the kiln shelves and the glaze stuck to the support. It's hard to see in the photo, but it's a rough, unglazed lump on the tail.

Chiqui

This was an attempt to memorialize my recently deceased dog Chiqui. I'm not used to sculpting realistic objects. The general shape of the muzzle is wrong and the nose is too bulbous. I also used red iron oxide for the darker coloring and I wish I had applied a much lighter coat or chosen a glaze instead. It came out too dark and the texture is rough and unpleasant.

IG-88 Dreidel

After seeing the IG-88 menorah, George said, "that's as good as Aaron's Dengar dreidel!"

It seemed like a great idea and I planned a whole series of ESB bounty hunter dreidels. While I waited for the molds of the other bounty hunters' heads to get fired, I made a prototype with IG-88.

I'm not entirely happy with it because it was marred during the glazing process. The glazed part of the clay can't touch the kiln shelf, so it has to be propped up on some metal spikes and they damaged the piece on the shin side when I removed them.

Also, it doesn't really spin very well and will probably break if I continue to test it.

Caterpillar Column

I'm out of new work again, but this is part of the series of column-like sculptures of Lewis Carroll characters. This was meant to be the Caterpillar, but could just as easily represent the Jabberwock.

Bat-Rat-Spider Head

I attempted to sculpt the bat-rat-spider from Angry Red Planet and got as far as the head, but I couldn't think of a way to make the long, thin spider legs in a way that the head would still be supported. Here is the head without the legs.

Warlock #2

This is a replacement for the warlock sculpture that was damaged by a falling shelf last month. I just wanted to point out that I have several new sculptures being glaze fired this week and not all of them are sequels or replacements. Thank you for your attention.

I got bored with my Living Forgotten Realms warlock character. The 4e powers all have great names but none of them was especially interesting to use. I'm presently playing Jarvix the one-horned Tiefling psion in Darksun Encounters. Thank you again for your attention.

Beholder #3

This is the finished Beholder #3, based on a sculpture made by an unknown child at the pottery studio in imitation of one of my first beholders. I'm not sure what those bumps on the big fangs are supposed to be, but I copied them anyway.










The copy







My original beholder

Butterfly Girl

This is an interpretation of the Butterfly Girl. Sorry about this, kids, but stay tuned; we've got some real good toy commercials coming right up, I swear.

Mouse Column

I'm waiting for new work to get fired. By that I mean for the clay objects to get bisque fired and glaze fired, not for me to get fired. I don't have any opportunities for getting fired at the moment.

These are from a series of column sculptures inspired by Lewis Carroll characters. This is the Mouse with a Sad Tale that Alice meets after falling into the pool of tears, not to be confused with the dormouse, the March Hare, the White Rabbit, or the guinea pigs. Sad Tail not pictured.

"A mouse - of a mouse - to a mouse - a mouse - O mouse!"




I had a mouse infestation at my house. At one point I considered attempting to evoke the Essential Mouse Deity to bargain with it, but it didn't work and the situation devolved into guerrilla warfare. I can imagine them holding a revolutionary victory party after I moved out.
I never actually attempted the evocation because I didn't think the egregore would be helpful even if it the operation was successful. I did get as far as designing the Mouse Pantacle and a mantra using the syllables from Alice's declension of the noun mouse:

Ovamaus Tuamaus Emaus Omaus

Weeping Giraluna

This giraluna has tentacle-like protrusions instead of the usual sharp petals. A few of the protrusions tend to break off every time I move it.