Tardigrade on a Stool WIP

Finished Tardigrade #16

This piece is practice for my Tardigrade at a Lab Bench project.  The good news is that it's possible to balance a seated tardigrade on a stool.  The bad news is that I'm still making the tardigrades too large. 

It suddenly occurs to me that it looks like tardigrade is sitting on a massive butt plug.

Hallucigenia #3 WIP

Finished Hallucigenia sculptures

This is another upside down Hallucigenia.

Seated Tardigrade WIP

Finished Tardigrade #14

The Quest for the Perfect Seated Tardigrade Continues

The Mystery of the Seated Tardigrade WIP

Finished Tardigrade #13 sculpture

I made a seated tardigrade last year.  I'm trying to recreate it for another project, but even with the original object in front of me, I can't figure out how I did it.  I know I shaped it as a whole, cut it apart into rings, and then reassembled the rings.  This is what I came up with tonight and I think it completely fails to capture the feeling of the first one.

Danielle's Collection

This is the second-largest private collection of my ceramic work. 

Microscope and Tardigrade WIP

Finished Tiny Microscope

I have a new tardigrade project.  I have a commission to make a tardigrade seated at a lab bench with a microscope and petri dishes.  Tonight, I started to experiment with miniature microscopes and also made a new tardigrade, although these are not the microscopes and tardigrade I'll be using for the project.

Finished Tardigrade #12 sculpture

New Mouth and Eye Molds

I made a new series of eye molds with the eyes looking in different directions, cat and dragon eyes, and also a smiling mouth to go along with all the monstrous ones.

Larger Hallucigenia WIP

Finished Hallucigenia sculptures

This is another sculpture of the obsolete interpretation of Hallucigenia walking on spike-like structures.  It's larger and a little more detailed than the last one, but I only managed to fit five of the six pairs of legs.  At some point I want to try to make the more modern, more accurate Hallucigenia walking on its tentacle-like legs with the spines on its back, but what probably worked fine in a marine setting is difficult to balance in clay.

Practice Hallucigenia WIP

Finished Hallucigenia sculptures

Last night, I attempted to make a large Hallucigenia sculpture, but I couldn't get the spike-like legs to stay on so I destroyed it.  I tried again with a smaller, simpler piece.  The key was to attach the legs before the tentacle-like structures on the back.  Of course, this is all based on an obsolete interpretation of the fossil.  Hallucigenia really walked on the tentacle-like structures and had the spikes protruding from its back.

Eris Idol #2

I had the idea of making Eris idols similar to the Cthulhu idols, but it's a more human form and therefore more problematic.  I like this one better than the first one, but it's still an absurd distortion of a human form.  Also, the shadow looks like a penis and, from the back, it looks like a psychedelic dildo.

Zombi Jesus Love Cup

This is the last of my slab cups.  The design is based on this heart-shaped clay ornament from 2010.

Eye Cup #32

This is the last of this batch of eye cups.  I like the way the outside of the cup came out, but I regret using the mossy green glaze on the inside and handle.  I think it gives the whole thing a vomitous aura.

Wiwaxia WIP

I'm finally finished with all the major glazing from a large bisque load.  Now I'm starting a new building cycle with a Wiwaxia, a fossil sea creature from the Burgess Shale.

This one, unfortunately, didn't make it.

The new Wiwaxia along with an old one with broken spines and an illustration from Wonderful Life by Stephen Jay Gould.

Cockroach Cup #3

This is a slab mug with two molded cockroaches on the outside and one on the inside.

Cannabis Cup #2

This is a black slab cup with five Cannabis leaves on the outside and one on the inside.  I didn't use the Jade Green glaze on the inside leaf because the glaze is not food safe.