Getting A-head!

A Self Portrait

Yes, hollow -- just like the prototype!

02 May 2006: This has been bisque fired. There were a few problems, but all is not lost, the most obvious being that the front section of hair cracked loose. Probably I didn't get enough slip worked in there and got a bad bond (and an air bubble.) There is a small crack in the left jaw/beard section and a microscopic crack in the back of the neck. It is hoped that the glaze will bond the hairpiece (without sliding). There's not too many choices now!

The selected glaze (Mammo Yellow) has been applied and it's in the glaze fire queue.

09 May 2006: Well -- um -- at least it didn't explode! The previous cracks got bigger, not all that surprising. Enh, got an A anyway!

11 May 2006: At home, the flap of beard cracked off easily with a genteel smack from an 8 oz. hammer. Bumps and glaze bubbles were ground off, and everything put back together with a slow setting epoxy. The plan is to touch up the repairs with acrylic paint.

31 October 2006: Finally got around to a light patina of artists' acrylic paint to blend and mask the epoxy repairs. (It was entered and accepted in a local juried show.) Did a light coat of a color approximating the original glaze, followed by a light spatter with a darker shade, and then a lighter. Blends of yellow ochre, white, and burnt umber were used along with a good dose of matte medium to subdue the gloss.