Here's a view of what the inside looks like where the first and the second section meet. And there I am to give you some scale of how tall two sections are...about halfway there! Stay tuned, I hope it's going to go fast from here on up!

To prepar for the second section, I lay newspaper flat on the first one. I create some really fat coils that have a right angle on one corner to be on the inside of the ring on the second section. I let the coils set up until they are leather hard, so they won't stick too much to the newspaper. I go ahead and put the second coil and start shaping it to be flush with the first section.

Finishing off the first section!

Here is the top of the first section. I created a flange where the second section can rest and have a flat bottom to sit in the kiln. The inner oval is a loosely supported slab that will help with the top rim warping during the firing.

Stage 1

Here's the first section! (I forgot to take pics at the beginning...oops) This is a little under 2ft tall. The souls in relief and carved in are made as I built it up. I made stencils out of paper to trace onto the clay as I work my way up so they will be proportional.

How to Start...

I decided I wanted to do a sketch to scale to create this life-sized soul. The sketch is approximately 6ft tall. This will give me a guideline to see the proportions and contours as I build it rather that just guessing and getting something kind of wonky.

Another Article!

Wow, I've been really bad at keeping up with this blog thing! What can you do when your priority is to make the art? This is a little bit of a delayed reaction, but just wanted to let you know that I was chosen to be the Featured Artist in the January issue of the Laurel of Asheville. Although the February issue is on the stands now, you can still find the lovely article Paul Howey wrote online at www.thelaurelofasheville.com

Article in Rapid River!

Hi Everybody, Please check out the November edition of Rapid River Magazine. They interviewed me and wrote a really nice article about my work! It will be online sometime today and will be in print tomorrow. www.rapidrivermagazine.com

Also...don't forget about the River Arts District Studio Stroll!!! It's November 13 and 14 from 10am to 6pm each day. Look forward to seeing you then.