I never made birds until recently because my friend Connie, who passed away last year, made them. Connie and I met in ceramic class in California. Now whenever I make a bird I think of Connie. The blue bird above is one which Connie made; Connie could make a lump of clay look so good. It's made from a solid lump of Rod's Mix clay, is about 2 x 1 1/2 inches, was fired in a reduction atmosphere, with blue flambe glaze which gives those nice blue speckles. (If you click the link of Connie's name you'll be taken to another post I did of Connie's work).
Each time I make a bird I think they turn out a little better looking. I may practice making some stand alone birds to improve my skill. Here's another bird basket I made the other day. For this one I've used the speckled stoneware with white slip and made a twisted ribbon and handle. I like the mottled surface of the basket with the contrasting slip and clay, but I'm not sure this surface goes with this style of bird basket. I think these bird baskets look better with a solid color glaze. I'd like to explore these mottled surfaces more on other pieces however.
