White Rabbit

There's no way I could wait till the first day of March to show you my rabbit. I thought about adding some color to him but in the end I decided to keep him white, the natural color of the clay. He has a clear satin glaze to give him a little shine. He was made by pinching clay and is six inches tall and four inches wide. He's plump and a bit serious looking because he has a couple of secrets. He hides coins and if you say White Rabbit on the first day of the month he'll bring you good luck.

If only I can figure out a stopper to fit in the bottom. When I made him Michele of Meesh's Pottery advised me to make the opening on the bottom recessed. But he was already made and I didn't want to risk breaking his ears off so I left him alone. Michele makes awesome piggy banks. 

I tried a cork but the one I tried was too large and I promptly broke it in half. The opening is one inch. A quarter will easily fit through the slot and out the bottom. Perhaps I can find a rubber or wood stopper which will fit. I see this company has rubber, plastic, pvc, composition, and cork stoppers in all different sizes. Anyway he's happy to be here with or without a stopper till I have time to find one that fits. This post is part of Mud Colony what's happening in the studio. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Pleasingly Plump Rabbit

Today I found out there's more than meets the eye in the making of an animal bank. This pleasingly plump rabbit is hand pinched in three parts. Then the bottom is cut and carved open to allow for a cork. Next a slot is cut and carved in the back of the head for coins to be inserted. I have no idea if a cork will fit in the bottom hole or where to get that size cork and I hope after shrinkage a coin will still fit in the slot. But I do love this first rabbit bank I've made. He has a tentative and timid look on his face. He's hoping you'll accept him for who he is.

I could have called him a fat rabbit, but I have an aversion to using the word fat Why? Because a little over ten years ago I kept gaining weight due to a thyroid problem. I'd always been on the slender side so the sudden onslaught of unexplained weight gain was very disconcerting to me. Doctors repeatedly told me I must be sneaking food, (cookies and chips they said - I don't even eat those). The doctors said I must be over eating, over and over again they denied I had a problem. I got weaker and more tired and couldn't even walk 20 steps. After three long years and just before I slipped into a coma after begging the doctors to check further because I was sure there was something terribly wrong, they found out I had a low thyroid. My thyroid was so low they'd never seen anyone alive with that low of a thyroid.

After paying ten different doctors thousands and thousands of dollars, finally one accidentally figured out I had a problem, a simple problem easily found with a common blood test. Of course I've never lost all that weight and other problems have developed since then, but so far I'm still here. What happened to me makes me realize I don't always know what's behind the scenes, what someone else might be silently battling.

This pleasingly plump rabbit stands about 8 inches tall including his ears and is about five inches wide at the center. As I put him in the cabinet to dry he was asking me to make some rabbit friends to keep him company. I hope to be back in the studio again tomorrow to make more pleasingly 'plump' rabbits. Oh wait perhaps I should give him a little cotton tail. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.