Mouth Monster Sculpture Out of Earthenware Low Fire Clay

I love the weird and wild. So I decided to try and create something different, but still functional. This is a ring jug sculpted into a creepy and whimsical monster.

I used 3 pounds of white Earthenware clay, various underglazes (I used Speedball brand), various sculpting & clay tools, sponges, water and slip (slip is simply clay mixed with water) and a pottery wheel. Don't forget your most important tool... your imagination!!!

Using the 3lbs. of clay, I made an enclosed doughnut ring shape. I followed a random tutorial on youtube to learn how to make this shape. I wired it off the bat and allowed it to dry covered until it was leather hard.

After the ring jug was leather hard I was able to add some details. I started off using clumps of clay and shaping them into basic feet. Once I had the shape I wanted I scored the ring jug (scratched both points where I want to attach) and attached them with slip. I allowed them to dry a bit before standing the creature up on the feet. I then formed teeth, tongue and an uvula using clay, scored and attached them using slip. Using a damp sponge and small damp paintbrush I smoothed out the surface clay of the ring jug and around the items I added.

I imagined this being a 2 sided creature. The main side being a mouth and the back side an eye. So I began by adding a spout, which was basically a tube attached to the ring jug. I did cut a small hole in the top of the jug before attaching the spout so that it would be functional if anyone ever wanted to use it for holding liquids. I then formed small snakes of clay and added them using slip to form handles. I also added some detailed monster fingers to the handles to make it look like arms and hands, rather than plain old handles. I took small pieces of clay and attached them to the eye side to look like veins.

Next I decided to add monster feet to the front side. I did this the same way as adding the fingers. I rolled out small pieces of clay, attached using slip and made some marks on it to make it look more realistic. I then used underglaze to paint colors on some of the parts. Next is the waiting for the sculpture to be completely dry before putting it into the kiln for a bisque firing at cone 05.

(Please notice the small cracks on the front of the sculpture around the ring, I tried to smooth these cracks out and reinforce them before firing the piece)

Unfortunately, those small cracks did not get repaired sufficiently before the bisque firing and this is the end result. It's ok.... part of working with clay is to never get too attached to a piece before its totally finished, AND I learned a lot while sculpting the piece. I hope you did too!