Do you know the nursery rhyme about counting magpies that starts with “one for sorrow, two for joy?” The superstition is that the number of magpies you see will foretell whether there will be sorrow or joy, bad luck or good luck. (And if you see a single magpie, tradition says to greet it with a cheerful “good morning!” to ward off any bad luck. )( or you can look for a second magpie!!)
There aren’t magpies in San Diego, but when I was traveling abroad this spring I saw lots of them. It inspired this design which features magpies, and of course there is a pair of them, “two for joy”.
The small leaves that represent the tree branches are sprigs of oregano that I grow in my garden. I press the leaves into soft clay using a regular kitchen rolling pin. I love the detailed impressions left in the clay and it’s very satisfying to pull the leaves off. The little birds were sculpted from the same clay and I attach them using liquified clay, which makes the birds a permanent part of the ceramic dish. After the dish dries, I fire the dish in a pottery kiln to harden the clay. Then I add colored stains and Underglaze to color the leaves and birds. After a coating of glaze, I fire the piece in the kiln one more time to even higher temperatures of 2250°F/1200°C. At these temperatures, the clay becomes vitrified ceramic, and the glaze transforms into a thin clear coating of glass. I add some touches of real 22kt gold and fire the piece one last time in the kiln. Wishing you all great joy to come. #artprocess #clay

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