There’s a particular kind of mess that takes over the studio when the monsters are in the make. Little limbs queued up on a board. Pairs of eyes drying on a tile. A row of round bellies, each one waiting for a face. It’s chaos, but the good sort.
So I thought I’d show you how these little guys come to be. The short answer: very slowly, and almost entirely with my fingers.
How a lump of clay grows a face
Every monster starts as a pinched, hollow body, built up in my hands a bit at a time. The belly has to be hollow or it would crack in the kiln, so the trapped air needs a tiny escape hatch. Sometimes that’s a mouth, sometimes a nostril, sometimes a cheeky little belly button.
Then the personality starts arriving. Ears get pinched and pressed on. Feet are rolled and given toes one at a time. Eyes are made separately and pushed home, and that’s the moment the monster suddenly looks at you. I love discovering who they are as I go.
Then come two trips through the fire, once for bisque and once for glaze, and the glaze is where the real surprises happen. I never quite know which monster’s going to come out looking smug, startled or delighted with itself. Fingers and toes crossed every time!
No two ever come out the same. They couldn’t if I tried.
A smaller drop than I’d planned
Now for the slightly bittersweet bit. The monsters have been a hit at the local markets these last few weeks. Far more found new homes than I’d dared hope, which means fewer have made it back to the studio shelf for the website drop.
I’d rather tell you straight than quietly put a smaller drop online and hope nobody notices. Every one is hand-built and one of a kind, so the next batch will look related but never the same.
If one catches your eye when the shop opens, don’t dawdle! And if your favourite slips away, there are more in the makings. I’ll let you know when the next batch lands.
