Ceramic Gator 12/1/25

This is a piece I made in my ceramics class at Texas State. The assignment was to create an animal out of three connected pinch pots. I began with the largest pinch pot, which was the torso. The next largest pinch pot was the head, and lastly the tail. The most difficult part was creating and attaching the tiny teeth to the jaw. To create its color, I used a very old technique called “raku” firing. It involved brushing on the colored glaze, then setting the piece into a kiln that reaches thousands of degrees. After around an hour, I reached into the kiln with tongs and set my piece onto a newspaper that quickly caught on fire. I then smothered the piece with a bucket and began fanning it, until a combustion/explosion happens. Then I let the piece rest under the bucket overnight. This process of glazing and firing was very fun and I would love to do it again some day. I’m happy with the unique colors that resulted from this process.