A Bear Mosaic

 

This photo is not too good, but perhaps you get the idea.  This will be a ceramic mosaic with a bear theme. In this picture, the greenware is drying.  Before I cut it apart, it was 12" wide and 20" tall .  Of course it will shrink, maybe about 12%.

 

I got the idea because I was thinking about how to make bigger pieces without either investing in a new kiln or taking the pieces out for firing.  One solution - at least for flat-ish wall pieces - seemed to be to construct bigger pieces out of smaller ones.  Hence, a mosaic or collage.  In further developments of this idea, it might be interesting to plan a piece so that the cuts formed a meaningful design in themselves.

 

The theme of this one is bears.  I especially liked adding the words with alphabet rubber stamps.  The top bear's label is "the priestess wears the starry crown."  The three bears in a row underneath the priestess are labeled "the bears go up the mountain to the ceremony."  The little bear at the lower left is "the dreamer dreams."  The bear in the middle at the right is "the hermit ponders."  And the big bear is "the elder keeps the key to all wisdom."