Tiki Tea Prototype

Today I worked on tea cups for the Tiki Tea Show at Eclectics. The show is not scheduled until July, but I am trying to plan ahead for a change. Normally I am a thrower, and I occasionally do a little coil building, but I wanted to give handbuilding with slabs a try this time. First I drew this little tiki design. I will carve the design into the clay slab and bisque fire it to use as a cup template. I have never tried making a cup template from clay so I hope it works, if not I will give lino cutting a try. I went ahead and carved one cup from the pattern just to see how it looks. I think this little guy has potential. I especially like the way the eyes bulge out a bit. I am sure he will be tweeked even more over the next couple of months. If all goes as planned there will be tiki cups galore in time for the show.