How to Build a Where the Wild Things Are Reliquary

Overall Goal:

I wanted to create a reliquary based on my favorite book Where the Wild Things Are, by using a figurine I have of one of the characters from the book. When the reliquary project was introduced I had this image in my head of the arm of the character from the elbow up with the hand tilted back with Max’s crown sitting in the palm of the hand. I wanted to recreate the stripes on the arm as separate compartments with the hand as a separate attachment. I wanted to create the arm as if it were a puzzle because of the significance the book had to me as a child and the idea of a puzzle relating to childhood and playfulness. I wanted to create the crown to look like a paper crown a kid would make. I wanted the hand to look very rough and monster like with long curled up claws.

1. I started by building the top section of the arm by creating a slab about a ¼ of an inch think about 4-5 inches wide making the length on one side shorter than the other to create a smaller opening on top than the bottom

2. I then created another slab in the shape of a circle with about 4 ½ inches in diameter

3. I then created another slab in the shape of a circle about 2 inches bigger in diameter

4. I then created another slab about 4-5 inches wide with the length slightly longer then the length needed to wrap around the bottom

5. I repeated step 4 and 5 for the bottom section of the arm.

6. I then used the process of scoring and slipping, which is a process used to join clay together by creating openings in the areas being attached by scraping fine lines in various directions and then applying a layer of slip which is a paste of glue like clay or using water

7. I scored the areas on the bottom of the slab that would be the forearm and the top edge of the circle slab I then applied slip and wiggled them into place to secure the attachment using pressure

8. I then trimmed the edges to match up and have the right angle, I scored and slipped the ends of the slab that would attach together

9. I repeated step 7 and 8 for the middle section to match up to the top section.

10. I repeated steps 7 and 8 for the bottom section to match up to the middle section

11. Once the sections of the arm matched up and fit together I applied a flange under the bottom of the upper section and middle section by cutting out a circular slab that was slightly smaller than the inside of the sections it would fit into and I applied the flanges by slipping and scoring the areas together

12. I then created the hand by building the clay around my own hand for the palm and then built the fingers and thumbs separately and then the claws I then attached the fingers to the rest of the hand by using coils and working the clay together

13. I then aligned the bottom of the hand with the top section of the arm

14. I then created the crown by rolling out a slab about a ¼ of an inch thick and then cut out a rectangle about 6-7 inches wide and over a foot long

15. I slipped and scored the edges before attaching them together to form a cylinder

16. I then cut out an uneven zigzag pattern to give the illusion it was a paper crown cut out by a child

17. I then went and smoothed all the surfaces of the arm and crown with a rib

18. I rolled out slabs of clay about an 1/8 of an inch thin and then cut out strips of slabs about an inch wide and as long as I could cut it, I then cut out small triangles from the strips to create the scale texture for the arms

19. Starting from the bottom up to create the correct layered effect, I started attaching the scales in rows closely overlapped until the entire surface was covered with scales

20. I realized the hand was too heavy to support itself, so I realized the need for additional support for the hand, I created a faux book end as a support, by rolling out a slab about a cm think I cut out a rectangle 3 inches wide about 17 inches tall and another rectangle about an inch and a half wide and 4 ½ inches in length for a bottom for the book end

21. I then created an indentation for the bottom of the hand for the top of the book to slip into and another indentation for the bottom of the book in the stand for the book

22. To create the texture on the hand once the hand was dried out more I used my needle tool to scrape a texture into the hand using a cross hatching pattern to give it the texture of age and roughness

23. I used the needle tool on the fingers as well but only using lines running along the length of the fingers

24. I left the claws smooth and the crown smooth

25. I used the needle tool to carve into one edge of the book to create a page texture

26. I left the front of the book smooth in order to apply the decal of max

27. I cleaned up all edges and surfaces before firing

Final Glaze Map:

Bottom and top section of arm: 3 coats of majolica sprayed + 2 thick coats of Vivid orange sprayed

Middle Section of arm: 3 coats of majolica sprayed + 2 thick coats of Canary yellow sprayed

Hand: 2 coats of excellent black + 2 coats crawl brushed on roughly

Nails: 2 coats of majolica + 2 coats straw stain brushed on

Crown: 2 thick coats of majolica sprayed + 2 coats of yellow stain sprayed

Book end: 3 coats of majolica brushed on + 2 coats of Blue majolica brushed on; the decal was applied post firing and then refired

Decal:

I print out an image of max I wanted from the book, I then copied the outline and then drew into the image using a fine micron pen and then scanned the image into photoshop and shrunk the image down before printing the image onto the decal paper I then applied the decal on the surface of the book and it was fired again