1. Begin by rolling out a slab of clay (MC 109) using either a slab roller (common slab rolling tool) or a basic rolling pin so that the resulting slab is 1/4 inch thick. Make sure to use enough clay that a 20" x 12".
2. Repeat. These slabs will be the front and back plates of the bag.
3. Decide which slab will be the front plate, then using a 5" PVC pipe as a guide, cut two 5" holes in the front plate that are evenly spaced with two inches between the holes and the bottom side and the near vertical edges.
4. While these two slabs are drying, create two more slabs using the same process that are also 20" x 12". These will be the top and bottom plates.
5. Finally, make two more slabs that measure 12" x 12". These, as you might guess, will be the remaining sides.
6. Make two slabs that are 11" x 15 3/4". These will be the cavities that the drawers will slide into.
7. Gently wrap one of the slabs around the 5" PVC pipe, then join the two edges together by scoring both sides (see step 8) and smooth the joint, then lower the pipe into one of the holes in the front plate.
8. The drawer cavity and the front plate will now be joined. The edges of both parts where they will meet will need to be scored, which means that a knife or other ceramic cutting tool should be used to make small incisions across the surface of the surfaces that will be joined. Do not cut all the way through. These incisions are to help the surfaces attach to each other.
9. Once the two surfaces have been scored, gently pinch clay from both parts together and work the clay together so that they eventually form one solid unit. Smooth the edge with the soft pad of your thumb or a soft rubber rib (a common clay tool that can be found with most other clay tools).
10. Leave the drawer cavity in its vertical position until it is firm enough to support this orientation on its own. Once this happens, repeat steps 7 & 8 for the remaining drawer. Once both drawers are drying in the vertical position, small braces will need to be made to attach to the cavities so the drawer will not fall when shifted into a horizontal orientation. These should be the same height as the distance between the bottom of the drawer opening to the front plate's base. Attach these using the scoring method mentioned in earlier steps.
11. While waiting for the drawer cavities to set, the remaining vertical plates can be attached to the base plate. (Provided they are hard enough to bend comfortably, but stand in a set position with foam braces).
12. Use the same scoring technique as before to attach these plates, but in this case, the clay will be more difficult to pinch together in its state of dryness. This calls for an application of slip. Slip is a mixture of clay and water. Mix a few ounces of clay with water until the clay is about the consistency of peanut butter. Now use this compound to assist in attaching the vertical plates to the base plate. Large, soft foam blocks may be implemented to keep the plates in a vertical position while attaching.
13. Once attached to the base plate, bend as desired to imitate folds of a bag.
14. Attach vertical plates to each other using scoring and slip as before. This step will require some creativity, as the folds must match each other where the attachment is made.
15. By this time, the drawer cavities should have set up long enough to be able to move with the front plate. Carefully move the front plate into position, and lower the drawer cavities into their horizontal positions.
16. Now the front plate can be attached to the the base plate and the other vertical plates. Use the same scoring and slipping method as before to do this.
17. Now retrieve the top plate of the sculpture. Provided that the vertical plates are strong enough (dry enough) to hold its weight, gently lower it onto the vertical plates. If the top plate is too wet, it will fall into your sculpture. If it is too dry, it will be impossible to attach to the vertical plates. Wet towels can be wrapped around the edges of the plates to maintain a certain level of moisture. Use this method to keep the plates in the most desirable state of dryness.
18. Slip and score to attach the top plate to the vertical plates.
19. Now the actual drawers can be assembled. Using a PVC pipe that is at least one inch smaller than the pipe used to create the cavities, dry two equally sized slabs that will become your drawers. These slabs will wrap only half way around the pipe and will be 10 inches long.20. Keep one end of the drawers slightly moist for the drawer plate attachment.
21. Cut two 6" x 1/4" thick circles to become the front plates of the drawers.
22. The same attaching method used for the drawer cavities can be used to attach the drawers to the drawer plates.
23. When the main sculpture and drawers are in a state of leather hardness, designs may be carved into the surfaces using any number of clay tools. I used mostly a needle tool, and a metal hook to carve away the larger grooves.
25. Post bisque firing, glazes can be applied. I applied blue majolica to the main plates, edged it with excellent black, and clear olive green was applied to the drawer faces. All glazes were applied with brushes, and were given at least three coats.
26. Now the piece may be glaze fired. Enjoy your new reliquary.
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