Boats drying out

I spent the best part of this week finishing the flotilla and decorating my two large dishes. I rather like the colour of the pieces as their layers of sprayed slips begin to dry. (I now have a rather sore shoulder to pay for what was a very long spraying slip session. They are pretty heavy to lift in and out of my Wendy House spray booth and I applied several colours to each piece so not surprising).


The faces have been washed and rubbed with three different slips, brushed well in.



I have added a little jewel of colour ( I hope) on the sailor's collars to brighten them up a little. Other bits will rely on touches of glaze.



I slightly changed my mind about the 'plant barge', as the pots I threw just didn't look comfortable when I tried them in the slots. Instead it will be a 'fresh flower barge'. The vases are now extruded cylinders and I rather like the idea of masts with flags of flowers.

This evening everything is drying out slowly under polythene with the thinner section of oars and tails still wrapped in clingfilm. I did have a nasty scare the other evening as one boat started to capsise. It appeared to be being pulled over by the thinner section of the oar which was beginning to dry too fast. With some extra clay plugs from below as it lay sideways on foam and twenty four hours to even up I seem to have saved it, so far....never say die.