Week 17- in the kiln

The mid section template fit both the sculpture structure and the kiln. Work on mid sections began. Once fired the piece was checked for glass structure and composition quality. Although it seemed sound, I noticed that during the firing process some stress fractures occurred on the back and then fused. I decided to fuse again with a slower ramping program. I laid the piece face down on the kiln floor. The advantaged to this is I can make the face side flatter and add clear frit to the back to strengthen the piece. The disadvantage is that I will have to turn the piece and fire once again to have the face side shiny. The more fusing of reds and yellow the more affected the purity of those colors. After the second fuse the piece still looked good. I took the opportunity to add some glass to the front so that the large mountain lion will be more subtle.