Flamingos

The girls that made these cute sculptures insisted that they were flamingos without legs, not purple swans!  But if you wanted to build a swan, you could build it the exact same way!    

Start with two equal pieces of clay about the size of a ping pong ball and make them both into spheres.  Use your thumb to push into the center of the sphere and then squeeze around the sides to create a pinch pot.  Do this to both spheres.  Next scratch the rim of each of the pinch pots and attach them together, smoothing out the seam as you go.  This will create the hollow body of your flamingo.  Take your time to shape it or smooth it if its a little bit lumpy.  Pinch one end of the body with your fingers to create the pointier tail end of your flamingo.  Using another piece of clay, roll out a small snake or coil of clay to create the neck and head, I like to keep the ends of the coil a little bit thicker than the middle for this.  Scratch-to-attach on the base of the coil to the body, blend it in well and then position the neck as desired.  Use your fingers to round out the head, then add on a small cone shape of clay for the beak.  You can add a flat oval shape to each side of the body if you want to add on wings.  Then finish it off by adding on details to the face or some feather textures to the wings and body using your tools.  Dry, bisque fire, glaze and fire again to finish.....remember that your flamingo can be what ever color you want!  

!!! B CR8IV!!!