Jane is in the kiln! Jane is in the kiln!

My bust of Jane Burden Morris is being fired in the kiln right now. A chunk that cracked off, and was repaired painstakingly, apparently went into the kiln without re-cracking. This does not mean it will no crack again in the firing! I'm keeping my fingers crossed really tightly.

That's why I'm happy I went though the trouble of making a mold. Whatever happens to this particular ceramic embodiment of Jane, I can make another version in a faithful likeness - all I need is another bag of clay. Working from a large and complex rubber mold remains a technical challenge (I had to try three times to perfect the technique). I may be re-inventing the wheel as usual, but I haven't heard of other ceramicists using rubber molds, the standard molding technique being slip-casting in plaster.