When things go horribly wrong!!!

 This is a continuation of 'Adventures of the non-edible kind'!  I really apologise to those of you reading this hoping to read about cake-related adventures, but recently there have been more ceramic-related stories to be told!  :)
This one was very traumatic for everyone involved!  haha!  As you know, from one of my previous blogs, I have recently created some crazy-looking birds and an elephant.  I really enjoyed making this during the Art on the Map Open Studios event and grew very attached to them instantly due to the hard work and thought that I put into them!  I had carefully sculpted these creations, working on their individual personalities... then carefully bisque-fired them, after-which I put some different coloured oxides on them and fired them again.  I am always nervous when it is time for glazing because glazes are so permanent and if they go wrong it is often heart breaking for me!  haha!  I put these in for their glaze firing and a few days later I slowly opened the kiln, with that excitied, anxious, nervous feeling!!...  to find that I was incredibly happy with the end result and the glazes had worked perfectly!  Yey!!

HOWEVER....

...during the firing process one of the crazy looking birds had fallen (I can only imagine it had happened in the heat, because it was very secure when I closed that kiln lid!) onto the elephants head!  eeeeeek!  Like I said before, glazes are PERMANENT and this meant that the elephant and the bird were fused together!  Argh!

A hammer and chisel were the only answer!!!  It was so scary to be chiseling away at their heads while me sister held onto them and tried to help pull them apart.  At first nothing was happening and I realised I would have to hit them harder...  eeek!  ... and with one strong, steady wack...  they were seperated! 

whoop whoop!  

 And... dah daaaah!!!  :)  With only two little marks where they were attached, the elephant and the bird are now two seperate objects... phew!  I re-glaxed/oxide-ed them and put them back in the kiln (with extra care to keep them apart!) ... and who would know this had ever happened if I didn't share this adventure in my blog!?

And here, the finished birds!  Named by my big brother as Edgar,Otis and Rafiel!

And below...  the finished elephant.  Who is yet to find a name!

Special thanks to my sister, Joanna,for her bravery while I was hammering that chisel into my precious sculptures! :)