The second project in ceramics was meant to be a prove that the hobby sticks after the debut was very warmly met. This time I was building something for myself. If it'd be awesome, I thought, nice and practical, I'd stay with the art for longer. It happened to be.
I came up with an idea of an incense cone furnace. I really do use the fragrance to make the space I live in actually habitable. And the examples on popular marketplaces didn't look difficult to replicate. Besides, I wanted it to reflect my recent obsession with the Spire ttRPG. The ongoing campaign revolved around eidolons - artifacts used to bind demons to the material world. The source books give only hints on what such items could look like: thus I refereed to one even older passion and used glyphs from Thief game for decoration.
^high quality blueprint. Meets all ISO quality standards.
This time the primary technique was modeling from a layer of clay. The basement and the furnace were modeled separately, attached to each other (after a week of drying to make them hard enough for carvings, including the gate opening) and carved. Final touch before first sintering was attachment of two round medallions with the Sun on the front and the Moon on the back side.
^the initial layer of clay. One starts quite simple...
^the furnace assembled but not decorated
^carvings done
The glazing involved five glaze colors in total: three matte for the medallions and two glossy for the outer walls and the inner side/ basement/ canopy.
^visual selection of glazes for once-sintered model
^just glazed. Unimpressive grayness before it is sintered for the second time...
The result exceeded my expectations! The glossy glaze plays really nice both on the carved and flat vertical surfaces (meaning, this time the painted layer thickness is alright). The size reduction after sintering was estimated quite well, allowing not only the conical incense but also (scented) tea candles to be used as fuel. The weight and shape of the thing make the use of it... satisfying.
P.S.
Actually, I love the way the inspiration wheel turned this time:
