My neighbour had a turtle shell. I don’t know where he got, and I don’t want to know. I think he found it. Turtle shells are their bone. When they get old, and 6 shell would be the last to decompose

He loaned me the turtle shell. I rolled out clay and pressed it over the shell. This gave me a shallow dish with the imprint of the turtle shell design. I bisque fired this mould.

I returned the turtle shell to my neighbour.

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1023201175/turtle-pond-bowl-ceramic-serving-bowl

This shell would make an interesting bowl.

I rolled out a slab of clay. Layed it over the shell form and rolled it into the shell, transfering the shell pattern to the clay. I shapped a bowl. I sculpted little turtles and slipped and scored them to the edge of the bowl, three on each end. I painted the turtles with under-glaze. When the bowl was bone-dry, I bisque fired it I my kiln.

I painted 3 coats of my Randy’s Red glaze and put it back in my kiln for a glaze fire.

I like how the Randy Red glaze ‘breaks’ and the dark brown in the glaze goes into groves, enhancing the turtle shell.

The glaze term ‘break’ means that a glaze with two or three colours, one colour flows into a recessed area enhancing a mould or carved design.

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