Ceramic Jack-O-Lantern Skull

A couple of days ago I used a certain "C" word referring to a holiday that has yet to come this year. Let me step back a bit to get us all prepped for the one of the most favorite holidays of skull lovers, Halloween. Shelley Spranza has sent us this raku fired jack-o'-lantern skull that is sure to put us in the appropriate mood.

This is only one of numerous jack-o-lanterns produced by Shelley. She makes each one by hand so they are as unique as the people who purchase them. Be sure to check out her blog to find more fired up works of scariness, or visit her store to acquire one of your own. Thanks for sharing, Shelley!

Raku Skulls

Shelley Spranza "made a few of these for a friend, who is a big fan of skulls. This one is Raku fired, which means it was brought up to about 1850 degrees very quickly, then pulled out of the Raku kiln while still hot. While it was hot, I draped individual strands of horsehair over it to give it that neat "squiggly" effect. I painted in the black eyes, nose, and teeth with a low fire glaze before firing."

Raku firing lends it's self to creating unusual patterns on ceramics. The variation of using horse hair to achieve a veined look is unusual and refreshing. With such a visually complicated design, it's great that she kept the skull shape simplified. The use of deep black for the facial details gives a bold break in the pattern of the horse hair. The pattern is almost map like, which leaves my mind wandering and imagining what places the paths would take me to. You can see more of Shelly's work in her Etsy shop.

Super Sinister Skullpture Saturday

Recdently my wife had the pleasure of visiting friends in the beautiful Denver, Colorado area. She was in love with the mountain air, the friendly folks, and the overall culture when she happened to embark upon a mission to find me a locally made skullpture for my collection. Well, after a good lead from another shop owner they arrived at the Green Horse Gallery in Manitou Springs, CO. Her expedition led her to the works of a great artist by the name of Dan Loftis.



I got more info from Dan on his techniques, "All of my skulls are original, one of a kind creations. I use a stoneware or raku clay and I fire them with an ancient Japanese raku firing method. There's two techniques I use when I reduce my pieces, that's why some have a cracked appearance and others have the multi-colored metallic finish."





"My main influence is Brom, but there are others that have inspired me as well. People like Todd McFarlane, Stan Winston and Tim Burton."





"The reason I make skulls is something I've never really thought about before. I guess I've always been a fan of darker things, even as a child. Most of my creations are of a evil or scary nature so skulls go hand in hand with everything else that I make. Also, skulls are frickin' awesome! Why wouldn't I make them?"



You can't argue with logic like that, Dan. The raku fired skull that my wife picked up for me(like the one in pic#2) is definitely one of the more unique pieces adorning my dresser. Thanks for sharing all of the wonderful pieces you've created and I wish you the best of luck in your mile high endeavors.