In this connection it is well to emphasize the fact that the greatest of all tools is the human thumb. Cultivate its use. Most modelling and building can be managed with the thumb, assisted by the fingers.
The Bat and How Made.—A plaster of paris bat will be found exceedingly useful. A sheet of thin, unsized paper serves well, however, for a surface on which to build; but the dry plaster of the bat absorbs the moisture of the clay at the bottom and hastens the stiffening process. This bat can be easily made. Take a small quantity of water (a half pint or more according to the size of the bat required), sift into this from the hand an equal amount of plaster of paris, and stir it in until a little dry plaster appears at the surface. After a little more vigorous stirring let it rest a few minutes and then pour it into tin pans which are 4 or 5 inches in diameter by 1 inch deep. The pans should be previously coated on the inside with a thick soap solution, made by dissolving soap in hot water to the consistency of a thick cream. The bats will harden in 10 or 15 minutes and may be easily removed from the pan, ready for use.
PROBLEM: A BOWL FOR FLOWERS
This problem naturally divides itself into six important steps, as follows: The design or profile; building and shaping; decoration, if any; firing (bisque); glazing; and firing the glaze.
Variety in dimensions
The Design or Profile.—As in all problems of decoration the first step is found in design. For present purposes we may consider a bowl as having a diameter as great as or greater than the height. The bowl will be more interesting from the standpoint of variety if there is a difference between its height and its greatest diameter, and also between its diameters at the top and at the bottom. The accompanying drawing shows such differences.
Suggestive profiles