"Bastet" by Barbara J. Wickham

I've taken ceramic classes... and I can see how much work you put into this piece. I LOVE all the stylized detail and the functional design. Wonderful work! Smiles - Wendy

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Ceramics is alot of fun to work with, but without ready access to a studio or kiln I am grateful that I have polymer clay at my disposal. Still, I sure miss the messiness of wet clay.

The details are simple in design but it gave this a more primitive look and the inconsistent glazing only added to that. Gotta love sharing glazing pots with classmates. You never know what color you're going to end up with! *lol*

Thank you for taking the time to comment on my kitty!"

This is one of the best ceramics pieces I've seen.

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Thank you so much for expressing such wonderful praise for my work! I am completely humbled and flattered."

so cute!!! I want one. Wonderful job Barb!

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Thank you very much! I'm truely flattered.

I wish I could offer you one but one is all I have and I'm just too darned fond of it. "

From the pictures I’d have no idea that you hadn’t had much experince with pottery. But my little gripe (having more than a passing interest in ancient Egyptian culture) is that it shows basically no Egyptian styling or motifs. Real Egyptian sculpturs of Bastet and cats ar actually very stylish and elengent. Perhaps next time incorporate some of their features?

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "There was just something that clicked with me when I first handled clay. It brought me back to the days of play-doh and I had just as much fun as I did when I was a kid.

I would have loved to decorate my kitty a lot more, but at the time I was limited on confidence and knowledge. What I was going for was a very humble, earthy sculpture that might have been made by a simple craftsman for his wife to use in the kitchen-a small protector to look after the home.

Ceramics are out of my reach right now, but I absolutely love polymer clay. I hope to do a more exotic cat goddess type sculpture in the future. Egyptian art is gorgeous and makes for great inspiration!

Thank you so much for your gracious and thoughtful comments!"

Ooo, she is verily cute! What an adorable kittie to adorn your house! And she won’t meow back or dictate when cuddle time is ^_^ I love the stylizing you’ve given it with the whirls and slits cut out of it, gives it more personality than a nice smooth exterior ... ah yes, the kiln gods can be quite nasty sometimes! I spent hours whittling out the inside of my griffon sculpture so that it wouldn’t explode in the kiln ... and then many more hours piecing the thing back together as it fell apart while I was whittling it and trying to keep the thing wet enough over the weeks so that it wouldn’t crack ... the wings were the worst because when feathers cracked off it was nigh impossible to fit my fingers in there to put them back on! I’m only thankful that the dear wasn’t in the kiln when the other creation blew up ... I think I would have cried if it had been.

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Thank you, Liz! I really enjoyed the carving. The crafting of the shape was crucial, but I lived for the carving part. That’s why I love polymer clay so much. It’s like greenware all the time; just firm enough to carve and soft enough not to break from the pressure.

Argh! I remember the agony of spending hours perfecting a piece, then having to put it into the "community" kiln. There was ALWAYS one piece that went ballistic in the kiln. Talk about stress!

I finally came up with the idea of volunteering to help in the kiln room after class and this allowed me to get my work placed into a "safe zone". This was an arrangement of bricks that formed a small fortress-like enclosure and contained all of the teacher’s work and a few choice pieces. Yes, that was sneaky, but I worked my tail off in the studio, and in the kiln room and the instructor said I earned my place in the kiln. "

Ooh~! Beautiful! My mom is proud.

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Thank you! *is proud*"

Wow. Just WOW! Great job

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "I’m so happy you like it! I hope to do more sculpture work in the near future. "

Ooooh. I’ve loved Bastet since I made a comic where she was the main character! This is so creative and I would love to have it in my home!

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Thank you, Stephen!

I love primitive art and I really wanted to make something that would look like it could be found in an ancient Egyptian working class household. "

this is so clever-it could be a teapot or a cream pitcher for the kitties- yep, that’s what they suggest it should be.

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "It does pour beautifully and would make the purr-fect milk pitcher, but it’s a bit of a challenge to clean. Phooey!

If I ever make another one, it will have a more rounded body; no tight corners where the scrubber can’t reach. "

Ooh, this kind of puts my last art project to shame. I love the tail! Great work.

Barbara J. Wickham replies: "Awwww. Thank you very much, Melissa!

I’ve had innumerable failures in ceramics that will never see the light of day. This piece just happened to come together for me. At some point, you’ll rock a project that will put all the ones that didn’t go right out of your mind. Just keep having fun and the rest will take care of itself! "