Wanting to recreate a few of the bothies near us, I am making cardboard templates to get a rough idea of how large each part needs to be, taking into account the 50mm thickness of the clay and the 12% shrinkage. It's doing my head in!

There are no texture stamps for this size, so I carve every stone and tile by hand. While it is hugely enjoyable, it is also very time consuming. The carving is done when the clay has stiffened up to a leatherhard stage and I can manipulate the piece without distorting it.

These are the bothies on their base plate, just out of the kiln.

And these are the 2 versions of the bothies near us. Unfortunately, the green one has since had its doors and windows painted red... I sold all but one of each of them which I wanted to keep for further reference. They have a little light in them which looks like the fire is on in the bothy at night. Memories of evenings in the mountains for many a walker :)

While I'm waiting for pieces to dry, here's a flashback to my bothy making process.
Each hand decorated (no stamps used). These have a small light inside. Bothies are basic shelters in the mountains.
#bothy #ceramics #mountainbothy #scottishshelter #mountainshelter