This centerpiece was custom designed as a wedding gift for my boss Keith and his beautiful bride, Renee. They chose a shell motif design for their invitation, which made my design choice easy. A slump mold was utilized to form the vessel. I started the project by rolling a good-sized slab of speckled brown clay and laid it inside the mold, working the slab into the bottom of the mold and leaving a raw, fluted edge. Next I rolled and formed the decorative shells and attached them with clay slip. This piece dried fairly quickly because the slump mold is made of plaster of Paris which draws the moisture out of the clay. Once the piece was bisque fired, I used a wide, thick, thirsty brush to apply a Mint Mist high-fire glaze, and then used a smaller brush to apply a Pearl high fire glaze on each of the shells. This project started with great skepticism, as it really looked "ugly" in the beginning. I would have never guessed it would turn out so graceful! I liked this design so much that I am now building another!