This is a large bowl, like a bird bath. It is clay that was formed in a large mold made of plaster of paris. My very favorite potter tells me that she put a layer of goo of some sort on the surface of the mold but regardless, bits of the mold made it through the goo and stuck to the clay. The bowl came out of the mold ok, whole and all, but those bits of plaster spelled the end. Why not just put the bowl in the kiln for the first firing anyhow? Because those bits of plaster would make for an explosion. So the large bowl was squished and then squished again.
More trouble:
Each of these points should be all droopy. But the kiln didn't get hot enough. She is not sure why it didn't but we know she isn't happy. As they say, life is short and art is tricky and demanding. They also say that if you don't have failures, you aren't trying hard enough. She seems to be buying that idea.
