Whenever I throw pots or sculpt something, I need to place the pieces on a wooden bat, to cover the wet clay with plastic, and to put them on a shelf to dry. To mark which pieces are mine (and without having to pull up the plastic to check), I like to put small ducks or duck heads on the outward-facing sides of those wooden bats. At a glance, I can see which pieces are mine, and just as importantly, other people can see which pieces are not theirs, you know. Moving the plastic sheeting can leave marks on the still-wet, vulnerable clay.Often, I just recycle these fowl pieces of clay, but other times I'll hold them, fire them in the kiln, and then use them for glaze tests. Some are the crudest bits of duckishness imaginable, and others are less crude, more finished.
With my last name, all of this makes perfect sense.
