Thinking of Fungi & Trying something new

In truth I was so fed up of making circles and ovoids I needed to do something different! I had been thinking about Chicken of the Woods, this is a highly sought after species of fungi that is meaty and tastes of chicken but it's hard to find. It's often found growing on old oak trees and you have to catch it at just the right moment or it becomes too tough to eat. It's a big, bright bold bracketing fungi, so I think that this is what I was thinking about when I made this piece. It didn't get any further than being bisqued because it broke!

Below an image of chicken of the woods growing in woodland.

Above is the finished piece before firing, I had used a new clay body called Lila, it had a very interesting toasty gold colour when fired to stoneware.I had built it on a round saggar, I was trying to create the idea of fungi growing on a substrate and it was fired on the saggar. One of the fluted segments blew off in the firing, I think I had omitted to create a small hole to allow moisture to escape so it hadn't dried properly.

Despite the breakage I did quite like the overall effect but I did wonder whether I was tipping over into making fungi that was too derivative of the an actual variety so I did not continue with this piece. I wouldn't completely abandon the idea but again it needs more experimentation and I was mindful that this was another potential distraction.