Part of being an artist is learning through experience. Not everything works as it should. These two pieces took hours to make, but in the end, had too many defects to ever sell, so they go into my increasing inventory of rejects.
The oak leaf chip and dip had numerous stress fractures from drying too quickly. I have made a few more, and am changing the way I made them. This time, I have made the leaves and chip and dip, and allowed them to dry together in a plastic bag so they reach the same moisture content. Hoping that when I attach the leaves, they will have a better chance of surviving.
The bird feeder failed because I managed to knock some of the petals off when I was loading it into the kiln. They are fixed now with glaze, but if you look closely you can see the cracks. I like the idea of this bird feeder. It holds a surprising amount of thistle seed, and I can’t wait to see the bright yellow goldfinches sitting among the bright yellow flowers, so I will give it another shot. 
If you ever wonder why handmade items cost so much, it is because lots of failures go into the final piece.
