While raw, Porcelain is soft, goopy and brittle material, so shaping, carving and polishing almost always breaks off fingers. I often have to reassemble the hands by tacking them together with raw slip, and smoothing out the patches into a flawless surface. When fired at high temperature, the clay becomes ceramic and all the parts fuse back together once more.

This is my first hand with long nails. I’ve always made exclusively short and natural nails for my dolls, as that is what I find most appealing. This is my first experiment with applying tiny porcelain nail extensions, and I’m curious to see if I dig the results.... and always, always pray to the kiln gods for a successful firing!