I've been developing a series of piggy banks to sell at the downtown art studio I work at. This Great White Sharky Bank came out particularly nicely.
The shark is made from ceramic clay, not polymer clay like most of my other sculpts. It is also much larger than my other sculptures. Here you can see the coin slot.
I went a little Pollock with the underglazes...
Sharks are neat. So are piggy banks. The term 'piggy bank' comes from the type of clay they used to use to make small dishes and containers, an orange clay called pygg. I cut a whole on the bottom of the shark for coins to come back out, and it's blocked by a rubber stopper. I still have traumatic memories of taking a hammer to my own piggy bank for a measly two bucks or so.
The type of ceramic clay I use (B-Mix) shrinks about 10-12% in the kiln. The Great White Sharky Bank wound up about this size, and can hold plenty of coins.
