After the sculpting is done and the clay has completely dried the piece is placed in the kiln for the  cone 04 bisque firing which will heat the clay to around 2,000 degrees Farenheit.  Once cooled the now hardened bisqueware is ready to be glazed.

For this particular piece I layered two separate underglazes (three coats each) down before applying  the  glaze.  When using semi transparent glazes the underglazes can alter the color and richness of the finished glaze.

I used a white low-fire glaze which included small crystals that melt during firing.  I painted an additional 3 layers of glaze for a total of nine coats including the underglaze for the background area of this piece.  After painting three coats of a brown low-fire glaze on the branches  the piece was loaded back into the kiln and fired to cone 06 (1870*F).

In the finished piece the true colors are finally visible including the milky white spots created by the glaze crystals.  This piece will be mounted and framed on a stained pine board and prepared for wall mounting.