Mary Playing with Her Baby

David and I have a tradition that was started when we were first married to give one another nativities for Christmas. I wanted to give him something special this year. I only had time to make Mary and Jesus this year. He'll get Joseph next year. This doll portrays Mary playing "Airplane" with her baby. She is laughing. It's been difficult getting a good picture of this doll. She looks like she's about to eat the baby!
I had so many challenges and disappointments while making this doll. There was a lot of cracking of the clay when it was fired, and pieces that would break off when assembling her. The first time I finished a head sculpt, I forgot to check the temperature of the oven after making dinner, and burned it black. The oven was set for 400 degrees. It should have been 275! I was really upset and took the evening off, and started new the next day. Her ears kept on breaking off, and I got cracks in her hands when I attached them to her arms. I ended up covering the broken off ears with her hair, and mended the cracks in the hands with more sculpey and refired it. It was a challenge to get Mary to keep her arms raised, and I ended up using invisible thread sewn to the baby's diaper and then wrapped around Mary's neck to accomplish this. She's definitely not a perfect doll, but I learned a lot that I am now applying while making the next one. When I finished her, I told dave that I wanted to cry. He told me he did too and that she was beautiful! I sure do love that man!