Expressive Judge ADORES These Pottery Animals - The Great Pottery Throw Down

I love the detail around the nose that you've got. Thank you. And I love the way the crackle has worked on the inside of the ears. You've got lots of detail in those feet, and actually there is something quite sinister about them. It's not a fluffy, cute animal, it's a wild animal, and you've actually showed that. And it's the kind of pose that you would expect a cub to be in, resting and nustling into the back like that. Really lovely, Gemma. Very well considered. Thank you. It's great. You know what I really like about these is you've managed to bulk up the surface to make it look like thick fur. There's actually a crack there. Is that where your build is? That's where they were cut. Yeah, you can see. My concern is that I don't know how they sit well as a family because when you sit them side by side, they've become a little bit too stiff. I was thinking royal corgis. Keith had asked you for flamboyance, and I think you've delivered it. And I love this textural quality that you've got into the back of the fish too. You've worked very hard with these. And you've really captured not only the essence of raccoon, but the essence of the animal as well. Thank you. For me, out of the two, I really like this. I love the reaction that the glaze has taken on. And as a piece, it's quite expressive. I just find the bird a bit stiff. You've worked hard to get that texture on, but it's almost like they're two different pieces. You've managed to get a really lovely texture on the surface of the monkey. That is quite extraordinary, actually. But there's something not quite right. It's not figurative enough and it's not abstract enough. It's kind of a halfway house, which I find a little bit difficult. They're the kind of objects that you could pick up, turn over, and then turn over again and see something completely different. They're like jewels. What I really love about this is that there's a fantastic relationship between the baby and the adult. I think also you've really captured the essence of the duck, which is exactly what we were looking for. You're the only person that has constructed your two animals on four feet. That's quite a risky but admirable thing to do. But just the detailing of the skin and the creasing in the ears, it's just what we expect to see when we see an elephant in front of us, isn't it? Obviously, if the tail hadn't have come off, they would have connected there. But I don't think it really detracts from the main form or the structure of the two animals together. OK, Kit, would you like to bring your rabbits up? And please be careful. I must say that I'm quite impressed because they were in pieces before they went in the kiln. Those stripes really worked in the raku firing. There's not enough sculptural elements to this piece for me. I wanted you to work into the clay a little bit more. The stand works in your favour because the actual rabbits themselves are a bit two-dimensional. Just remind us how this happened. With the tongs, I think there might have already been a little bit of a weak point there. There's some really subtle qualities to this. There's that mottling here and there's a very slight speckling to the surface. It's incredibly stylised, but it does resemble a penguin because the way you've cut it really does lend itself to the penguin form. Thank you very much. Well done. What I love about these, Reina, you could tell this was a penguin from 100 feet away. I see you at the bench, you're loud, you're wonderful, and you never stop bloody talking. Quite today, though. It's fantastic to see you really excel in this challenge.