Tucson Desert Musicians

My take on the 'Bremer Stadtmusikenten' of Grimm's Fairy Tales.

In the story going back to mideval Germany, four ageing domestic animals, who after a lifetime of hard work are neglected and mistreated by their former masters decide to fight back. Standing on each others backs and singing noisily, they appear at a window at night, like a huge monster, scare the humans away, and take over the cottage Since I was a child I liked this story. It applies in so many forms and is time-less - mistreated underdogs will eventually unite, rebell, and be victorious.

My seemingly more playfull version replaces the German farm animals with desert creatures - burro, coyote, bobcat and roadrunner. Of course, all of them have their own problems as human development encroaches on the desert. The burro, although brought here by humans, is considered invasive, useless and destructive. Coyote and Bobcat are still persecuted as predators and considered 'vermin' in Arizona. The Roadrunner seems quite adaptable but is losing habitat as cities grow and food sources as he stands on top of a foodchain that ranges from insects to lizards and small birds, all declining in numbers as the climate gets hotter and drier

Ground Firing April 2026

Kiln opening my style: I fired with cow dung this morning, reached 950 Celsius and let it die down. When I came back after breakfast the ashes had slipped (rare with cow dung) and the cover shirts were exposed. What's under there??

All my critters are in one piece. They are still too hot to check for cracks, but I do not expect any. I used red clay from 2 new locations, both close to our good old Sonoita Highway site. The unslipped areas are very bright red, but the diffeent slips tuned that down well enough. I realize that one baby Javelina is missing. I'll find it when I empty out the ashes. I hope nobody drags it to Wildlife Rehab. Please keep in mind: young animals (real ones!) are sometimes on their own right now, but that does not mean they need to be picked up and 'rescued'. Mothers (in this case me!) will usually come back for them. Growing up in the wild is much better for the little ones than being cooped up in a rehab center.

Great Horned Owl turned out well, even his little pedestol that I first forgot and then stuffed into the flames of the already fully ablaze fire. All the smaller versions are also accounted for and looking good, next time I'll try to make some white-fluffy fledgelings.

Big Bunny, Toad, and Frog all came out looking pretty good - I'll just blow off all that ash. The toad was very black from carbon deposited during the warming-up wood-fire during which the critters were placed on the rim of the brick strukture, and the wind blew open flames directly at the toad which turned sooty black. After this warm-up, the sculptures were placed inside the enclosure and covered with dry cow dung paddies. Those immediately caught firre from the remaining coals of the wood fire. When the temperature rose over 700 Celsius, the carbon deposits were burned off and the red and ochre of the fired clay and slip stood out clean and bright. The light wind ensured beautiful oxidation.

Squirrel and some of the little owls were slipped with brown clay from the Marana Rock Disk Park. That clay not wet-strong enough to be used on its own, it slumps. But as a slip it works very well. I used reclaimed light clay from the Romero House for the sparrows, then decorated with my usual wild-clay slips. The clay is a cone 10, so probably needs much higher temps for vitrification. Maybe I'll refire later. The high-fire wire that the birds will sit on is firmly embedded and cause no cracks. I'm happy with the outcome of this firing, and it was very quick and easy.