Candle Holder??

Here's another something new that I tried this weekend.  The inspiration for this piece came from a video clip that my dad sent.  (http://www.wimp.com/puzzlejug/)  While I'm not up to making a puzzle jug, I thought that  the interlocking circles were really cool.  

I threw the vase shape and let it dry a bit.  I think I should have let it dry a little more than I did, but patience is really not one of my strengths.  I measured the circumference of the vase and worked out what size circles I wanted to use.  I marked where the centers should line up and then used a compass to mark the circles.  

That was the fun part.  The not so fun part involved cutting away the pieces that I needed to remove.  I may also regret starting this when the piece is dry and I have to sand it to remove all the sharp edges before firing.  I tried to be as careful as possible and smooth off edges as I worked, but I am sure I missed things.  It was getting late and I was hungry - not a combination for me to do my best work.  

I am less than pleased with the triangles that I cut out at the tops of the circles.  I should have been more careful with them to make them more uniform (the late/hungry thing contributed to this issue as well).  Now that I'm looking at it today, I think I need some cut outs at the bottom too.  I was a little worried about cutting away too much too low and ending up with a piece that was going to collapse under the weight of the clay left at the top.  For a first effort, it's not awful I guess.  Sometimes I need to do something the wrong way so that I can figure out the right way to do it next time.  Will there be a next time?  I really don't know.  It will depend on how much "fun" I have with it from here on.  

For reference (in case you weren't willing to watch the whole video from wimp.com in the link above), this is the jug from the Victoria and Albert Museum that inspired this piece.