Go Ahead, Call me Batty

A whole colony of bats just came out of the kiln!

I just finished a large set of 2"x2" Bat tiles in Northern Lights Glaze for a customer. This is the most bats I have ever made at the same time, so I thought it was worth documenting.  I love bats, I think they are adorable. If you look close, you can see that my bats are smiling:

close up of handmade ceramic bat tile

We have had a real, live bat end up in our studio on two separate occasions. The first one was flying in circles around the room, so we just turned off the lights, opened the door, and watched from a safe distance while he flew out. The second bat was roosting in the rafters and refused to budge, so I snuck up on him and put a shoebox over him, then slid a piece of cardboard behind him (the same way you trap a bug or spider for release.) Then I carried  the whole box outside a set it near a tree, to give the little guy something to climb up- it turns out bats can't fly from the ground, they need to have something to drop off of. When I came back 20 minutes later, there was no sign of him. That made me very happy. Be free, little bat!

Handmade Tiles Referenced: 

Arts and Crafts Tiles, Handmade Tile - , Emily Margaret Ulm


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