Firing the Fish and The Maui Fish

I saw this fish in a gallery in Maui, it is made of quarters and what appears to be paper currency. I was so fascinated with it I asked to take a picture of it, so here it is. Personally I don't understand any symbolism by the use of money except perhaps the cost of ahi at some of the local restaurants.

If you give a man a fish he will eat for a day, if you teach a man to fish he'll feed himself for a lifetime. True or not there is an element of truth...

Continue the fish story: If the fish you made is now dry and you have signed it and there are no sharp edges it can be fired. I fire to cone 04. This is called the bisque firing. After the kiln has cooled the fish can now be glazed. Check the glaze you purchased or made - to see what cone it is designed to be fired at - pay attention to the zeroes..if there is a zero in front of the number it means something, there is a huge difference between 04 and 4. Get a book on ceramics and study about this if so inclined but be aware of a difference! Glaze your fish as desired, I nearly always use at least 3 coats of glaze because I do not like a glaze-starved look on a fish, makes it look sickly I think. Fire to the cone stated on the jar of glaze. After experimenting with the process a few times you can get bold and try over firing a bit for different results.

I am looking forward to raku firing in a few weeks, always dramatic and risky. One year all of my raku pieces broke in the raku firings because I bisque fired to a higher temperature to make the pieces stronger (I thought) but they just crumbled when removed from the kiln because a raku firing requires an open bodied clay - not one fired to maturity. I need to remember this sorry and sad disaster.