The Ridiculous Mouse: MUS? Who is MUS?

Last Christmas I received a package of bronzclay and the container and charcoal I needed to fire the stuff.

Basically, Bronzclay is clay, until you fire it. Then, it's bronze. Real bronze. I'd had success (and fun) with the fine silver version (PMC 3), and I was really excited about the bronze.

Made with PMC 3

Unfortunately, the bronzclay is a bit different than the PMC 3. For one thing (one very big thing) instead of being minutes to fire, it was hours, many hours, 9 hours... it requires ramping the temp up slowly over six hours, then holding that temp for three. My kiln does not have a controller. It has a dial that has some numbers and "low, medium, high" and it has a pyrometer that shows me the temperature, but there is no way to set a specific temperature and hold it.

So, for 9 hours, I need to keep an eye on it, tweak the dial, try to get it to ramp up without getting too hot too fast, or too slow... then keep it at the right temp for the last 3 hours.

So, day one, I made the cute little bronze bowl, and let it dry, and day two, I fired it. And I was doing great, until, okay, so maybe, a bit past six hours... I may have wandered off for a few...

It overheated.

My bowl smooshed and strange crystals formed on the back. Interesting, but not exactly what I had in mind.

My husband Gary, having seen me spend many hours on this odd little object, looked at it and said,

"parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus"

(Yes, I live with a man who randomly speaks medieval Latin. You get used to it.)

What does that mean?

"The mountain goes into labor, and there is born a ridiculous mouse."

And well, there it is. I'm starting to sign my stuff MUS (Latin for mouse) and build a business identity around The Ridiculous Mouse.
It just... fits. So much time and effort... power tools, insanely hot fire... and in the end, I have a dainty little thing. Sometimes, a pretty silly dainty little thing.

Oh, and as for the bronzclay?