Scale: Why is everything so small?

As I got caught up in doll making over the past 5 years or so my focus zoomed in on a making a small face. And, as I worked with polymer clay the faces become very small - often no more than 1" across.  Detailed modeling is possible in polymer clay.  My favorite modeling tools to achieve this are a #1 aluminum knitting needle, a round wooden toothpick, the tip of an knife blade and my little finger nail.  The fingers on the hands you see at top of this page are about a half an inch long.

It has been in the back of my mind for awhile now to try my hand at ceramic clay.

I love it!  This clay gives me the opportunity to work on a larger scale, but I struggle to do it!  Think BIG. Some heads have been a little larger than others.   Finally, this head is about 8" tall.  Nothing ever gets any larger in the firing process.  In fact, this is likely to be about 20% smaller in the end.  Also, I am discovering how much the small polymer projects have conditioned me to fuss over every possible detail and surface.  I'm going to try to loosen up on that tendency as I work with ceramics clay.