Basic info on working with clay form "Experiencing Clay".

1. Experiencing Clay
Chapter 2

2. Working with clay
Know thy clay
Properties:
Plasticity-aged clay is
the best!
Shrinkage- know how
much your clay shrinks
when it dries and when
it is fired.Thin and
small pieces dry faster.
Thicker and larger clay
dries slowly

3. Texture: Clay can range from very course to
smooth clay. Grog is added to a clay body for
large, thick pieces. A smooth clay body is
good for wheel throwing and detail work
Moisture: Know how water affects your clay
body. TOO MUCH WATER IS BAD!!!
Keep project hydrated with a light mist and
covered in plastic

4. Clay that looks dry but feels cold is still wet and
will blow up in the kiln.
Handling Clay: Pay attention to how the clay feels.
How does the clay react to water? Raku gets
mushy, cracks, and becomes course.
Preparing clay:
Wedging- to work out any air bubbles and to
make the clay homogeneous.

5. SAFTEY!!!
1. Wear protective clothing! Bring an apron and
towel and was every week
2. Capture clay dust with water! Use a wet
sponge to clean tables. NO DRY SWEEPING
3. Don’t eat in the studio. Clay dust is harmful to
ingest.
4. Wear a dust mask or respirator. When
sanding, scraping, or mixing dry clay wear a
mask.
5.

6. Important Terms
Stages of clay:
Leather hard- when the clay has lost some moisture
and the clay body is the consistency of leather or
cheese and can stand on its own. Still workable
Bone Dry- The clay is dry but unfired and is fragile at
this state. Not malleable.
Bisque- After the first firing when moisture has been
taken out of the clay body. The clay is still porous with
no glaze.

7. Greenware- unfired pottery or sculpture.
coil- a cord of clay.
pinch pot- a pot created my pinching the clay into a
bowl shape.
Score- to rough up the surface of the clay to adhere
two separate pieces together.

8. Steps in Aesthetic
scanning
Use these steps to scan- make a visual inventory of your impressions of a
ceramic work. (Elements and Principles)
1. Sensory Qualities- Elements of design
Shape and Form- organic geometric/ cylinder, cube, sphere,
pyramid, ect..
Line- thick, thin,tapering /zig zag, implied, diagonal, curving
horizontal, vertical, parallel.
Color-hue, value, intensity, shade, transparent, translucent, opaque,
monochrome, polychrome.
Space- positive, negative, enclosed, open, deep, shallow.
Texture -rough, smooth, ridged, pebbly, grooved.

9. 2. Formal Qualities- Principles of design
Balance- symetrical, asymetrical, radial
Unity-Is there harmony?
Proportion & Size - length, width, height,
volume, weight, thickness.
Movement & Rhythm- repeated elements
Emphasis- an area that grabs your
attention.
Pattern - random or planned?

10. 3. Expressive Qualities- the feeling
Mood- How do you describe the feeling you
get from looking at the work?
Tension- How do the sensory and formal
qualities you’ve noted give you the sense of
the clay work’s energy?
Ideals- Sometimes work seems to express
an ideal.

11. Technical Qualities- How the clay was
created. What materials and techniques
Clay- what type of clay body was used?
Process- How was it formed?
Decoration- What technique was used on
the clay’s surface?
Firing- how was it fired?