working with clay

Does anybody here work with clay? I'm taking ceramics 1 in school and so far i've made a coil pot, a pumpkin, a wall hanging and a box by hand.

No, I haven't done any work with clay since elementary school. I do have neighbors who are potters. She teaches lessons, and they have a little shop around the corner from their house. They manage to support their family of four on the income, and are really nice people.

Could you post some pics of what you have done? I'm assuming it looks better than the 2 legged skunk I made years ago.

i've taken probably every art class i can think of...lol ceramics probably was one that i wasnt amazing at....but i enjoyed it...

I was taking it up as a hobby when I had to quit because of health and then life got in the way (we moved and I had to give up my studio that I'd made from a converted tack room in the stable) and since I've been working on this house and haven't had bloody TIME like I wish I did because if I'm not working on the house I feel guilty . Somehow "wasting" time on the computer doesn't count !

I've still got my kiln (an older "seat of the pants" Skutt) and wheel and tools though ... also about 300# of 2 or 3 different stoneware clay bodies that should be REAL well aged by now . I'm thinking even if I don't get my kiln hooked up anytime soon, I could still set up a laundry sink in the outbuilding for a water supply and get out there and throw and practice.

This is one of my handbuilt pieces:



I need to get a better pic of it now that I've got the technology so to speak (this is about 7-8 years old, it was actually a video capture.)

This one is actually sitting on the hutch of my computer center:


These are actually incense burners, designed so that the smoke from a piece of cone incense comes out of the dragons' nostrils.

SOON! I WILL get back to it!!!

I only made a few ugly little pieces back in school!

i made a pretty vase, with the help of my teacher in year 7!
still intact!

Originally Posted by RoseHawke

This is one of my handbuilt pieces:

I need to get a better pic of it now that I've got the technology so to speak (this is about 7-8 years old, it was actually a video capture.)

This one is actually sitting on the hutch of my computer center:

These are actually incense burners, designed so that the smoke from a piece of cone incense comes out of the dragons' nostrils.

SOON! I WILL get back to it!!!

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Wow. Those are awesome.

I had ceramics back in high school lo these many years ago (late eighties), and I wasn't that good—I'd probably be better now—but I really liked it. I liked digging the clay out of the water, I liked smacking it to get the bubbles out (can't remember what that part was called), and I liked working it into—oh, let's call it "art." The feel of it in and under your hands is quite therapeutic. And then there are all the different glazes, and how a piece transforms in the kiln from something fragile and homely to something strong and beautiful.

Originally Posted by evnshawn

<snip>... I liked smacking it to get the bubbles out (can't remember what that part was called),

Click to expand...

Wedging .

<snip>...The feel of it in and under your hands is quite therapeutic...

Click to expand...

I find throwing it on the wheel to be very, I dunno, almost Zen, just watching a lump of clay grow into a tall (hopefully ) graceful piece.

And then there are all the different glazes, and how a piece transforms in the kiln from something fragile and homely to something strong and beautiful.

Click to expand...

Well said! At times I think how my little pieces may wind up in some archaeological dig some day, after all there are civilizations that about the most we know of them is their pottery and bits of ceramic artifacts.

I took ceramics in college as well, and I loved it. I was VERY MESSY in the process, with clay and slip in my hair, even! We did mostly wheel stuff, and I took the handbuilding in high school.

Right now, I mess with Femo clay in order to make pendants, beads, etc. for my jewelry designs. Haven't made anything usable yet, but I am having fun trying!