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Wedging is the first step in making a piece of
pottery. Spiral wedging takes a bit longer to get the hang of
but is worth the time and effort to learn to do it efficiently.
Wedging done properly will take the air
bubbles out of the clay. With coiled projects, I like the clay to be
a little on the sticky side so I do not use
a pug mill to de-air the clay. It dries out too fast and makes
joining coils too difficult.
Make a pinch pot and let it set up to a leather hard
consistency. Roll out a coil. It's like rolling out those
snakes when you played with Playdo as a kid. It may take a little
practice to get the coil round instead of
flat but by rolling the clay between the fingers and palm consistently it
will eventually work. Score the
top of the coil with a fork or needle tool.
Score the top of the pinch pot and brush slip on the top of the scoring.
Take the coil and place the scored
side on top of the pinch pot. Gently press the edges of the coil
onto the pinch pot on the inside and the
outside of the pot. Where you place the coil will determine the
shape of the pot. If the coil is placed on
the outside rim, the pot will turn out like a bowl. The coil placed
directly on the top will result in a
cylinder shape and if the coil is placed just a little to the inside of
the pot, the shape will go inward. At
this point my coil is placed right on the top.
With the fingers, join the coil to the inside of the pot and the
outside. To smooth, use a rubber rib on the
inside and a thin metal rib on the outside. Generally, the inside of
the pot determines the shape of the
pot. After one coil, I place the piece on a wooden bat and cover
with a dry cleaning bag. The coil must
set and harden before another coil can be added. Adding coils too
fast will cause the pot to slump.
Continue putting coils on the piece until it is the desired
shape. The last coil I place on is thrown on the
wheel to make the top smooth and even. I use a stand up kick wheel
for all of my coiled vessels. Cover
the piece again and wait until the top is leather hard before
finishing. I generally wait about a week or
two before the carving process.
When the piece is ready, I draw on the pattern with a needle tool.
To carve, I use a pierce mosaic tip tool and I use a paint brush
to keep the crumbs of clay out of the way.
After the piece is finished carving, I wrap it up again loosely for a
couple of days to start the drying
process. After the piece is uncovered, I allow it to dry for at
least a month to insure consistent drying.
Then the piece is bisque fired. I spray multiple glazes on the bisque
piece and fire to Cone 6 in oxidation.
Finished piece measures approx. 5" X 9 1/2"
Sold.
clay (Kla) n. 1. A fine grained, firm earth that is pliable when wet and hardens when heated, used in making bricks, tiles and pottery. 2. Moist sticky earth. 3. The mortal human body.