Clay

ClayMrs.Comstock

What is Clay?• Clay is a special kind of earth which is made by the

decomposition (breakdown) of rocks through the action of weathering.

• Over time, bits of earth are carried from one place to another by water and deposited in areas where the water slows down to a trickle.

• Have you ever gone digging by the water's edge only to grab a handful of muck? Well that muck is a form of clay.

• As the bits of earth travel with the water, they pick up all sorts of stuff.

• Natural clay that we find outside usually needs to be cleaned and refined before it can be used. Any tiny rocks and lumps are removed and some additional materials, like sand are sometimes added to create the perfect clay that we buy from the pottery supply house.

How do you know it can be used for clay building?

• If you can take a piece of clay, roll it into a coil and bend it into a ring without cracking and falling apart, chances are it will make good pots and sculptures.

There are different ways of working with clay:

•PINCH - Use your fingers to pinch and poke a single lump of clay into any shape.

•SLAB - Roll the clay into flat sheets (like a pie crust) to cut apart and assemble.

•COIL - Roll out long snakes of clay and twist them into coils and shapes.

•WHEEL - Spin clay on a potter's wheel to form pots and vases.

Some Tools to Use When Working with Clay:

• •Your fingers • •Rolling pins and canvas• •Popsicle sticks and toothpicks • •Cookie cutters • •Plastic bags • •A clay cutter (wire) • •Sponges • •Various carving tools, nuts and bolts, old toothbrushes and

anything else you can get your hands on that will create texture in the clay

When you want two pieces of clay to stick together, you have to SCORE the clay, then slip it.

After you score the clay what is slip?This is liquid clay ... clay with a lot of water added to it. It is used as a sort of glue to hold clay pieces together. You need to use slip to "fasten" pieces of clay together so that they don't fall apart in the kiln. You see, clay shrinks as it dries so if you haven't made sure that your clay pieces are firmly attached, they will separate in the kiln. It isn't enough to simply "pile" one piece

of clay on the next. Use slip as your glue!

After we build our clay pieces and they are completely dry, I will fire it in a KILN. Clay usually takes about a week to airdry, and it is called greenware.

Kiln: This is a large, hot oven that is used to fire the clay. You need to fire your clay in a kiln in order for it to be permanent. A kiln can reach temperatures of 2500 degrees F. and higher. Your oven at home maybe reaches 500 degrees F.

Important Information!

• If a piece of clay is put into the kiln while it is still wet, it could explode. When water gets hot ... it boils right? Well, your pottery piece will literally "blow up" if it contains water or moisture that boils when it gets hot in the kiln.

After I fire it once, it is then called BISQUE WARE. We will paint our clay with a special clay paint called GLAZE.

• It is essentially "liquid glass" or glass particles (mixed with colors or pigments) that have been ground down.

Next I will fire the glazed clay (also

called glazed ware).

After the second firing in the kiln, we will be finished and have our

projects!

We are going to make clay facades of cottages/gingerbread houses/Holiday

themed

Think of creative ways to add and subtract from the clay.

• However, instead of making the “whole house” we will be making the front wall only, and will add “triangle sides” to the edge of the front wall for support. This will allow you to set a candle behind it.

Let’s get started! We are first going to draw a sketch so we can think about the identifying details.