Clay Glorious Clay

As a potter, well, more of a clay modeler, I absolutely adore clay, the feel of it. If I am upset or unhappy about something, just having some clay in my hands immediately lifts me.



Now my pottery classes at the Day Center are closed and pottery is no longer available for mental health service users in the area, despite there being resources and equipment such as a kiln on the premises.

It is very upsetting, but there is nothing more I can do about it, when we kicked up a fuss about it closing, we got a temporary reprieve, then when the clay ran out, I bought some from the internet and brought it in myself, the staff disallowed anyone bar myself from touching it, even to the extent of taking it out of their hands!

I was very upset about this situation, but realised that my pottery days were numbered, and now its over.

It is something to get used to, that's all.

So on missing my weekly clay fix, I have been reminiscing about it, and thought I would write all about clay, the different sorts that I have worked with and show some examples of my work.

School buff

This is the most commonly used clay, its Grey in colour and fires well and evenly. We all start off with this clay and still use it for advanced work too. The first thing I do with school buff when I have it in my hand, feel its coolness and earthy smell, is give it a good slap a fair few times.

Every time I did this I had to explain to my fellows what I was up to; you have to get the air bubbles out of the clay so that it won't blow when it gets fired.

Below is one of the pots I made, it was also sold and went to a good home.

Recycled Clay

This clay is fun and it can be full of surprises, it doesn't look too good when you first handle it and I didn't used to give it such a good slapping as with the school buff, not the best way to describe it, but I would say that its a bit slimey in consistency, well more so than any other clay, it was not something that bothered me, but would be a factor influencing the subject matter. A few years back I made this donkey from recycled clay.

Blue Clay

Is high grade clay and very sensual, you don't want to slap it at all, only kiss it! Its smell is very subtle and addictive, it is beautiful clay. This photo shows a model I did with blue clay, the top of the flower is porcelain and so are the decorative hearts and stars. One of the stars fell to the base, something which seemed to be of significance.

Terracotta

Is low grade, red clay, very thick grains with a strong earthy smell it is easily manipulated and quite soft, I didn't like to slap it as hard as I would the school buff. It is very messy and gets everywhere!

Porcelain

Is incredibly fine clay, astonishingly challenging to manipulate but good for fine work like figurines. Porcelain requires extreme cleanliness, it cannot be 'contaminated' with other clays.



These are two figurine above, the male is in terracotta and the female in porcelain.

Marble Clay

This is the most wonderful clay you can ever imagine, the photo below has not come out very well, but believe me, the possibilities and the fun you can have with this clay is immense. You must be very careful when handling this clay and it requires a good sharp initial cut. It must not be slapped, but rolled out very carefully. It is absolutely beautiful and it is in the rolling when you really can appreciate the colours and variations within it. I know its not a good picture but I enjoyed making the tankard below so much I call it my 'orgasmic tankard'!