Mystery Clay Craft I

I’m taking a stab at combining clay work and weaving. Still in the very early stages but attempting things that are useful and attractive. It is almost impossible to make things smooth in clay so I’m seeing a lot of sanding in my future.

Mystery Clay 1

These will be fired in a few weeks, then glazed. I’m going to try different shapes and sizes and see where we get. Finished product won’t be done until mid-November, far after the Guild sale, but there is always next year.

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” – William Morris

25 Pounds of Clay

The latest crafting adventure has begun: wheel-thrown pottery. We’ve got 8 weeks and 25 pounds of clay (to start). Thus far I’ve managed to figure out that I want to use an electric wheel, not one you have to keep kicking to rotate. Seriously, this pottery business is difficult and I cannot both kick the wheel continuously and attempt to make something out of the clay. Trust me, it is not as easy as that old Sesame Street video would have you believe.

New accessories have been purchased, of course, because every crafting adventure seems to begin with spending money. The most important purchase will probably turn out to be the clay-colored overalls from the thrift store. I showed up at the first class in my traditional all-black – not a smart idea.

One of the ultimate goals is to figure out how to do this using reclaimed pottery, not just reclaimed clay (the messy left-overs from your pottery efforts; you can dry out and reuse this clay). Allegedly you can take broken pottery and remagic part of it back into clay.

“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. ” – Clay P. Bedford