Tuesday through Friday work

[morgaina]

I'm having a good time in the studio this week. Although I have got a little done,it is a constant struggle trying to keep the studio warm and that is taking up a percentage of my productive time and physical energy.
It's been a while since I have been to a city to buy clay so am getting it from a regional neighbor. This is good because he is a friend, an entrepreneur, and it is local clay. But the clay is....short. Thus it takes a lot more effort to get the shapes I want than a fatter clay like B-Mix does and it's much more difficult to get any kind of height.

I have several of the "Lark 500" series of craft books. I've found it interesting that so many of the pitchers in the "500 Pitchers" are jug styles from the high Medieval era. My own jugs (hur) are beginning to feel blurred between modern and medieval.

The tallest jug in this set is 12" tall.


Trying different things with the feet.


The photo is somewhat misleading the bowl on the right is about a 3qt capacity and those on the left are soup bowl size.


The tallest goblet is 9" tall, the shortest goblet is around 7" tall. I have a commission for 2 Communion sets, one is supposed to be considerably larger than the other set. There is a reason but I don't remember why.

Comments

[khalja.livejournal.com]

What does short clay and fat clay mean?

Those are wonderful shapes. One of things I really like about seeing new pottery pieces is that one can really focus on the graceful lines of the pieces without distraction. Of course, the design and glazes are yummy too.

[hroar.livejournal.com]

It means teh differance between very plastic, and not very plastic. "short " and "long' are terms for the same.
Sorry good Mistress..I couldnrt help myself. 8-)

[khalja.livejournal.com]

I don't know know what plastic means in this context either.

Whoops!

[hroar.livejournal.com]

Sorry..my bad. It means that the clay is easily pushed into a new form, and it holds that from. Short clay, on teh ohter hand, is resistant to assuming new shapes, and hard to form into those shapes.
I hope this helps...and if I can help in any onter way regarding clay, I will do my best.

Re: Whoops!

[copper-oxide.livejournal.com]

Clear as Mud. (I was hoping to use that line ;-))

Re: Whoops!

[hroar.livejournal.com]

And there you go! Very appropriate, too! LOL!
(thsi si turning into REALLY fun evening! 8-)
Its fun to see pottery/clay humor!

[copper-oxide.livejournal.com]

Short clay is also known as %$^#&# clay ;-)

[hroar.livejournal.com]

LOL!!! ROFLMAO!!!!
yep! Yep!
thanx dear friend! I loved that! made my day!

[gwen-the-potter.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's what I calls it too.

[copper-oxide.livejournal.com]

Thanks, :-)
What all surface decoration should do is enhance the shape of the pot. Too complicated a glaze or carving defeats the purpose of having it on a pot at all.

Short clay is not "plastic" that is it doesn't allow itself to be molded into some shapes without cracking (while still wet) the way dirt would crack if it was molded into a coil & circled.

Fat clay is plastic, it can be molded into all kinds of complicated shapes without cracking.

A clay is short or fat depending upon the different clays that are mixed together to make the final clay. Aging also helps make the clay more plastic.

Chinese potters used to mix clay for their grandchildren, store it, and use the clay their grandfathers had mixed for them.