I thought it might be fun to make a few useful kitchen items In this lesson, we will go through the steps to create a Bunny Spoon Rest like the one on the right. You will need to slice off about a 1 1/2 inch slab of clay from your block. Re-tie your clay block securely and wedge your clay well. Flatten it out on your board and then roll it out into a 1/4 inch thick rectangle until it measures about 9 to 10 inches in length and about 4 to 5 inches wide. Take a knife or pin tool and cut it out to make an hourglass shape. I think of a butternut squash when I cut out the shape so that the top, which will be the bunny's head, is smaller than the bottom, where the spoon will rest. You should have some leftover pieces for the bunny nose, the eye, scarf, and the ears. If you don't have enough, prepare and roll out a small slab from your block.
I just started one a few minutes ago, and just kept working and putting it together without thinking about taking photos, so I'll have to walk you through the added parts of this bunny
The first thing I did was to bend up the spoon end and smoothed it around inside to hold its shape. I smoothed the rim until I was happy with it.
Then I cut an arc shape piece for the scarf. Be sure to score the underside of the scarf and the base, add slurry or slip and press it firmly in place.
Use two pieces that look like 2 inch leaves like elm leaves. Score, slip, and ach one just flat at about 1 o'clock at the top back of the bunny's head. Push it on firmly especially at the top and blend it in to the top of the head. This ear should lie flat down the back of the head to the scarf.
Bend the second ear shape in half around your little finger so that it looks like a bent ear, pinched in a little, but still open enough to see the inside. Score and slip, and attach it firmly on top of the first ear. Blend it in at the top to become part of the head.
Take a pea size piece of clay and roll it to form the eyeball. Press in a tool or end of a Bic pen to make the hole for the eye. Press the tool in firmly to make a dent about 1/2 inch from the edge of the ear. Score, slip, and press the eyeball in. Make a tiny coil shape, less than 1/2 inch long, score and slip it on one side, and press it over the eyeball on a diagonal to create the eyelid. Press firmly on the back and smooth it into the face. Small scores with a small knife on the bottom end of the eyelid create the look of eyelashes.
For the bunny nose, take two large pea shapes, like marbles, formed into teardrop shapes the same size and pinch them together and pinch them into a point to attach to the front left of the face at about 9 o'clock. Score and slip and press firmly, than blend the nose onto the front edge of the face. Add a tiny ball in the top middle of the nose to get the bunny look. Well, mine needs more smoothing with a damp sponge and I will add a few more lines tomorrow, and then I'll set it aside to dry.
Welcome back! I did manage to make a sound recording of the mourning dove whistle from last week, but now I just have to figure out how to embed it into this blog. An ocarina makes various sounds when blown depending on how many of the holes are covered. This is my attempt at a turtle ocarina. He still needs a little tweaking and smoothing, but you get the idea .I will go through the steps with you tomorrow, now that it is midnight!....
Before I start, I will try to embed the sound recording for the mourning dove whistle below.
Well, it is a little bit large, but I better not fiddle with it...leave well enough alone.
Okay,
Slice off a slab of clay about 1 inch thick from your block, wedge it well, and form it into an oval ball shape, like a lemon. If it is too large, slice off one end and save in a baggie for the smaller parts later. Reshape your lemon and then slice it lengthwise through it, but not directly in half. Slice it about 1/2 inch in from one side, so the other side is about 11/2 to 2 inches deep.
Take the smaller side and roll it out on your board to about 1/4 inch thick. Cover it and set it aside.
Cup the larger side in your hand and scoop out the center with a melon baller or small spoon until the outer wall is about 1/4 inch thick.
You need to smooth out the interior chamber with your finger, and then pinch all around until it fits onto your base, or a close fit, as shown.
Trim the base to fit.
Now take some of the leftover clay and shape and roll it into a sausage shape about 3 inches long.
Flatten it with the rolling pin, and cut it into 5 pieces, 4 for the feet, and one for the tail.
Shape the 2 bottom feet or flippers each into a rectangle shape, then score and slurry them and slurry the base where you will attach them. With the two top flippers, I stretched and bent them to look more like flippers, then I scored, slurried, and attached them to the base, pressing them firmly and then smoothing them in. Score around the rest of the base where you are going to attach the turtle's back, and score the rim of the turtle's back too.
Take the last small piece that you cut and form it into a triangle shape for the tail. This will also be the mouthpiece so it could be a little thicker than 1/4 inch. Score and slurry the end and attach it firmly between the two lower flippers on the base.Let it sit and firm up for about 1/2 hour before you attach the top to the base.
While you wait, you could form the turtle's head with a piece of your leftover clay. Form a small oval ball about 1/2 inch in diameter and attach it to the front of the shell.
Smooth it into the shell to hide the seam and extend it to look like a neck.
Slurry the scored rim of your shell and slurry the base. Attach firmly and hide the seam by smoothing with your finger or a small tool. Insert a nail file into the tail until it reaches part way into the hollow chamber and leave it there while you create the bevel.
Turn him over and make a hole with your pin tool or large needle straight down into the hollow chamber until it touches the nail file. The hole should be about 1 inch from the base of the tail.Make the hole larger and peel out the excess clay around the hole, so that a regular pencil fits in. Put the pencil (no eraser end) into the hole, bend it toward the turtle's head at a 45 degree angle, and firmly press as you drag it out of the hole. Now, move the nail file out and wipe off any excess clay bits. Sometimes you will need to push the nail file in and out of the mouthpiece to get a clear sound. This picture shows the bevel side. After you get your whistle to blow, place your turtle in a plastic bag overnight. We'll complete the other ocarina holes tomorrow.
Well, Thanksgiving was great and a lot of fun. Now, back to the ocarina. The picture on the left shows how I added the four ocarina holes to the turtle's shell. I used a shish-ka-bob stick and pushed each one in as I twirled the stick, making each hole about 1 inch above each flipper. When you blow the ocarina, with all four holes closed, you will hear the same sound as when it was just a whistle, but as you lift one finger at a time, until all four holes are open, you will hear a little tune. I will upload the turtle ocarina's voice as soon as I record it. Let the ocarina dry completely on a shelf. If you would like to create a turtle shell pattern, there are several choices The shell design could be painted on prior to the first firing if you use under glazes. I'll talk more about this on the glazing tab above. My favourite method would be to paint the entire top of the shell with a light mossy green under glaze and then scratch on the design right through the coloured shell. This technique is called sgraffito and it allows the colour of the clay to show through as the design. Or, after the first firing, you could choose various glazes to create the shell pattern and fire the ocarina again. I will go into more detail when I set up the glazing tab.
See you next week!
I thought it would be fun to create a whistle. I have made quite a few over the years, but I have given most of them away as gifts. I have three left to glaze and fire, so the pictures I have added are bisque fired whistles.
Bisque loon whistle
Bisque wolf whistle
Trio of bisque whistles
Be sure to have a selection of tools handy, your water dish, and your container of slurry or slip clay.
You only need a small amount of clay to produce a whistle, a ball about the size of a lemon will do.
Slice it off of your block, wedge it, and then shape it into a ball. Take your slicing wire and slice the ball in half so that you have two equal halves to work on. Cover one half with plastic to keep it pliable for later, and scoop out the centre area of the other half. I find that a melon baller works well, but be sure to leave about a 1/4 inch of clay left on the outside wall. If you hold the outside cupped in your hand as you scoop. it should hold its shape as you work on it. Save all of the scooped out bits in a plastic baggie to use later to create whatever creature you plan to make. I will try to make a bird whistle with my ball of clay.
Now that you have finished scooping, smooth out the inside chamber with you fingers. Don't add water, or it will get floppy.
Complete the other half in the same way, scooping out and then smoothing the inside chamber.
Let it dry out a bit if it is too wet, and when firm, score the rims of each half with a pic tool or small knife trying to scratch in a checkerboard pattern. Add slurry to both rims and attach the two halves back together, lining up the rims to form your ball again.
Now you have the basic whistle with the inside chamber. The bigger the chamber...the lower the note (voice of the whistle) will be. Set the basic whistle aside to firm up and decide on your creature. For a bird like mine, you will need a small oval for the head, two flattened wing shapes for the sides, and a flattened wedge shape to make the tail. The tail also serves as the mouthpiece. Score all of your forms that you are going to attach, add slurry, and score and slurry the place of attachment on the whistle. Press on firmly and smooth out the seams. You can add more detail later. Once the tail is attached, find a popsicle stick or a nail file to create the mouthpiece opening. Push the popsicle stick (nail file) up into the tail piece and straight in to the chamber (you will feel that it is hollow). Push in about half way into the chamber and leave it there (see photo right).
Take your pin tool and make a hole straight down into the chamber about 1/2 inch in from the base of the tail. You will feel the pin tool hit the popsicle stick or file. Carefully make the hole bigger with the pin tool as you discard the peeled away clay. Make the hole about the size of a pencil end.
Use a regular pencil (no attached eraser) and put the pencil down into the hole. Bend the pencil firmly toward the head of the bird on a 45 degree angle, and with firm pressure, drag the pencil out of the hole to create a bevel. This creates the whistle sound when you blow in the mouth piece. Take out the popsicle stick or file and try your whistle. If there is any sticky clay in your mouthpiece, it may not whistle properly. You may have to reinsert your stick or file to dislodge any sticky bits. Don't get discouraged if your creation doesn't sing right away. I have had a few that caused heartache, but eventually I was able to produce a good sound. I trimmed the tail and added details so it would resemble a bird, (photo below), and you can see the bevel hole in the bottom photo.
Voila!...I have a mourning dove.
As soon as I figure out wave files, I'll upload this little guy's voice so you can hear it. Maybe we should try a turtle ocarina next time,
See you then.
Lesson 3: The Coil Method
Well, here we are again to try another way of creating pottery. Building with coils is very diverse and produces many unique styles of vases, bowls, and bottles. The coils may remain exposed if you prefer that look or smoothed out to thoroughly erase them. You can blend the coils together to make a new texture or add a surface shape or design and attach it to the surface.
The photos on the right were student samples of the coil method. The top two were just bisque fired and not glazed. The third one was fired with a clear glaze.
In the fourth photo, the coils were pressed upward with a wooden tool to create a new texture.
I found an excellent Youtube video showing the coil method in detail. I have added the video for you to enjoy. The link is on the right above Lesson 3, or click the link below.
Remember to set up your work space before you begin, and wedge your clay balls before rolling out the coils. The most important points to remember are:
try to make your coils a uniform thickness
be sure to rough up or score the coils and brush on slurry (slip clay) before you attach each coil.
press each coil firmly to the coil below to ensure stability and avoid dried coils from popping off.
whatever plan you have in your mind, try to create it with a variety of coils, and experiment with their endless flexibility to form new shapes and designs. Have fun with your own very unique creation.
Welcome back everyone. The photo below is an example of a slab method project that I created in a university art class many, many years ago. The assignment was to create an abstract vase with 2 or 3 protrusions and use various tools to complete a surface design and texture that would add interest to the piece. This was my final product.
Abstract Vase
No matter what style you create in this lesson, make it your own and enjoy the process. Have fun! It's all good. Okay, on to lesson 2.
Lesson 2: ASaggy Bag
Before you slice off your new ball of clay, be sure to set up your workspace with your work board, water dish, baggie, baby powder (optional), and your slurry container from lesson 1. If the slurry is dry or too thick, add a few drops of water and stir it with a popsicle stick until it is pasty and smooth. Collect a few old utensils from the kitchen-knife, fork, spoon, or any other scrapers or tools that could be used to create a texture or pattern on the clay. You will also need a rolling pin and 2 flat sticks that are the same thickness (1/4 inch) is best. If you don't have the two flat sticks, 2 painting stir sticks will work in a pinch, but they are not quite 1/4 inch thick.
Slice off about a 1and 1/2 pound piece of clay. Reseal your large bag of clay and form your sliced-off clay into a ball. Wedge your clay to remove any air bubbles and then form it into a flattened ball. Slice off a small piece of this clay (about the size of a lemon) to form a cookie base for your saggy bag. Flatten the lemon and roll it out into a cookie shape. If your clay is fairly firm, you may occasionally have some cracking when you roll it out. Just smooth it out with a tiny amount of water. Don't roll it too thin. It should be 1/4 inch thick or slightly thicker. Trim the edges of the cookie base to form a circle or oval, and set it aside in or under your baggie. If you want to create a woven texture on your clay slabs, place a piece of burlap or heavy woven cloth onto the work board before you roll. Place the large flattened clay ball on to your work board between the 2 flat sticks. The sticks should be about 6 inches apart. Place the rolling pin on the flattened clay ball so that it will run over both sticks as you roll out the slab. Roll out the clay as you would with pastry. The sticks will keep the thickness of the clay uniform as it spreads out. Lift your slab and turn it over and roll again until it is level. The side edges should be straight like the stick edges, but the top and bottom edges will probably be wavy. At this point, you can trim the edges with a knife, or you can use the wavy ends to enhance your creation or trim them later. You need to have enough length of your slab to go around the top edge of the cookie base.
Roll your slab loosely over the rolling pin to move it off of the board and set it aside. Place your cookie base in front of you and rough up the top edge all around the cookie. Use a pick tool, a small knife, or even a sharp pencil to make scratches all around the top edge. This is called roughing up the surface. Take a popsicle stick and spread slurry onto your scratch marks all around. Fill in the rough up area well. Take one straight edge of your slab and rough it up as well. The scratches will be all along the 1/4 inch edge of the slab. Place the straight scratched edge of your slab on to your cookie base all around until your slab ends meet and that the scratches line up. Press firmly as you go to make a firm bond with the slurry. You can use crushed up newspapers inside the saggy bag to hold up your form better until it dries. If you have a problem that your cookie base is too big, you can cut it down, rough it up again, and add more slurry before adjusting your slab. To attach the slab ends where they meet, rough them both up, add slurry, and pinch them together. This adds more texture. If your saggy bag is firm enough to pick it up, you can make it a bit more saggy if you just pick it up over the work board, about 6 inches above, and drop it. This adds a rumpled effect.
Use any leftover bits to create shapes or designs, rough them up, add slurry, and press them on to the bag firmly. Trim and smooth any parts that you're not totally happy with.
Cover your saggy bag with a plastic grocery bag and place it on a shelf to dry overnight. Return to check it after a day, and if it is leather hard, scratch in your initials and the date. Leave it to completely dry on the shelf for several days before firing or underglazing.
I hope all of my rambling made some sense.
Have fun with it and I'll see you next week for the coil method.
At seventeen, I signed up for a pottery class, unaware at the time, that this would become a long term passion of mine. The class was located in a local potter's basement with work tables, wedging boards, slop buckets and a kiln. Every week I would slam, wedge, roll, pinch, shape, attach, and create some pretty amazing bowls, plates, vases, and sculptures. This of course, did not happen in one lesson. There are many steps and skills required to produce attractive pottery, but when that first finished glazed pot comes out of the kiln, there is a huge sense of accomplishment and pride, and you also have your very first Christmas gift.
I think I will start this blog by talking about the types of clay and equipment, and then move on to
methods of creating pottery with specific lessons.
Earthenware clay is the easiest clay to work with when you begin. It has a smooth texture and is quite pliable when creating forms. The clay is white, cream, or terracotta (red) after firing. It can be purchased in Canada from Pottery Supply House in Oakville, Ontario and they ship UPS. Their website is www.pshcanada.com You can purchase a 20 Kg. box of earthenware clay for under $25.00 + shipping. They sell various tool kits to work the clay, but you can also use several kitchen utensils that work quite well and produce good results.
The beauty of earthenware clay is that it fires at a lower temperature in the first firing (from green ware to bisque) and in the glaze firing when it is completed. I'll talk about firing temperatures later after the first piece of greenware is ready to fire. I should first explain about the term "greenware".
After your first piece is completed and you are happy with it, carefully place it on a drying shelf and cover it loosely with a plastic bag. This allows it to dry out slowly and evenly, and be less likely to crack. After a few days, remove the bag and let it air dry for several more days. It should be bone dry and is now called greenware. If you pick it up, carefully lift it with both hands underneath. Don't just grab one side to lift it, as you may just get a piece of it, and this broken pot is difficult to repair and never quite right. There are a few tips below before you let your pot dry.
After you build your first pot, you might want to remove some of the clay to make it more appealing, (less lop-sided)and you could finish the final details in several ways:
by pealing off excess clay bumps with a sculpture tool, peeler, or knife.
by smoothing the surface with a damp sponge until you are satisfied with the results. (Do not use sandpaper to dry sand the pot because the silica dust in the clay will disperse into the air around you)...not good to breathe in.
turn the pot upside down and scratch your name or initials and date into the flat bottom of the pot with a pick tool or an awl. If you don't have either one, try a pencil or a pen.
by adding texture to the pot when it is leather hard by scratching or sculpting a design into its exterior clay finish, or by adding texture with small bits of leftover clay and forming a pattern or design on the outside of the pot.
Lesson #1 Hand Building with the Pinch Pot Method
Oh, I should tell you first about the work board. You'll need a square piece of wood, about 2 feet by 2 feet. Cover the wooden board with canvas, linen, or burlap, pulling it tightly around the board, folding the corners, and stapling the ends to the back. A staple gun is best. Burlap is great when we do the slab method, as it creates a texture on the clay, but a smooth cloth is better when we do the coil method. I use a smooth fabric and just place burlap over it when needed. You might want to make two work boards and interchange them. You also should always have 2 small containers (empty yogurt cups work well), one for water and one for slurry.
With a thin wire, slice off a block of clay about the size of a pound of butter. Seal up your big block of clay tightly with a twist tie to keep it moist for your next project. You won't need a pound of clay for this project, but you can save the rest in a baggie. Always store your excess clay in a sealed baggie when you are not working on it. Occasionally, your new clay may be quite sticky when you slice it from the bag. If this happens, shake a little baby powder on your work board and on the clay. And, it smells great!
Slice your pound of clay in half and cut off a corner of the leftover half before you seal it in the baggie. Mix the corner piece of clay with a few drops of water in a yogurt cup. A popsicle stick works well to stir the slurry into a smooth thick paste. This slurry will be used to attach pieces of clay, fix cracks, or attach surface texture and designs. If the slurry dries out at a later time, you can refresh it with a few more drops of water. As long as the clay has not been fired, you can rework it.
Okay, back to our 1/2 pound of clay. Form the clay into a ball shape in your hands.
Step 1- You must slam the clay several times, to remove air bubbles, onto a clean basement floor, a sidewalk, patio block, or a premade wedging table. I'll discuss this later when I talk about equipment.
You will then wedge the ball of clay on your board or wedging table. This is somewhat like kneading bread dough. Do this several times in different directions and check the inside with a wire. You should not see any air bubbles. If you do, repeat. If not, slam the 2 pieces back into a ball and reshape it with your hands. Check out this YouTube video.
Step 2-With the clay in a ball shape again, poke your thumb in and push it far into the centre of the ball, past 1/2 way, but not to the bottom. Make sure your fingernails are quite short or you will have cut marks inside the clay. Then, pinch the clay between your thumb and fingers to spread out the center hole, and move the clay ball in a circle as you pinch. Try to shape the small bowl as you go by pinching any thicker areas to make the pot uniform.
Step 3-The bottom of the pot may not be flat, so you can hold the pot level over your board and drop it to flatten for the base. A few small drops again should even it up to form a flat level base. You can also push some of the excess clay inside the base out toward the side and then pinch again to even out the walls of the pot. You want to achieve about a 1/4 inch thickness of clay for the base and walls, Pots that are too thick have a better chance of exploding in the kiln. The pinch pot in the photo above was one I made with red terracotta clay. I added a few coils to form it up to the rim, but I'll explain those when we do the coil method in another lesson.
Step 4- Any cracks that appear can usually be smoothed out with your finger, but stubborn ones might need a tiny bit of slurry applied and worked in with your finger. Keep working on the shape and top of the pot until you are happy with it. If the top rim is uneven, you can use a wire to slice off any bumps, or try a small knife or sculpture tool until you think it is level. The important thing here is that you have to be happy with it. Maybe you like the lop-sided edge and stretch and form it into a spout. Whatever you decide, it has to be appealing to you. It is your creation to have fun with.
Step5-When you are happy with the basic shape, carefully lift the pot and move it to a shelf to partially dry (usually overnight). Cover it loosely with a plastic grocery bag until it is leather hard. Cover your slurry so it stays fresh. Clean any tools and wipe your work board with a damp sponge.
For all projects, you should wash your hands, tools, and sponges over an empty bucket in your laundry sink, so that clay slurry, clay bits, and clay water goes into the bucket, not directly into the drain. You don't want to have to call Mr. Roto-Rooter to unclog your sewer pipes, so this is vital. After about a week, the clay will settle in the bucket, and you can pour off the clear water into the drain and save the slurry to rework later. Once you start trying various clay types or colours, make sure you have separate buckets for clean-up and label them with clay types (white earthenware, black stoneware, terracotta).
Step 6-Return your leather hard pot to your work board if you want to add texture or surface design. If you have a small lazy Susan or banding wheel, this makes life much easier. If you don't, you can still move your piece manually. Find kitchen tools that you could use to carve into the leathery clay to make grooves or wavy lines around the outside of the pot. Remember that the clay is more fragile than when you worked it, so go carefully. If you want to add surface design, like a flower or graphic, roll a tiny bit of clay from your baggie, shape it into say a diamond shape and scratch up the underside of it with a tiny pin tool and scratch up the surface of the pot as well where you are going to attach the diamond shape. Spread a tiny amount of your slurry onto both scratched areas and press on your design. The slurry makes the design stick, so don't forget this step. Add as many as you like or combine surface attachments with carved out grooves. Stop when you are happy with your work.
Step 7-Don't forget to sign your masterpiece! Turn the finished pot over, and using a pin tool, needle, or old pen, carve in your name (usually more difficult) or your initials (my choice) and scratch in the date. In a later lesson, we will make stamps for your own personal signature or design stamps for texture application. Step 8-Return your finished pot to the drying shelf and leave it there to completely dry until it is bone dry. This could be a week or even longer for thicker pots. Don't pick it up to admire it when it is bone dry! This is the most fragile stage for breakage, so when you are ready to have it fired, carefully lift your pot with both hands and place it in a shredded paper box and take it to a kiln. As a beginning potter, you probably won't have access to a kiln, so seek one out. Many ceramic stores, who sell molded pieces of green ware, fire the pieces for their customers, so if you are using earthenware clay, your pieces could be fired at the same temperature, and in the same load as their ceramic pieces. They will probably charge you a few dollars for the firing and again charge for your later glaze firing. If there is a pottery studio in your area, you might ask the owner to fire for you, or a school that gives lessons might also take your pieces to fire. This can be a problem to find, and is the reason why most potters end up buying a kiln.
See you next week for Lesson 2!
Nancy
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Flatten it out on your board and then roll it out into a 1/4 inch thick rectangle until it measures about 9 to 10 inches in length and about 4 to 5 inches wide. Take a knife or pin tool and cut it out to make an hourglass shape. I think of a butternut squash when I cut out the shape so that the top, which will be the bunny's head, is smaller than the bottom, where the spoon will rest. You should have some leftover pieces for the bunny nose, the eye, scarf, and the ears. If you don't have enough, prepare and roll out a small slab from your block.
