In this unit of pottery we learned how to use clay in many different ways. First we created a pinch pot where the elasticity of the clay allowed us to mold it into a small bowl. Also, in this project we used various stamps and textures to create impressions on the bowl. Another project we created was the slab tray. We used the texture of leaves and pine needles to create an interesting impression on the clay. The coil pot is a pot created by using clay rolled into rings and the end product looks like a coil. The last project created was a choice project. My choice project was a leaf tray. To create this piece, I rolled the impression of a leaf into the clay and carved the leaf out to make the clay look like a leaf. Then I put the leaf into a bowl with plastic wrap so that the clay would dry in that shape.
Once you let the clay dry for a while, for example at the end of the school day, the clay is leather hard. This stage is a good time to carve the clay. Then after more time, the clay becomes more dry and firm and at this point it is called bone dry. Greenware means the clay is bone dry and is officially ready to be put in the kiln. This stage also means that you can add water to the clay to bring it back to the elasticity stage. In the kiln the clay is fired and it undergoes chemical changes that bring it to its permanent form in the bisque stage. Now that the clay is bisque you can glaze the pottery. Glaze is a glass coating that gives the pottery a certain finish of choosing. Then the piece is fired again and the glaze becomes a permanent finish.
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AuthorKaitlyn Archives
June 2017
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