Making Things, part I

So I have pretty nice fingernails. They grow long without cracking and taper at the ends and I like them. But today I cut them off because I'm finally back in the studio, making things instead of looking at other peoples' things. And it feels good. So here is my first entry about my own pieces, and it's going to be a how-to, because I don't know who's reading this but unless you're Jocelyn I think it's a safe bet that you don't know everything I'm about to show you. 

When I tear clay off the block, or squish somebody else's failed piece for reuse, it looks like this. 

This is not pretty; I don't like it; I can't use it. I have to wedge it, which is a process much like kneading bread dough. Wedging, when done correctly, presses out all the air bubbles in the clay and aligns the microscopic clay particles, which are actually cylindrical, so they go the same direction, which is good. If I use a plaster board as a wedging surface, it also removes excess moisture from the clay; if the clay is exactly the right amount wet, I use a canvas board, which leaves the moisture content alone. 

When the clay is wedged, it looks like this: 

Here, I've cut the clay in half, so you can see that there are no air bubbles remaining. (Air bubbles wreak havoc in wheel throwing.)

Below is what the clay would look like if it wasn't wedged sufficiently. The small dark spots are air bubbles. Small but deadly.

Now I form my air-bubble-free clay into a ball and I'm ready to throw. Below are the tools I personally like to use. From left to right: metal rib, for smoothing the outside of the piece; wooden rib tool #1, for trimming excess clay from the base; pin tool, for evening out the rim (or puncturing air bubbles); wooden rib tool #2, for I don't know exactly what--I use it to clean extra clay off the wheel between pieces; sponge, for doing what sponges do; and wire cutter (a cutter made out of wire, not something that cuts wire) for getting the piece off the wheel when it's finished. 

 I don't actually know why wheel throwing is called "throwing." My best guess is because of the very first step, which is throwing the ball of clay down onto the wheel really hard so that it sticks, as illustrated below. That's an electric wheel; you press the foot pedal at right to make it spin. There are also wheels which have to be kicked, but they don't go fast enough for my taste.

Add water. (This is more of an explanation of what I do than a lesson on wheel-throwing, so I'll just say that this part is called centering and centering is vital, and not explain how to do it, because I don't really know how to explain it.) The clay is spinning very fast under your hands; the objective is to feel as though it wasn't moving at all; that way you know it's perfectly centered. The clay below is centered.

I push my thumbs slowly down into the very middle of the centered clay to open the form, like so. I also begin to slow the wheel down a little at this point.

Then I push my thumbs outward, still very slowly, to make the floor of the piece. I compress the floor with my thumb and/or fingers.

Then I start pulling up the walls of the piece with my right hand, thumb inside and fingers outside. The piece stays wet the whole time or my fingers will skid and the piece will come off-center. I use the sponge to get the water out of the middle--if it remains there while the piece dries it's likely to crack. I compress the rim with my fingertips.

I use the longer wooden rib tool to scrape some of the excess clay from the bottom while the wheel is moving. Then, because this is a pretty small piece and doesn't require much shaping, I'm done.

The walls of the piece should be an even thickness all the way up. The floor should be a little thicker if I'm planning to trim it (make a foot).

I'm not using that piece, obviously, so I squish it up and form it into an arch and put it on the wedging board with other peoples'. Apparently the arch shape helps the clay dry faster.

I used somebody else's clay arch to make the piece below, which I did keep, and which is now drying in the damp box. Part II of the "making things" entry is going to be the trimming part, which has fewer stages but is still important. I'm going to try to trim this piece tomorrow; it's winter and the air is dry so it should be ready, but I don't know.

By the way, my wee honu stamp came out of the bisque kiln, which means the clay is completely dry and cannot be reused, ever, even if I wanted to. If I glazed it, that would be a second firing. Classy picture, right, with the sun and everything? I know.