2. What is Clay?
• Clay is a special kind of earth which is made by the
decomposition (breakdown) of rocks through the action of
weathering.
3. • Over time, bits of earth are carried from one place to another
by water and deposited in areas where the water slows down
to a trickle.
• Have you ever gone digging by the water's edge only to grab a
handful of muck? Well that muck is a form of clay.
4. • As the bits of earth travel with the water, they pick up all sorts
of stuff.
5. • Natural clay that we find outside usually needs to be cleaned
and refined before it can be used. Any tiny rocks and lumps
are removed and some additional materials, like sand are
sometimes added to create the perfect clay that we buy from
the pottery supply house.
6. How do you know it can be
used for clay building?
• If you can take a piece of clay, roll it into a coil and bend it into
a ring without cracking and falling apart, chances are it will
make good pots and sculptures.
7. There are different ways of
working with clay:
• PINCH - Use your fingers to pinch
and poke a single lump of clay
into any shape.
8. • SLAB - Roll the clay into flat sheets
(like a pie crust) to cut apart and
assemble.
9. • COIL - Roll out long snakes of clay
and twist them into coils and
shapes.
10. • WHEEL - Spin clay on a potter's
wheel to form pots and vases.
11. Some Tools to Use When
Working with Clay:
• •Your fingers
• •Rolling pins and canvas
• •Popsicle sticks and toothpicks
• •Cookie cutters
• •Plastic bags
• •A clay cutter (wire)
• •Sponges
• •Various carving tools, nuts and bolts, old toothbrushes and
anything else you can get your hands on that will create
texture in the clay
12. When you want two pieces of
clay to stick together, you have
to SCORE the clay, then slip it.
13. After you score the clay what is
slip?
This is liquid clay ... clay with a lot
of water added to it. It is used as a
sort of glue to hold clay pieces
together. You need to use slip to
"fasten" pieces of clay together so
that they don't fall apart in the
kiln. You see, clay shrinks as it
dries so if you haven't made sure
that your clay pieces are firmly
attached, they will separate in the
kiln. It isn't enough to simply
"pile" one piece of clay on the
Use slip as your
next.
glue!
14. After we build our clay pieces and they
are completely dry, I will fire it in a KILN.
Clay usually takes about a week to
airdry, and it is called greenware.
Kiln: This is a large, hot oven that
is used to fire the clay. You need
to fire your clay in a kiln in order
for it to be permanent. A kiln can
reach temperatures of 2500
degrees F. and higher. Your oven
at home maybe reaches 500
degrees F.
15. Important Information!
• If a piece of clay is put into the kiln
while it is still wet, it could explode.
When water gets hot ... it boils right?
Well, your pottery piece will literally
"blow up" if it contains water or
moisture that boils when it gets hot in
the kiln.
16. After I fire it once, it is then
called BISQUE WARE. We will
paint our clay with a special
clay paint called GLAZE.
• It is essentially
"liquid glass" or
glass particles
(mixed with colors
or pigments) that
have been ground
down.
17. Next I will fire the
glazed clay (also
called glazed ware).
18. After the second firing in the
kiln, we will be finished and have
our projects!
19. We are going to make clay facades of
cottages/gingerbread houses/Holiday
themed
20. Think of creative ways to add
and subtract from the clay.
• However, instead of making the “whole house” we will be making
the front wall only, and will add “triangle sides” to the edge of the
front wall for support. This will allow you to set a candle behind it.
21.
22. Let’s get started! We are first
going to draw a sketch so we
can think about the identifying
details.
