Devil's clay

Had nearly 25 pounds of this super groggy and dry "Devil's clay" so I bought a pair of gloves I thought would be good for using at the wheel. They were amazingly comfortable to wear, especially considering my fingers would be down to stubs if I didn't have the gloves. The clay was a little TOO hard to throw so I added water to the bag in hope that it will get softer but that remains to be seen. Anyway, I made two little pots for now. I do like the grog and will resume with the Devil's clay another day.

Making paper clay

Had so much clay trimmings and clay left-overs of various colors that I decided to make my own paper clay. Added chlorine and soap to avoid funky smells. Not sure about the ratio between paper and clay but it's not very important, I think. As long as it is not more than 50% paper I am sure it is considered paper clay and not paper mache. I'll try to use this to throw pots with once dry...

Test tiles

Of course with my own "studio" I have to have test tiles for glazing. And as you can see I don't have any bats yet to put my pots on, so "plastic bats" is added to my Aardvark list :)

First pots thrown

My first pot thrown on my wheel at home. I am not very familiar with how mason stains work, but the outside is covered in a dark brown mason stained slip. It looks pale, and I am not sure if it will fire like that or turn dark. Time will tell. Firing is scheduled for some time this week, hopefully before the expected rain (since I fire outdoors rain = bad).




One of the many test pots I am making for the first firing. Cracking pots is FUN! Faceted pots are especially nice I think.

The wheel

A friend gave me this wheel (thanks Laurie!) and this is my first day using it. I am used to being able to flush big chunks of clay down the drain at school but, at home, I have to be careful of all the waste clay, spillage, and bad chemicals. Maybe a good lesson in being clean, organized, and not wasteful.

My first kiln

After attending a pottery class for two years I decided to either be done with pottery or take another step and do it more seriously. So by investing in my first kiln I guess I took the next step. I have limited storage, like most people living in the city, so I decided to get this Cress which is light enough to lift outside when I need to fire it. When I don't use the kiln I store it in the garage.

This picture is from my first "breaking in firing", on the way to 1888F (1031C) degrees. I have never operated a kiln before so it was a little scary. But it worked out fine.