Spinning Madly On

Last month, I had the chance to watch Jennifer McCurdy demonstrate her process at Spruill Center for the Arts here in Atlanta.    Her delicate forms are inspired by nature and her process to achieve them is very interesting.

Jennifer wedges her clay the night before with “100 strokes” to align the clay particles.  Then she lets the balls of clay set up overnight under plastic.  She uses water only in the very beginning of her throwing process to center the clay and make the first few pulls.  After she has a tall, thick walled cylinder, she shifts to dry throwing using two oval shaped aluminium ribs.  Using a smaller rib on the inside and a larger rib on the outside, she slowly bellies the form, her hands working in unison.  

Jennifer explained the success of this process comes from the lack of water (which could weaken the clay wall) combined with  the compression achieved from working the ribs together.  She prefers using metal ribs for their flexibility as she manuevers to pull up the belly, and pull “down the shoulder.  They also offer the most surface tension for the least amount of  surface “drag.”  I was amazed as she proved this point by shaping one porcelain demo pot for 45 minutes!  I had always thought that I had to to achieve a porcelain form  very quickly or lose the shape to some variety of slumping!  

Another benefit of working so dry is that Jennifer was able to begin altering her form nearly right off the wheel.   Within 30-45 minutes, the bottle had lost its “tacky” surface and she was able to begin lobing it.  Some discussion ensued regarding the popular use of heat guns or blow torches to “speed up” the readiness for alteration.  Jennifer explained that she does not use that technique because it creates a dynamic where the outer “skin” of the pot is dryer than the inside .  . and sooner or later the two moisture levels fight against each other and the stress causes cracking.  She likes for the moisture level to be as even as possible which is critically important for how extensively she alters and cuts away her forms.

I learned so much by watching Jennifer’s process and gained a real appreciation for the success of her methods.   I hope this summary has helped you as well.

 . . . and so is little Georgie (short for Georgia).

I met my new favorite friend on Naples Beach today.  She was especially excited about what we were making and offered her help. Georgie is a very articulate 3 year old who charmed me no end with excesses of personality.   

As those of us who play with clay know, compression is a big deal if your work is to succeed. . . .  but it may be an even bigger thing in sand. (except you achieve “sand compression” with the Arch Enemy of Clay . . . Water).   The secret to building big on the beach is making the basic form from really wet sand. . . . mixing it as you go, even.  We started with the big pile of wrecked sandcastle from yesterday – filling the hole and spreading many buckets of water over it.  More sand, more water, more sand . .  more water. And so it went until we had the general lump of the turtle formed.  Then,  it is pretty easy going to just carve away . . . sculpting the shape with whatever tools you’ve got.  

Later, when my biological help had faded off to ride the surf . . . and check out boys at the Pier . . . Georgie wandered over and offered her talent.  She found seashells and put them on the turtle’s legs.  But the most exciting moment was witnessing the miracle of compression when Georgie sat her little 30 lb body on his head . . (to ride the turtle) . .  .and it actually held!  

Then, she chopped off his tail. . . . I hope I get the pleasure of seeing more of Georgie this week.

Why you no update your blog???

Its been a month, too long, I know . . .so I thought I would check in, give a little update.   First off, I am enjoying this week with my family in beautiful Naples, Florida . . . and the break is giving me a good chance to catch up reading my favorite blogs and finally update my own with a few posts about what Ive been doing.

In the last month, I’ve been working in wet clay some, trying to work out some new forms.    Ive been experimenting altering some work on the wheel, fresh off the wheel, and at soft leather hard . .. trying to get to know the limits of my clay body.  (and I have found many)   I’ve come to an understanding that I want  my clay to be MUCH softer for wheel work than what comes out of the bag.   Ive been using either Standard #104 (grog) or Standard #103 (no grog) depending on what Im making.    But my best results have come if I slice the bag of clay up, wrap it in damp towels for a day or two, and re-wedge. .. . does anyone else do this to get the right consistency?  Or do you have another suggestion?

I’ve also heard that if you get your own claybody mixed, it is softer . . . true or not true?  I’ve got a few earthenware bodies I could try and a friend who might split a minimium order with me. . .  but I would love some thoughts about this if anyone has an opinion.

Next thing Ive been up to is mixing slips and some new batches of terra sig.  This time I made a small batch using Red Art, for a red based sig, and  then my usual one using XX Sagger.  AJ (at Art Center West) mentioned to me that he thought OM-4 ball clay would produce a tighter surface, since it is a true ball clay and XX Sagger can be considered a fire clay.  I thought about this . . but since I glaze over the terra sig, I really do not want a tighter surface.    Does anyone have any thoughts about using one ball clay over another for terra sig?