Saturday, May 26, 2012

White Clay

Even though I had the option to use white clay at Greenwich House, I decided not to and wanted to use the throwing clay, with its earthy tones and the sense of being sealed when fired to high temperatures.  The clay has a lot of grog in it and this shows through after being fired to cone 10.  When working with low fire, whether it be terra cotta or white clay, I prefer to use clay that doesnt have too much grog in it.  In fact, I am ready to move back to low fire earthenware white grogless clay, it is beautiful to throw, feeling like cream cheese, but without the vertical challenge that porcelain provides, and trims clean and when glazed in a thin clear coat, elevates my low fired work to a pristine and beautiful status, different from the earthy clay bodies of late.   I have a lot of ideas to work with including more severely alered pots that are cut, pushed in, and reattached before being sculpted on.   Also non sculptured pots that are more like sea shells in appearance.  So stay tuned, the return of the white clay is just around the corner.

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