Written by Kanika Marshall

Nowadays, having to deal with the many stresses of adult life, you may yearn for a hobby or business which will allow you the same wild abandon and sense of fun, relaxation, and fulfillment that you had as a child with Play Doh.  Pottery and clay sculpture has been a favorite form of self-expression and livelihood for all age groups for literally thousands of years.

You may be surprised to learn that carbon-dating techniques indicate that as long ago as 9,000 b.c., near Jericho, simple houses contained clay-lined pits to store wild grains, and examples of fired pottery have been found in Japan, China, and Taiwan, dating from 11,000 b.c.  Today, the utilitarian use of pottery cups, bowls, and plates is very important for that special dinner party and your daily meals with family.  Clay sculpture has other benefits in addition to relaxation and utilitarian uses. It is a natural substance from Mother Earth and clay is relatively inexpensive and plentiful.

Clay can also enhance cultural awareness. In our modern, pluralistic society, many people are attempting to trace their family trees and recapture their "roots." Clay sculpture has long been one of the most important media for  recording the humanity of many different civilizations. How? Because ceramic clay is virtually indestructible, archeologists and historians have reconstructed how people lived in cultures that have long since disappeared, using artifacts made from clay.  Even if a clay pot or sculpture has been broken, its shards (pieces) can often be put together again. From those remains, one can learn a considerable amount about a society – its degree of technological development, the extent of its trade, and its exposure to migrations of other people. So art collectors and "regular" people can look to clay sculpture to learn about their cultural past.

So what is clay? Here’s a quick overview of the properties and uses of clay. Over millions of years, the weathering action of alternating freezing and thawing, along with the grinding of glaciers, the pounding of rain, and the flow of rushing streams, slowly broke down the earth’s crust into boulders, then into stones, then into pebbles, and finally into the small particles that make up clay. Along with the weathering action, chemical changes took place as oxygen combined with minerals to form oxides. Feldspar, the most abundant element on the earth’s surface, is an essential component of clay. Silica and alumina  combine with alkalis such as potassium and impurities like iron to make it possible to fire clay into a dense and permanent hardness. To be capable of producing a ceramic, clay must contain a flux and a heat-resisting material, or refractory. These elements, along with extreme heat (generally over 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit), produce a ceramic that can last for thousands of years.  Almost all modern day clay artisans - potters and sculptors alike - commence their creations in the same way, with 25-pound bags of clay -------------->

The difference between fired and unfired clay is obvious. Unfired clay from the earth can be dampened with water. It is easy to manipulate and holds together as you shape it into an object (similar to the mud  pies you made as a child). After a few hours, the damp clay hardens to a leather-hard yet somewhat elastic stage, at which time decorative designs can be cut or etched into the clay surface. Once air-dried, the greenware clay is very fragile and crumbles easily. When subjected to the heat of a kiln (a high-firing oven), the clay piece becomes hard and permanent, and is capable of maintaining its form interminably.

"But what is that glossy coloring on my ceramic coffee mugs and plates?" you may  ask. The exterior coloring on ceramic pieces is called a glaze.  Glazes are made up of compounds of glass-forming minerals that fuse in the heat of a kiln (see picture at right) and adhere to the clay body, coating it with what is, essentially, a thin layer of glass. Further, depending upon the amount of iron oxide and other components, the clay body itself may be a reddish brown color, terracotta color, tan, beige/buff, gray, or white; the color of the clay can also affect the exterior coloring of a ceramic object. To fuse and mature, each type of clay requires a different heat level and duration in the firing process. Low-fired, earthenware clay is heated to about 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit and is more porous than high-fired clays like stoneware and the well-known white-colored porcelain, which are fired at temperatures above 2300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Over the years, clay has been used for many objects, not just coffee cups or garden pots, or the floor tiles we walk on. Clay has also been used in ceramic vessels to bury the dead, and ceramic containers for oils and perfumes, and for ceremonial, ritualistic, or religious objects; these ritualistic figures had the power to protect people from evil spirits, increase fertility, etc. In many countries, pots have been specifically used for cooking, storing food, carrying water, and dyeing fibers.

Artists use many different methods for forming clay into various shapes:

Pinching: the artist’s thumb is inserted into a ball of clay and the ball is rotated as the clay is pinched and pulled up the sides with the thumb. These "walls" around the thumb are pinched and compressed with the fingers until the clay is shaped into a rough, thick-walled, rounded pot.

Slab: clay is rolled out onto a flat surface, similar to rolling pie dough.  Slabs are cut and overlapped with other slabs using water for adherence.  Decorative plates, wall hangings, and other large sculptures can be made using this technique.


Coiling: clay is rolled into snakelike coils which are attached around a round, flat, slab of clay. The pot is rotated as additional layers of moistened clay coils are added on top. The inside and outside of the enlarging pot are smoothed with various flattening tools.


Molds: using a tree stump, rock, bowl, plate, some other
 existing surface  object, a lump of clay is pressed onto the mold to duplicate the shape of the mold. Nowadays, plaster molds are made in practically any conceivable shape (animals, people, plants). Slip (liquid clay) is poured into these plaster molds to create the greenware that is commonly sold in ceramics stores.

Potter’s wheel: this is a turntable which revolves quickly and smoothly, making it easier to coil, smooth, and glaze a clay sculpture evenly. Turntables have been made from stone, wood, or clay disks that revolve on a wooden shaft fitted into stone. In present time, potter’s wheels are made from metals and plastics using electricity to control the variability of its rotation.


Creating decorative textures, such as incising a pattern using a sharp tool (also called sgraffitto), scratching the clay surface, and making imprints with leaves, bark, rocks, serrated combs, forks, or other found objects which make an interesting texture.

Painting with colored slips and glazes.


Raku: originating in Japan, raku is perhaps one of the most exciting and unpredictable treatments of clay. When the clay piece is red-hot and has matured, generally at 1800 degrees or hotter, it is removed from a gas-powered raku kiln using heat-resistant tongs. Once the piece meets the colder air outside the kiln, the molten glass glaze surrounding the piece begins to pop and crackle. The piece is quickly inserted into a heat-resistant vessel containing organic materials such as newspaper, dung, leaves, and/or sawdust. The extreme heat of the sculpture immediately ignites the organic material and black smoke forms. The vessel is covered with an air-tight lid to start the process of reduction where the oxygen in the vessel is literally sucked in (reduced) due to the extreme  heat and lack of oxygen. A chemical reaction between the glaze and organic material occurs, often producing dramatic copper and metallic colors. Additionally, the black smoke gets trapped in the cracked glazed areas forming a beautiful crackle pattern. After approximately 10 or 15 minutes, the lid is removed and the piece lifted from the vessel and slowly dipped into a cold water bath to stop the reduction process. The entire raku firing generally lasts less than one and one half hours, compared to six to eight hours for a normal kiln firing.

Pit fire:  similar to raku, the artist digs a large pit or trench in the ground and places once-fired clay pieces on a bed of sawdust or straw.  Oxides, copper carbonate, or other chemicals are sprinkled around  the sculptures to produce miraculous colors.  The pit is heaped with sawdust, leaves, wood, and other organic materials, then covered with pieces of metal, lit, and fired for seven or more hours, depending on the size of the pit.  Once the pit has cooled, the ash debris is removed and the clay treasures uncovered and cleaned with water.  Pit-fired pieces look very old, as though they were just unearthed from an ancient tomb!

Already-shaped greenware of ready-made faces, human figures, animals, pottery, holiday items, 25-pound bags of clay, glazes, and clay-working tools are available from local ceramics stores. You could also take a wheel-throwing or sculpture class from a local community college or university.  Clay is great for a relaxing hobby or profitable business.  So, why not try your hand at pottery/ceramics?


References:
* Hands in Clay: An Introduction to Ceramics, Charlotte F. Speight, Mayfield Publishing Company, 1989.
* Terracotta: The Technique of Fired Clay Sculpture, Bruno Lucchesi and Margit Malmstrom,
   Watson-Guptill Publications, NY, 1977.
* Africa: A Continent Revealed, Rene Gordon, St. Martin's Press, NY, 1997.