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earth is the raw
material of my work
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When searching for a clay source in the desert near my
residence, I look for visual clues that indicate a certain textural
quality. I look for tightly compacted clumps of earth that have
been checked and cracked wide in the desert heat or, when near
a water source, I look for a cohesive span of slick, compacted
earth. After locating a possible source, I subject it to a tactile
test--moistening a few handfuls, feeling it, smelling it, rolling it into
a
ball with my hands. There is a distinctive slick feeling, an adhesive
quality and a resonance when the material is patted and slapped
that identifies good clay. The final test to confirm the nature of the
material is rolling it between the hands to form a snakelike “coil.”
Ordinarily, earth breaks and tears in the coiling process while clay
has the distinct quality of retaining its shape. My method of forming
a good, useable clay body from the raw material begins by mixing
the clay with water making it into a slush that is subsequently
poured through a screen to strain out any rocks or other debris.
The clay must be allowed to settle out for several days after which
the excess water at the top is poured off. At this point the “mud,”
as I affectionately call it, is felt by hand to determine grit content
and adjusted to suit what I consider a strong, workable recipe.
The water content of the clay body determines the ease with
which it can be worked. The prepared clay must be in a range
somewhere between “collapsing” and “cracking.” Using a plaster
wedging board facilitates the removal of any excess water from
the mix. The board also provides a good surface on which to work
out the air bubbles by kneading and slamming the clay against it in
a process known as “wedging.." Now the creation of form begins.
My hands and a few simple tools are all that are needed to work
the clay into the final shapes.
The completed forms must be dried very slowly. Clay shrinks
as it loses moisture and rapid dehydration causes cracking. This is
by far the most time consuming element of the entire process. It
requires much patience because it seems as if nothing is happening
at all.
Clay posesses unique properties that enable a process called
quartz inversion to occur. With the application of extreme heat,
through a process called “firing,” the clay gains a hardness
resembling that of stone. Once the forms are dry, each piece must
be fired to trigger quartz inversion which will permanently harden
the clay. The earthenware clay body I currently use fires to a
substatial hardness in an electric kiln which slowly climbs to an
ultimate temperature of 2000 degrees Farenheit and then slowly
cools.
When colors other than those of the unadorned clay body
are desired, the firing process is doubled. After the initial firing is
completed, I wash on a mixture of desert minerals or ores which
are blended with water or a small amount of clear ceramic glaze
to facilitate adherance. After a relatively short drying period, the
pieces are then fired a second time, completing the process and
rendering the additional colors as permanent as the stone-like
clay body itself.
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