by karin sanborn

Clay Journeys: Mine and Others by Andrea Zimon

As a new potter, I am discovering my need/want for new clay tools. In my research I somehow, ended up on one of Liz Crain’s blog entries discussing tools (lizcrainceramics.com).  But she had another entry “The Pretty Poopy Jar -Aesthetics in Action” that grabbed my attention and was well worth the read.  Liz Crain is an amazing potter (and writer) who does skillful things with clay via trompe l'oeil and glaze to make her work look authentic and from another time.  But to sum up her post in a less eloquent way, Ms. Crain purchased a homemade jar at a thrift shop whose beauty at best might have been speculative. What the column itself made me reflect on is all my thrift store handmade pots and my own homemade pots.  The only ‘poopy’ ones are mine, simply because they were school assignments that didn’t inspire me but they were a learning experience. We all make 'poopy pots' when we practice, we just tend to call it something less benign. 

The collage dish (above and below). Assignment: texture clay, rip pieces, place in a form and give a nice twisted rim. I made it mine by using my personal collection of horse stamps.  

The process looked really intriguing when my instructor did her example which took her about fifteen minutes. While mine took far longer to create, at least I can say that mine kept its structural integrity through firing. Some my class mates didn't fare so well with the rim falling off or the structure itself splitting. The glaze didn't stay on my rim though so I got to learn a new word called 'crawling'. 

I also conducted another glaze experiment in which I expected success to no avail. I used underglaze (the black part on the bottom) as a solution to avoid drips and chiseling it off the kiln shelf but still experienced drips to the bottom even though I used the glaze sparingly. It glued itself to a 'cookie' and was easily removed. The home made glaze wins another battle against Andrea and another session with the grinder is required.  I should also point out that my instructor, Judy Rossman-Mee of many clay making decades, makes the glazes. They perform beautifully for her. They hate me. I remain determined to have a working relationship with them. 

The dreaded extended pinch (above). Same story, the one my instructor did looked awesome. I tried to make  mine with hearts and a heart broke off while being fired (no structural integrity prize for me this time).  You will be shocked to know that the glaze didn't perform well for me, again. 

My canopic jar came out well. I used commercial glaze on the head and Judy's glaze on the bottom. The glaze just seemed to say ' this work is worthy of  performing correctly'.  All the poopy moments were worth it to get to this point. 

Now for my  thrift store finds.  They should have never ended up here but I am glad to have them in my collection. 

Below are done by 'JD'. They house my one of many rock collections. They also corral my erasers and the occasional stray acorn or shell. 

 

 These two keep the glue and tortillions under control. They are signed but I cannot read them. The leaf might be JC and the purple one might be Seth.  They are both well done. 

This is one is has really cool details. It has buttons for the wrap. A distinctive glaze job. My inexperienced eye suspects a salt glaze because of the orange peel finish but I am not sure. And the maker created their own stamp for the signature which I sadly cannot read. Everything seems to say experienced potter with this one. I hesitated to buy this one because of the color, but forgave it because the work was so good and this was before I knew word one about clay work. 

These are my musings for clay this month. Realize that clay fascinates me and while I may sound super critical of my work, I am really laughing at myself.  I am really having fun and looking forward to the next project. I know that clay, like anything, requires practice and I am so ready for next semesters projects, except if they are collage or extended pinch.