[Nfb-krafters-korner] hand building with terra cotta clay

Fri Jul 1 01:50:58 UTC 2011

Grog is a ground up ceramic substance - all clay contains some grog, but for 
heandbuilding you want to buy clays that have extra grog.  I used to make 
all my own clay in a pug mill, would make a garbage can full each time I 
made it. Now, I buy it all from Standard Ceramic Supply and that is probably 
the biggest ceramic supplier of clay in the country. Frineds on the west 
coast use it, too. I buy about 800 pounds at a time. I am RICH in CLAY haha. 
I like to have it over a couple years so that it ages over the winters by 
freezing and thawing - the longer you keep it and the more it freezes and 
thaws the better it gets.  OLD clay is the best clay by far.
Lynda River woman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Annette Carr" <amcarr1 at verizon.net>
To: "'List for blind crafters and artists'" <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 9:15 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] hand building with terra cotta clay

> Lynda,
>
> What is "grog"?
>
> Annette
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org
> [mailto:nfb-krafters-korner-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of River Woman
> Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 7:22 PM
> To: List for blind crafters and artists
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] hand building with terra cotta clay
>
> Hi Terry, What a great question.  Yes, I pick leaves, twigs, rocks, etc. 
> and
> take them to the studio to use as models for my work.  I also take the 
> clay
> outside and make impressions on rocks, stones, railroad ties, and anything
> else I want to get the textures of. I bring in large pieces of bark that
> falls off the trees in storms, and use that bark for textures on my clay.
> My work in non-traiditonal pottery - I do not do any production work at 
> all.
>
> It is sculpture that I do - and no pieces are alike. I show my work in
> galleries, juried exhibitions and museum shows so my venures are in the 
> fine
>
> arts, not crafts.   My work is conceptual so I am not at all interested in
> making shapes that look like animals, but might use parts of things in the
> work.
>
> OH, I forgot to mention, about making clay things that are hand built or
> hand thrown - the clay needs to have a lot more grog in it than clay that 
> is
> wheel thrown. The extra grog makes the cay more sturdy - when working on 
> the
> wheel you would not use that clay because it would be too rough on the
> hands.
>
> Lynda River Woman
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Powers, Terry (NIH/OD/DEAS) [E]" <Terry.Powers at nih.gov>
> To: "'List for blind crafters and artists'" 
> <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 1:46 PM
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] hand building with terra cotta clay
>
>
>> Can you clay users describe how you know what an item looks like before
>> you make it out of clay.  It kind of puzzles me.  If you want to make a
>> leaf, do you go out and pick one and copy it?  If you can not see it on
>> the tree, how can you design it.  How can you carve it out of clay.  Even
>> with plastic camvis, I some times have trouble with shapes.  Transfering 
>> a
>
>> rounded item into a square patern is not easy and still make it look
>> round.
>> Even though my sight is not as good as it was when I was a kid, I have
>> designed a Christmas tree, because I know it is wide at the bottom and
>> pointed at the top, to me, like a triangle and the branches go in and 
>> out.
>
>> With some planning and that consept, I created my own.  How do you create
>> your shapes in clay.  With camvis, stitches can be taken out or you can
>> make a sample, before the final, with all the background.
>>
>> Terry Powers
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: River Woman [mailto:riverwoman at zoominternet.net]
>> Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 1:15 PM
>> To: List for blind crafters and artists
>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] hand building with terra cotta clay
>>
>> I use three kinds of clay usually.
>> Low Fire Terracotta, 104
>> and white, 105
>> Mid-fire buff color, 553
>> All clays can be used for hand building, hand throwing, or wheel 
>> throwing.
>> The big difference is in the firing temperatures. The low fire will not
>> have the strength that mid-fire, or high-fire will have and the low fire
>> is NOT FOOD SAFE, that is the BIG difference.  You can put food into it
>> for serveing, but you cannot cook in it nor keep food in it for storage.
>> All take a firing from clay to bisque. The low fire does not need an
>> additional firing and you can finish it with Johnstons Mop and Glow,
>> paint, or stains.
>> The mid-and high-fire clays can be blazed and fired another time, or two
>> more times depending on the finish you are after. Most of my mid-fire
>> vessels are fired three times due to the deep surfaces I want in my 
>> work -
>
>> and all my work is glazed by compressor and spray gun.
>>
>> I do fire my low fire things twice usually but not always.
>>
>> Hoep that helps a little.
>>
>> Lynda River Woman
>> I use Standard Ceramics Clays
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Diane" <dianefilipe at peoplepc.com>
>> To: "List for blind crafters and artists" 
>> <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2011 8:03 AM
>> Subject: Re: [Nfb-krafters-korner] hand building with terra cotta clay
>>
>>
>>>I can Georgia.
>>> The studio I "play" at uses Red Rock.
>>> Diane
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Georgia Kitchen" <gakitchen at gfn.org>
>>> To: "List for blind crafters and artists"
>>> <nfb-krafters-korner at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 11:36 PM
>>> Subject: [Nfb-krafters-korner] hand building with terra cotta clay
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone know a blind person that uses  terra cotta clay to hand
>>>> build
>>>> objects with??
>>>> Best,
>>>> Georgia
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>>
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