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

[River Woman]

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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>
>
>
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