Thursday 12 March 2009

Experimenting



Yesterday I played with the clay that came from the clay pit. The folk there gave me a couple of bags to try. I haven't enjoyed myself throwing so much for ages. It was very plastic which I was surprised at. It threw wonderfully. There are what initially looked like bits of grit in it. However, when I picked some out it appears to be harder bits of clay as they are easily crushed. I am not sure how it will work when I try to sgraffito on it tomorrow. The large flat bowl above is the clay straight from the pit-can you see the amazing colour.
I threw the jugs with some of my usual clay mixed in. About 1 part ordinary terracotta to 2 part clay pit clay. It probably wasn't very sensible to throw larger things first ( 2 kilos)- maybe I should have tested it with some egg cup sized ware! But it was just such a joy to throw I got carried away. Anyway, I've had two enjoyable days. It will be quite a challenge to slip the jugs tomorrow.

2 comments:

  1. Wow! Lovely. I wish I had a clay pit in my back yard...would make life a whole lot easier! ;-) Where is the clay pit located? In Kent I assume?
    Miri

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  2. Hi Margaret. I have something here to send you if you email me your address. Don't get too excited it is very little but you might like it all the same.
    h

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