Finding the Treasure in Clay

Ceramics refers to all that involves the study and creation of objects, structures in the major material clay and its accompaniments like sand, sawdust, terracotta etc.

The practice of ceramics has without a trace of doubt existed from pre-historic times in many useful ways and we will be looking at many of these uses in daily living. The practice of ceramics is an art and can be seen at work worldwide. Objects produced in ceramics include sculpture works, beads, cups, pendants, vases, jugs, among others.

Clay Prospecting and Preparation

Clay prospecting is a term that describes how a clay deposit is identified and further accessed for acquisition of the clay for use. Clay is a type of soil and has its own features.

These features include but not limited to:

• Has high water retention capacity.
• It has low porosity.
• Hard when dry but wet when waterlogged.
• It is heavy when moisture is present in it.
• It is plastic or elastic when wet.

Clay is a special type of soil that in some places, industries and individuals will have to purchase it for their industrial and domestic uses respectively. So, where can clay be located?

Clay is found in swampy areas, near water bodies, around mountainous regions and in valleys including other locations different from the ones mentioned. Anywhere that clay is located, it has to be tested to ascertain its possible abilities and qualities as there exists ranges of clays which inform their uses. If the clay is to be used for works that require it to have some degree of plasticity, then you can test it using these two methods.

The first method is the wet method of testing and the second is the dry method of testing but in both cases, water is required.

Wet Method of Testing

Plasticity is that ability of a certain type of clay which makes it allow stretching without it breaking up. Just at the site of an identified clay, fetch some into the hand and mix with little water to obtain a soft clay which should not be too soft. Form it into a roll of clay and coil it round your finger. Its behaviour as it is been coiled shows a sign, if it doesn’t break, be sure it will be a very plastic clay.

Dry Method of Testing

A considerable amount of a newly obtained clay has to be dried and ground into powder, sieve to remove unwanted materials like sticks and stones and then add water to form it into an even consistency and then form it into some rolls and coil it round a finger and notice its behavior.

Two Reasons Why Ceramics is Studied in Schools

1)   👉 Employment and job creation

Many globally earn living by producing well modeled and fired or sometimes glazed flower vases, bowls, grinding bowls, cups and many more while others too earn their living through buying and selling of ceramic wares. Some educated folks are living on works that involve this important field which has existed for so long a time by improving their products to be more effective in solving people’s problems. I know a man in a certain community that is near a large clay deposit and so he built his entrepreneur business from there by establishing a company that produces ceramic wares. This man has employed a lot of young people that help him to work and keep the business running.

 

2)    👉 Provides an avenue for creativity

Sculpture is an aspect of ceramics and the kind of creative prowess exhibited in sculpture can be recognized in Roman Art, Indian Art, Chinese Art, African Art among others dating back to Pre-historic all the way through to Contemporary Arts globally. Creativity is a major skill that plays important roles in every field and ceramics is not an exception as the wares produced must fulfill a particular purpose. Some of these wares go into sanitary wares like sinks, closets, cups, jugs whilst others are for decorations like beads, flower vases, wall plaques etc. Imagine ceramic practitioners never exhibited any form of creativity, we cannot have the kind of wares we have at our disposal in one way or the other. 

So, what is the treasure in Ceramics and how can a ceramics practitioner get hold of this treasure? The treasure talked about here is the value embedded in the act of getting to do something in this field. This treasure can be converted into money or any other form of valuable exchange only if you can find a role to play in the practice of ceramics. Bricks, which are ceramic wares for instance serve well to improve durability and insulation of buildings they are used for and these qualities are significantly of immense value.

 

Methods of Creating Objects in Ceramics

☑Pinching

☑Slabbing 

☑Coiling

☑Throwing

Pinching: It is a method normally used for forming hollow objects like cups, pots etc. A ball of clay is formed and held in the left hand after if has been well prepared and the right thumb is used to bore hole inside the ball of clay as the remaining fingers turn the clay.

Slabbing: After thoroughly preparing clay by kneading it very well to get rid of unwanted materials and pores, the clay is hit against usually a sack board to make it be in the form of a bread loaf. Now, the clay is used to hit the clay in order to spread it on the sack board and the rolling pin is used to roll over the clay to make it uniformly flat and the thickness depends on what it is to be used for. The slab under preparation can be lifted occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the sack board.

Coiling: A well prepared clay is rolled and then then coiled on each other when modeling objects like a pot. A base is created for the pot with the slab method and the coils are attached together by scratching the surface of contact with fork or knife and applying clay slip on it.

The clay slip is just clay with enough water mixed with it that it becomes a little bit watery and it acts as a glue or adhesive.

Throwing: Throwing involves the use of a porter’s wheel which comes in different types like the hand throwing porter’s wheel, electric porter’s wheel, hand throwing porter’s wheel and it is a structure that has a plate that is made to turn as objects are formed on it. The process of throwing involves four main stages which are:

1. Centering
2. Opening
3. Pulling
4. Shaping

A method like this is only suitable for hollow or cylindrical wares because these are the kind of objects it can produced.

Centering: A ball of clay is well prepared and then as the wheel turns, the ball is struck on the wheel head and the two hands are used to firmly press and hold it until it becomes stabilized unto the wheel head.

Opening: After the clay is well centered, the thumbs are used slowly to bore a whole in the centered clay but not too deep hole is created.

Pulling: The wall of the opened clay is at this stage pulled upwards  up to a certain height with the hands depending on the plasticity level of the clay.

Shaping: This is the final stage where the pulled clay which will now be a cylinder is shaped into any kind of form like pots, flower vases.

 

Though clay is a natural resource, it can be scarce or abundant in some areas but the deal is to watch out for a need that requires this valuable resource to solve. Due to the significance of learning to acquire knowledge and skills in ceramics, scholars have included in school curricula even to higher degree programmes as it creates a lot of opportunities for countries, individuals etc. Some high in demand ceramic wares include floor tiles, perforated bricks, cups, sinks, crucibles, some high temperature props etc.

 Seven Career Opportunities in Ceramics

There are a lot of careers a person can pursue in Ceramics which will depend on a person's abilities and desires. Some of these are:

• Ceramist/ studio potter
• Ceramics or art teacher
• Interior/exterior designer
• Ceramics engineer
• Sculptor
• Ceramics book author

Watch how to create a vase with clay