You have learned about the various stages of clay! In doing so you have gained basic knowledge every ceramic artist needs to become familiar with in order to create successful finished pieces. However, in order to have a better understanding of how to apply this knowledge, it will take time working with clay, trial and error samplings, and putting into practice the techniques that you learn or discover in order to strengthen your skills. 

Because clay is so very versatile, it can be used for a wide variety of processes. This means that clay it often needs to be prepared or "prepped" for a specific technique or particular step in your execution process. You have already learned about wedging, which is one of the most important techniques potters and ceramic artist need to become familiar with in order to have their clay in a workable state, however there are many more tasks that ceramic artists might complete to prep their clay, for instance...

• Prep Coils 

• Prep Slabs

• Prep Wheel Clay 

• Prep Finish Work 

• Allow Clay to Air Dry 

In our studio it is most important for you to realize that you will have a limited amount of work time daily. Unlike working in your own personal studio, for as long as you choose or any time that you desire, we are confined to a specific bell schedule, meaning that you will need to think ahead daily about how to prep & store your clay from one day to the next. Think about whether you need soft plastic clay, leatherhard clay, slip, etc. before your next class period. Additionally consider method of creation and the order in which you may need complete tasks. In doing so you will be able to prepare your clay appropriately. 

How you prepare you clay will depend on the building method/s you are applying. For example if you are throwing on the wheel your clay should be wedged and formed into a shape that is manageable. Potters who are creating "production" pieces (more than one of the same or similar items) will often prep a large amount of clay at once so that they can make many consistent pieces. 

However you don't need to be making many pieces in order to learn how to prep your clay. In fact you will most often be prepping clay for a single project. For our purposes it is more important that you consider your timeline, and do all that you can to ensure that you are meeting deadlines. Prepping your clay is important to your success in this matter. 

You will learn about the specifics of how to prep your clay for each method in those sections, for our purposes here you are simply to know that preparing your clay is an important part of working with clay to create finished products.