Bird & Tray

Some interesting things that I learned about clay construction are how to make one of these press plates. I thought it was cool how you took the flat piece of clay and pressed it down into the foam and it created walls around it forming a tray. A also learned how it helps for the clay to have plasticity in order for it to be able to be easily worked and shaped into what you want it to be. If the clay gets too dry it will break and crack. You must also make sure that there aren't any air bubbles in the clay because the hot air in those bubbles would pressurize in the kiln and explode. One cool thing that I learned that surprised me is that clay has a memory. If you bend a piece of clay then flatten it, then come back later when it has dried, the clay will curl back up into its original shape when you curl it. I thought that this was very interesting.

One of the most important things that I learned about glazing during this assignment is the effect that layering different colors can have on your piece. While it is true that some of the colors can look cool on their own, combining them with another color creates some very cool effects in the glaze when it melts in the kiln and then mixes together with each other. Some things that I was surprised by was the fact that some of the glazes look completely different from when they go into the kiln and when they come out, such as moss green which is a bright red when it is wet and a darker green when it has been fired. I was not surprised by how careful you need to be with the glazing, such as how you need to make sure to not get the glaze on the bottom of your piece so it won't melt onto the kiln. Some more things that I would like to learn are how to make more textures in my glazes like I have seen in some other pieces.