47 notes on working with clay, newest first.
Pottery slip is just clay and water blended to a cream. Here are the three recipes that matter — joining slip, decorating slip and casting slip — and the ratios for each.
Slip is clay mixed with water to a liquid consistency. It is used as glue for joining, as paint for decorating, and as a pourable material for casting into moulds.
Coloured slip is white slip plus a stain or oxide, measured by dry weight. Here are the percentages that work, how to test them, and how to keep colours consistent between batches.
Every ceramic glaze is silica, a flux and alumina, plus colourants. Here is what each part does, where it comes from, and why glazes only work in a narrow range.
Dipping, pouring and brushing glaze onto bisque ware, with the preparation and thickness checks that decide whether the result is even or patchy.
Mixing your own glaze from a recipe: the equipment, the weighing discipline, sieving, testing and the safety rules that come with handling dry glaze materials.
Glazing means coating fired clay with a glass-forming mixture and firing it again. Here is what it does, why it is done, and the vocabulary that surrounds it.
Ceramic suppliers, local studios, art shops and online sellers all stock clay at very different prices. Here is where to buy, what to ask for, and what to avoid.
Ceramic suppliers, studios and online sellers stock glaze in jars, dry powder and buckets. Here is which format suits which situation, and the four things to check on any label.
Wild clay sits in riverbanks, road cuttings, ditches and building excavations almost everywhere. Here is how to spot it, two field tests that confirm it, and the rules on digging.
Slaking, sieving, settling and drying dug clay into a throwable body, plus the test firing that tells you what temperature it can actually take.
You cannot turn soil into clay, but most soil contains clay you can extract. Here is the water-separation method that pulls usable clay out of ordinary dirt.
Clay is one of the cheapest parts of pottery. Here is what a box costs, what that works out to per mug, and where the real money actually goes.
Clay is made of hydrous aluminium silicate minerals formed by weathered rock, mixed with water and other particles. Here is what that means in practice.
Clay is weathered rock. Feldspar in granite breaks down over long periods into fine plate-shaped minerals, which water then carries and deposits in beds.
Clay makes bricks, tiles, porcelain, cement, paper coatings, drilling fluids, cat litter, cosmetics and medicines. Here is the full range and why one material does all of it.
Clay is classified as non-renewable because it forms over thousands of years, but it is also abundant and, before firing, endlessly recyclable. Both facts matter.
Clay in the ground appears as smooth, uniform bands of grey, blue, orange or cream in exposed faces. Here is how to recognise it and tell it from silt and loam.
Polymer clay does not dry out, but heat, sunlight and the wrong plastics ruin it. Here is how to store opened blocks, mixed colours and finished canes.
Conditioning, armatures, building in stages, smoothing and baking. The practical sequence for making a polymer clay figure that does not sag or crack.
No. Modelling clay is an umbrella term that includes oil-based plasticine, air-dry clay and polymer clay — materials that behave completely differently.
Some modelling clays harden in an oven, some in air, and some never harden at all. Identify which you have first, then use the right method.
Salt dough, cornstarch clay and cold porcelain, with quantities, method and honest notes on what each one is good for and where it fails.
Most cracks are made during drying, not making or firing. Control airflow, keep bases and rims at similar rates, and slow the whole thing down.
Air-dry clay begins drying the moment the packet opens. Double-wrapping, a damp sponge and an airtight box will keep an opened block workable for months.
Foam clay is a lightweight air-dry material used for cosplay armour and props. Here is how to apply it, how long it takes to dry, and how to sand and seal it.
Monster Clay is an oil-based sculpting clay that softens with heat and never dries. Here is how to warm it, build with it, and take a mould from a finished sculpt.
Oil clay for practice and moulds, polymer clay for small keepable pieces, ceramic sculpture bodies for fired work, air-dry for cheap and large. Here is how to choose.
A clay model is the original worked in clay, from a small maquette to a full-size version, that is then moulded and cast in bronze, resin or stone.
Building small clay figures: proportion, armatures, joining limbs, hollowing for firing, and the drying rules that keep thin parts attached.
The working sequence experienced sculptors use — armature, masses, proportion, refinement, detail — and the specific habits that make each stage go faster.
Grog is crushed pre-fired clay added back into a clay body. It cuts shrinkage, reduces cracking and warping, and adds tooth — at the cost of a rougher surface.
Low fire clay matures around cone 06 to 02, roughly 1000 to 1100 C. It stays porous, takes bright colour, and depends on its glaze to hold liquid.
A complete first pot without a wheel: pinching or coiling the form, joining, drying, bisque firing and glazing, with the decision points explained.
Everything except the firing is straightforward at home. Here is what you can do on a kitchen table, what the kiln question really costs, and the realistic routes around it.
A ladder of clay projects from a pinch pot to a lidded jar, with what each one teaches and the specific difficulty to expect from it.
Pit firing, a barrel, a raku setup or a paid community firing. Here is what each method can and cannot do, and why an oven is not one of the options.
Handles fall off weeks later because the join was made between clay at two different moisture levels. Here is the method that survives drying and firing.
Cone 6 mid-fire and cone 10 high-fire produce different colours, different costs and different equipment needs. Here is how to choose and what changes.
Clay bodies differ in firing range, porosity, grog content and how forgiving they are. Here is how to pick one for what you actually make.
Crawling is a glaze pulling away from the clay into beads and bare patches. Almost always it is contamination, dust, or a glaze layer applied too thick.
Centering is a bracing problem, not a strength problem. Use the wheel speed, a locked stance and two clear pressure moves to centre clay reliably.
Polymer clay burns because home ovens swing 20 to 40 degrees around the set temperature. Use an oven thermometer, a tented tray, and bake longer, not hotter.
Wedging removes air and evens out moisture and particle alignment. Learn the ram's head and spiral methods, and how to tell when the clay is ready.
Air-dry clay cracks because it dries faster on the outside than the inside. Here is how to control thickness, moisture and drying speed so it does not.
Every pottery instruction depends on the clay being at the right stage. Here is how to identify each one by feel and what you can and cannot do at each.
A pinch pot needs no equipment and teaches wall thickness, compression and drying in one sitting. Here is the method and the three mistakes to avoid.