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Archiver > MEMORY-LANE > 2008-05 > 1209917270


From: Betty Briggs <>
Subject: Re: [ML] THE SUBJECT IS Clay
Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 09:07:50 -0700
References: <282327181.20080503231301@verizon.net>
In-Reply-To: <282327181.20080503231301@verizon.net>


I love clay. I love the feel of porcelain on the potters wheel, it feels
as soft as butter, but it likes to be shaped fast. I add a little water,
and watch it mold into a bowl or a vase in my hands. I don't love
stoneware as much, there are bits of grog (bits of ground up fired clay
that is very rough stuff) in it that sand your hands, and some people
have lost stones from their rings as a result. But it is more forgiving
and will allow you to shape it for a much longer time before it collapses.

I even love wedging the clay, a process like kneading bread. It's when
you first start talking to the clay, asking it what it might like to
become. When you get it on the wheel, no matter what you thought you
wanted to make, it sometimes tells you differently. I know that better
potters can force it into what they want, but part of the joy of being a
potter is in discovering what is inside that lump of clay.

I miss playing with clay enough that I may have to buy a wheel and kiln
and get back into it. I love making the glazes. I love everything about
it - why did I get away from it? Life happens.

Betty

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