Using clay that’s in good condition makes pottery making a lot easier. To keep it in good shape it’s important to know how to store pottery clay. Here are some essential tips on storing clay, so it’s in tip-top condition. You can store pottery clay either in a dry state or a moist state. If…
If you have bought some pottery clay you may be wondering whether it will go bad and if it has an expiration date. Well, the answer to that question is good news. No, pottery clay does not go bad, in fact if you store it well, it can last indefinitely. Clay can harden, or go…
Buying clay from a pottery supplier is easy, but learning to make clay from dirt is incredibly satisfying. If you have ever been curious about how to find and process your own wild clay, this article is for you. How to Make Clay from Dirt For ages, I thought that you could only harvest natural…
Clay is a natural resource that is mined from the earth and processed. Once processed it can be made into useful objects and beautiful things. Clay goes on an amazing journey from being dirt in the ground to pottery on your table. Here are the 8 incredible stages of clay… Raw clay is mined from…
There are various methods of image transfer onto clay. However, if you specifically want to transfer photographs onto clay, there is a simple technique that works extremely well. This guide will take you through the process step by step. I used the following process to transfer this image onto a clay slab box. Image Transfer…
If you want to make pottery that you can eat off or drink from, you need to use food safe clay. The problem is that it can be confusing because there are a lot of different types and brands of clay available to purchase. This article looks at what types of clay are food safe…
Rolling a nice, even slab is essential for slab building pottery. However, a common problem when learning to roll slabs of clay is to find that they stick to your work surface. This problem can usually be solved by rolling on the right kind of surface. But what is the best surface for rolling clay? …
If you work in a cold pottery studio or workshop you may have encountered the problem of frozen clay and glaze. When exposed to frigid temperatures, such as the winter climate, clay and glazes tend to freeze. This is because they have moisture as a component. Moisture, which is basically water, expands to form crystals…
There is no way around it, clay is messy and sticky. That’s part of its fun. But it is less fun trying to get clay out of clothes. Perhaps you are a potter who uses clay at work or as a hobby. Or perhaps you have a kid who is making a clay project at…
In the field of pottery, there are lots of different types of ceramic ware. Very broadly, ‘ware’ is a term used to refer to pottery objects, in their different stages of being made. You may have wondered what the difference is between stoneware and earthenware. This article will compare stoneware vs earthenware, and in particular,…
Clay is dug up from the ground and processed so it can be used to make pottery. Often it is manufacturers who mine the clay and transport it to a processing plant. Sometimes it is individual potters who want to be self-sufficient. But this raises the question, where is clay found? Good clay for pottery…
Finding that your pottery clay has gone moldy is very common. Clay needs to be kept moist to stay workable and it contains organic matter. These are perfect conditions for the growth of mold. So, what can you do if you open up your bag of clay and it’s growing green and black mold? Here…