Thursday, July 8, 2010
Clay is awesome!
Clay is awesome. It comes from the Earth and its many uses provide for some of our most basic needs: shelter, food preparation and service, and aesthetics. Did you know that clay can be reused? If you make something out of clay that you don't like or messed up, just dry it out, break it up, and rehydrate it to start all over again! You can save your scraps and use them again, too! Bits of bisque (fired clay) can be ground up and used as fire clay (which is added to clay bodies to give them additional strength and stress tolerance.) Bisqued and glazed pottery last for thousands of years. Pottery remains are found in the digs of almost all ancient civilizations. The pottery you use in your home can last for generations, too, if properly cared for (which isn't hard - most pottery is dishwasher safe, microwave safe, and often oven safe, too. Even broken pottery still has usefulness. Many types of pottery shards are used in making mosaics, while stoneware and porcelain pottery shards are used in making jewelry. Clay - reusable, recyclable, and upcyclable. How cool is that?
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I had no idea hat clay could be re-used like that - that's cool!
ReplyDeleteThanks; it is pretty cool! When we were packing to move, I found a long lost bucket of pottery tools from my college days and a Tupperware container of dried clay (about a 4 lb. solid block) that I had saved for the day when I was able to get back to clay! Well, even if I got back to it a little late, I did make it back! And all that clay needs is to be broken up, soaked in water, dried out a little on some plaster, and then wedged back into a ball for throwing. That's pretty cool, too!
ReplyDeleteClay is absolutely wonderful - the smell, the feel and the way it grows and shapes in your hands - that's why I like to felt. I still have my tools, also and all the bowls, etc. I made! I made animals figures which I love - didn't have to throw them!
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