After some time stiffening up on my plaster bat, my latest batch of reclaim clay
was finally ready to pound up last night after a “slight” bit of wedging and bagging up.
I’ll let it sit for a while longer… before I start doing a “real” wedging
and actually making work out of this FREE CLAY!!!

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Another pile of goopey, mucky reclaim clay piled out onto my plaster bat.
Sure it’s kind of messy… but I must admit it is a bit fun too.
Gratifying when you see it all turn back into free clay…
and you know how I love FREE CLAY!!!

Apparently it’s all about small plates & dishes today?!…
otherwise those berry bowls & flower pots would just leak all over the place?!
And that would be no bueno!

Another pile of slop! This time it’s a creamy blend of porcelain reclaim sitting on my plaster bat. Should be ready to wedge in a day or so… and then it’s FREE CLAY ready to go!!!

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Swung by my friend Pam’s metalsmithing studio this afternoon.
She’s working on a bunch of pieces… but I’m not quite sure where?!
Quite a different set-up from a potter’s studio.
The one thing in common?… lots & lots of tools!!!

So what does YOUR studio look like?

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Just a “small collection” of wire tools in my studio. You know. Just in case.

And thanks to Jon aka “Joe Bowl-a” for the photo…
and for not mocking me too much!

My latest batch of goopey reclaim clay has finally settled up after about a week on the plaster bat. So today I pounded it up a bit with just a smidge of wedging. Full wedging will take place when I’m actually ready to use the clay. Until then it will be bagged up for storage. Storage of FREE CLAY that is!!!

But it seems to never fail, that as soon as I finish up with one batch of reclaimed clay…
it’s already time to start the next batch! So here are some dried scraps ready to go.

And I pulverize them as fine as possible with a rolling pin before putting them into my reclaim bin. Once the clay is in the bin, I add enough water to cover the clay scraps. I let it sit for a few weeks with some occasional stirring & mixing up. Eventually the clay slakes down, the water evaporates and I’m ready to pull out the reconstituted clay onto my large plaster bat… and another cycle begins…

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Sometimes reclaiming clay seems like a never-ending process. Just as soon as I empty out the “big bucket of goo” onto my large plaster bat… the big bucket gets filled up again with dried clay awaiting its turn to slake down.

Now I’ve got to say how much I LOVE my pegboard… always have, always will…
but methinks it might be time for a big cleaning to kick-off the New Year.

Is there such a thing as too many pottery tools?!

Did a bit of “touch-up” on some of my friend’s wheelthrown pots!
They were all brand new beginners that stopped by my studio one night last week for a “quick” visit. I think they expected it to be a little sightseeing tour of the studio… but I quickly turned it on them by telling them that “pottery is NOT a spectator sport.” They rolled up their sleeves and threw a few pots… okay, so I made a few demo pots as well. So now they’re drying in my studio, waiting to be bisqued… and then I need to glaze them all with the correct pre-specified glaze choice for each pot!!! Oye-veh!