I was already in the midst of a creative crisis when the pandemic hit. I had been making the same body of work for over ten years, and had taken it as far as I thought I could. I had also recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, creating a crisis of another kind. Feeling very lost, I saw Naomi Clement’s call for her new “Finding Your Voice” mentorship, and immediately applied.
Through the readings, podcasts, challenges, and homework Naomi assigned to explore myself and then applied to my work, I came out the other side with a completely new style of work and a new look at life. I realized that fragility doesn’t mean you’re weak. On the contrary, when you take something considered fragile and support it in the right way (or structure it, in the case of clay), it can be stronger than you ever believed.
I look to fiber and architectural patterns when designing these new forms. They’re patterns that are already proven to provide strength.
Preparing Colored Clay
I use clay colored with Mason stains in bright hues to add playfulness to my forms. I start by weighing out a pound (0.45 kg) of wet clay and 24 grams of dry stain. Separate the clay into small pinch pots, and then divide the stain between the pinch pots (1). It helps to spray the clay with some water before and after adding the stain to help cut down on dust, and to adjust for the dry materials you’re adding to the clay. Stack the pinch pots on top of one another and then wedge them together until the stain is fully incorporated into the clay. This generally takes only a few minutes of wedging. Note: Wear a properly fitted dust mask while working with dry materials, including stains.
Choosing a Mold and Pattern
I use both bisque and plaster hump molds. If you can find a pre-made plastic or metal form that you like, pouring a plaster mold of it is quick and easy. If you need a more custom shape, this is best achieved by creating a bisque mold, but it takes more time and planning.
Use a dividing wheel and a flexible ruler to mark out equal vertical lines on your mold with a pencil. These will be your upright supports, or the warp in your weaving. Next, draw out your design—making sure that the lines, or the weft, cross the uprights in multiple places for the best support (2). It can be helpful to mark out measurements along the uprights to help you keep the pattern even. I leave my pattern in pencil until I know it is one I want to repeat, then I mark it in permanent marker (see 4).
Rolling and Preparing Coils
Measure out the length of coils you will need for each of your lines using a flexible ruler or measuring tape. For a smooth surface, I hand roll my coils on drywall (3). I draw out a ruler on the drywall for easy measuring. Start by squeezing your clay out into a coil, then place it on the drywall and start rolling it out. Use gentle pressure at first until the coil is rounded and smooth. Then you can add pressure, moving your hands back and forth to lengthen the coil. To keep the clay from drying out while rolling the coils, spray the drywall with just enough water to create a surface that is damp, so that it will not be pulling water out of the clay while you roll. Use the ruler to measure and cut the coils to the length you need. Do this for all of your lines and colors, wrapping them in plastic so they do not dry out. You will also need to roll out a small slab for the base of the basket.
Assembling the Base Structure
Place your mold on a banding wheel. I elevate my mold so that the coils can hang below the edge of it without dragging. Center your circle slab on the mold and start attaching the upright coils. I use an angled wire brush to score the clay, using only water on the brush to create its own slip (4). Press each coil into the slab well to ensure a good attachment. I also follow up with a fine, thin sponge and a 1/4-inch (6.3-mm) angled paintbrush to compress the seams and connections. Make sure you are not introducing too much water to your joints during this step, which can lead to cracking later on.
Adding Colored Coils
Start attaching your colored coils to the base structure. My design has two coils coming off of the same upright, so I cut the ends at an angle and score them together before scoring and attaching them to the base (5). Work your way around the form, adding all of the colored clay coils. Make sure to compress all seams and attachments using the technique and tools mentioned above (6). Keep your sponge and brush clean to help prevent and also clean up any smears.
Weaving a Pattern
To weave the coils, start working your way around the form, following the pattern you’ve drawn out. When coils meet, score both where they attach, and press them together against the mold (7). It’s best to work your way around the form in one direction, and then from the top down in order to make sure your coils are overlapping in the same way all around. If a coil was on top of its first connection, then it should be on the bottom of the next (8). When your coils cross an upright, make sure the upright is in between the two colored coils, and press all three together (9). When you reach the bottom of your mold, cut all the coils to the correct length to meet for their final connection (10), score and attach them together with the colored coils on the outside (11).
Finishing the Basket
It is very important to let your basket set up to a medium leather hard stage before removing it from the mold. It is also best to sandwich the basket between the mold and ware board to flip it (12), and then remove the mold from the basket. If you lift the basket off the mold on its own, you may warp it.
Once you have turned the basket upright, go around the inside, compressing and smoothing the seams with the sponge and brush. Cut the top of the upright coils at an angle and attach a small piece of the corresponding colored clay (13). Use your finger to work the clay into the coils, smoothing later with a fine sponge.
Drying, Cleaning, and Firing
Once the basket is completed, it must dry slowly to prevent cracking. Place the basket on top of a drywall wareboard (14), and wrap in plastic. The drywall will slowly pull moisture out of the clay, allowing the basket to stay wrapped, but still start drying. Once the basket has reached the hard leather-hard stage, but before it starts to turn bone dry, it is time to do a final cleaning of any color smears. I carefully pick up the basket and work my way around it, scraping back any smears with the hook end of a Kemper blade and hook tool, which is like a curved knife. Once all of the smears are cleaned, I lightly cover the basket and let it continue to fully dry.
When the basket is ready to bisque fire, I gently pick it up with two hands, supporting it from the bottom and not putting too much pressure on any one area. This is when the basket is the most fragile, and clumsy hands mean devastation. After the bisque fire, the basket is much sturdier and can be handled more easily. I do a final inspection for color smears and use wet sandpaper to remove them. I then dip it in a clear glaze and fire it to cone 6 in an electric kiln.
Sarah German, after earning a BA in ceramics, is now a full-time artist and educator living in Austin, Texas. She works out of her backyard studio, teaches community clay classes, and runs the Greater Austin Clay Artists organization. To see more of her work, visit www.sarahgermanceramics.comor follow her on Instagram @sarahgermanceramics.
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I was already in the midst of a creative crisis when the pandemic hit. I had been making the same body of work for over ten years, and had taken it as far as I thought I could. I had also recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, creating a crisis of another kind. Feeling very lost, I saw Naomi Clement’s call for her new “Finding Your Voice” mentorship, and immediately applied.
Through the readings, podcasts, challenges, and homework Naomi assigned to explore myself and then applied to my work, I came out the other side with a completely new style of work and a new look at life. I realized that fragility doesn’t mean you’re weak. On the contrary, when you take something considered fragile and support it in the right way (or structure it, in the case of clay), it can be stronger than you ever believed.
I look to fiber and architectural patterns when designing these new forms. They’re patterns that are already proven to provide strength.
Preparing Colored Clay
I use clay colored with Mason stains in bright hues to add playfulness to my forms. I start by weighing out a pound (0.45 kg) of wet clay and 24 grams of dry stain. Separate the clay into small pinch pots, and then divide the stain between the pinch pots (1). It helps to spray the clay with some water before and after adding the stain to help cut down on dust, and to adjust for the dry materials you’re adding to the clay. Stack the pinch pots on top of one another and then wedge them together until the stain is fully incorporated into the clay. This generally takes only a few minutes of wedging. Note: Wear a properly fitted dust mask while working with dry materials, including stains.
Choosing a Mold and Pattern
I use both bisque and plaster hump molds. If you can find a pre-made plastic or metal form that you like, pouring a plaster mold of it is quick and easy. If you need a more custom shape, this is best achieved by creating a bisque mold, but it takes more time and planning.
Use a dividing wheel and a flexible ruler to mark out equal vertical lines on your mold with a pencil. These will be your upright supports, or the warp in your weaving. Next, draw out your design—making sure that the lines, or the weft, cross the uprights in multiple places for the best support (2). It can be helpful to mark out measurements along the uprights to help you keep the pattern even. I leave my pattern in pencil until I know it is one I want to repeat, then I mark it in permanent marker (see 4).
Rolling and Preparing Coils
Measure out the length of coils you will need for each of your lines using a flexible ruler or measuring tape. For a smooth surface, I hand roll my coils on drywall (3). I draw out a ruler on the drywall for easy measuring. Start by squeezing your clay out into a coil, then place it on the drywall and start rolling it out. Use gentle pressure at first until the coil is rounded and smooth. Then you can add pressure, moving your hands back and forth to lengthen the coil. To keep the clay from drying out while rolling the coils, spray the drywall with just enough water to create a surface that is damp, so that it will not be pulling water out of the clay while you roll. Use the ruler to measure and cut the coils to the length you need. Do this for all of your lines and colors, wrapping them in plastic so they do not dry out. You will also need to roll out a small slab for the base of the basket.
Assembling the Base Structure
Place your mold on a banding wheel. I elevate my mold so that the coils can hang below the edge of it without dragging. Center your circle slab on the mold and start attaching the upright coils. I use an angled wire brush to score the clay, using only water on the brush to create its own slip (4). Press each coil into the slab well to ensure a good attachment. I also follow up with a fine, thin sponge and a 1/4-inch (6.3-mm) angled paintbrush to compress the seams and connections. Make sure you are not introducing too much water to your joints during this step, which can lead to cracking later on.
Adding Colored Coils
Start attaching your colored coils to the base structure. My design has two coils coming off of the same upright, so I cut the ends at an angle and score them together before scoring and attaching them to the base (5). Work your way around the form, adding all of the colored clay coils. Make sure to compress all seams and attachments using the technique and tools mentioned above (6). Keep your sponge and brush clean to help prevent and also clean up any smears.
Weaving a Pattern
To weave the coils, start working your way around the form, following the pattern you’ve drawn out. When coils meet, score both where they attach, and press them together against the mold (7). It’s best to work your way around the form in one direction, and then from the top down in order to make sure your coils are overlapping in the same way all around. If a coil was on top of its first connection, then it should be on the bottom of the next (8). When your coils cross an upright, make sure the upright is in between the two colored coils, and press all three together (9). When you reach the bottom of your mold, cut all the coils to the correct length to meet for their final connection (10), score and attach them together with the colored coils on the outside (11).
Finishing the Basket
It is very important to let your basket set up to a medium leather hard stage before removing it from the mold. It is also best to sandwich the basket between the mold and ware board to flip it (12), and then remove the mold from the basket. If you lift the basket off the mold on its own, you may warp it.
Once you have turned the basket upright, go around the inside, compressing and smoothing the seams with the sponge and brush. Cut the top of the upright coils at an angle and attach a small piece of the corresponding colored clay (13). Use your finger to work the clay into the coils, smoothing later with a fine sponge.
Drying, Cleaning, and Firing
Once the basket is completed, it must dry slowly to prevent cracking. Place the basket on top of a drywall wareboard (14), and wrap in plastic. The drywall will slowly pull moisture out of the clay, allowing the basket to stay wrapped, but still start drying. Once the basket has reached the hard leather-hard stage, but before it starts to turn bone dry, it is time to do a final cleaning of any color smears. I carefully pick up the basket and work my way around it, scraping back any smears with the hook end of a Kemper blade and hook tool, which is like a curved knife. Once all of the smears are cleaned, I lightly cover the basket and let it continue to fully dry.
When the basket is ready to bisque fire, I gently pick it up with two hands, supporting it from the bottom and not putting too much pressure on any one area. This is when the basket is the most fragile, and clumsy hands mean devastation. After the bisque fire, the basket is much sturdier and can be handled more easily. I do a final inspection for color smears and use wet sandpaper to remove them. I then dip it in a clear glaze and fire it to cone 6 in an electric kiln.
Sarah German, after earning a BA in ceramics, is now a full-time artist and educator living in Austin, Texas. She works out of her backyard studio, teaches community clay classes, and runs the Greater Austin Clay Artists organization. To see more of her work, visit www.sarahgermanceramics.com or follow her on Instagram @sarahgermanceramics.
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