Give me your tired, your dried out paper clay. Your scraps yearning to be a piece of Art.

The picture shows the left over dried paper clay scraps from my latest workshop.  As you can see, there’s a lot left over. But, since it’s paper clay, I never worry about this or what to do with it. One of the nice thing about green bone dry paper clay is its ability to be recycled and reused many times.

When people use regular clay, they tend not to think about the clay that is going into the thrash because that cost is relatively small. A typical 25# bag of regular clay can be as low as $6.00 per bag, depending on the clay blend. Paper clay being more expensive (a 25# bag costs around $15-17.00) than regular clay requires me to think more frugally. Any paper clay scraps I throw away means I’m throwing away $$.

Once the paper clay has dried out, it will last indefinitely. It is one of the methods for storing your paper clay without it getting moldy. The disadvantage of this storing method is that you cannot use your dried out clay immediately like you could fresh from the bag. It will require some planning and time, and it can be messy, especially if you are reconsituting a lot of paper clay crumbs. My process of slaking the dried out clay, blending it, and drawing the excess water out till the paper clay is in a kneable state usually takes about a week, maybe even two depending on the weather.

If you have stored you dried out paper clay in sheets, and want to use them as sheets, you can reconstitute (ie rewet/rehydrate) them as such and can begin using them once the sheets have returned to their leather hard state. Most of the time, I just roll out my reconstituted clay into slabs and let it firm up. That way, I have more control over the thickness of the slabs.

Save all your paper clay scaps. Recycle and reuse! Make them feel happy again to be part of a new piece of Art.

An Exercise in Simplicity

I had some extruded clay tubes left over from my last project "Family Ties" and decided to make some thing "simple."

This was the result - a sake bottle and 2 cups. It's high fired to Cone 10, so it's completely functional. I look at it more as a sculptural arrangement.

The "crumbs" are dried clay broken up and "glued" to the sides with paperclay slip.

Glaze was beaded white over a clear glaze. Clay body is Bmix and sand. White slip was applied to the greenware before bisque fire. Some tinges of mauve appeared on the beaded white glaze which was quite interesting. I don't know how it got there. Perhaps contaminant from other people's glazes since this was fired in a community kiln at the Irvine Fine Arts Center.

Bottle: 11"H, Cups: 3"H, 2.5" D

Ikebana, Ceramics & Swordsmanship

I recently completed a short 5 session class in the Sogetsu style of Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) at the Irvine Fine Arts Center conducted by Takeichi Haruko Sensei. This picture was taken in class (2nd week) after we completed the arrangement, but before the Sensei came around (with her clippers in hand!).

I enjoyed the class tremendously. The 5 weeks went by so quickly. The ceramic vase I made fitted the style of the arrangement so I used it. It's a high fire Kazegama style firing (ash firing), invented by Steve Davis of Aardvark. The vase is about 12" high, made out of paperclay, flashing slip was applied to the surface of the piece in the greenware stage. The texture you see is actually left over dried paperclay that is "glued" to the vase with paperclay slip. The texture and colors came out beautifully in this piece.

One thing that struck me were the quotes Takeichi Sensei shared with us. Even though it came from the Ikebana perspective, with my training in Japanese swordsmanship I now better understand  what my sword Sensei (Katsuse Sensei) was trying to tell me. My two favorite quotes from Takeichi Sensei:

1. When a man cuts the pine tree, it is no longer a pine tree. It has become the man.

2. Even if you are a beginner in Ikebana, and you have a small vase, make your arrangement big. Do not let the size of the vase limit you.

Hearing those words for the first time I smiled inside and I thank Katsuse Sensei, "Now, I'm beginning to understand a little bit."

It is incredible the feeling you get when you view these flowers and arrangement in your home. The spirit from these humble flowers that so many of us take for granted fills one's heart and definitely fills the room.