Experimenting

Experimentation is just a matter of course when you're working with clay (or any artistic media). Clay in particular lends itself to trying something new.

I have two full kiln loads of fired pots ready and waiting to be glazed. I have been playing with a new clay (Billy's clay, he teaches at the Fayette Art Center & Gallery). It's completely different from the normal clean, stiff clays I usually like to use. His has a bit of rough matter in it which really ads character. It's looser and more "wobbly" than what I usually use, so I've had to experiment a bit.

I also switched from the majolica red clay I've been using, which is low fire, to a red clay that fires from low to mid-range. I switched because I'll be teaching some slab classes at the Gallery and wanted a clay that allowed participants to choose their own range. I prefer low-fire for a variety of reasons. Others like to work in the mid or high fire ranges. If I ever get bored with discovering all there is to learn and do in the low-fire range I'll go back to working in mid and high... hopefully my life will be long enough to get there!

Sometime soon I'll be popping photos of my new works out on the site (www.Hummingbird-Hollow.com). I have some new glazes I'm playing with also. I just read an article on experimenting with bought glazes... ha, a whole new avenue to explore! Not that I haven't been mixing & playing around already, but the article did give me a few new ideas.