Making Process

I've tried various approaches to working with clay but have always come back to hand-building as the way that suits my hand-skills and thought processes.  Mine's isn't  the speediest way of working, but it has a repetitive rhythm and one that also allows for the clay itself to inform the form of the finished piece.

• In my outside workshop, I first prepare my bagged clay into 'sausage' lengths.
• Using a basic, non-mechanical extruder, I make long 'strips' of clay (55mm wide by 6mm depth and 350mm length).  
• These are left out to dry until they are 'leather hard' - so, still pliant and malleable but able to 'stand' and be joined without sagging under the weight of each new section of clay. 
• I bring the leather hard clay strips into my 'in-house' workshop then start the hand-building process.
• For the base of each piece, after cutting off some clay with a cheese wire and flattening it (good for releasing any minor tensions in the day!).  I use two wooden guides, a rolling pin - and some good old fashioned elbow grease - to roll out a clay slab approx 10mm deep.  I use a paper template as a guide and then, using a pottery knife,  cut out the base ready for the next stage.
• I score each strip of clay along the edge of its length and join each new strip to the base and subsequent strips using clay slip...which is just recycled dried clay scrappings with water added to form a clay paste.
• Dependent upon the height of the piece, I let the piece 'rest' and wrap it overnight before starting on the next section.
• Once the piece is finished, I let it dry out just beyond 'leather hard' - and then begins one of my favourite stages in the whole process...refining and smoothing using various metal kidneys and other tools to scrape back the surface.    
• This does create a slightly damp clay 'powder' which I keep and is used to make the clay slip for joining as already described - waste not, want not.
• The piece is then left out to air dry - once that's completed it's really fragile so I never feel happy until it's safely in the kiln ready for bisque firing up to 998 degrees celsius.
• Fingers crossed and prayers to the kiln gods for a piece that survives first stage of the firing process.

It is a great irony that glazing - and multi-fired glazing at that - is absolutly crucial to my finished work.  In general there's an alchemy and mystique that surrounds the creation of ceramics - a combination of magic and chemistry...and that's where the irony comes in.  I studied Chemistry in 3rd and 4th year at secondary school but it was agreed 'by mutual consent' that it wasn't my strong point - so I spent about 4 months in the art department 'filling in' my timetable before my exams.

Fast forward to my time in the Ceramics Department at The Glasgow School of Art - and I began to see the benefits and practical application of Chemistry...oh my poor, long suffering Chemistry teacher would not believe it!  I freely admit that it is not my favourite aspect of my craft but when the kiln is opened and you have created a multi textured, multi layered piece - well, that is magic indeed.

• I buy in glaze ingredients but mix up my own recipes.
• I always mix my glazes wearing a mask and gloves - and apply them in my outside workshop as some aspects of the process are hazardous.
• My base glaze is a Dolomite glaze with the addition of Lead Bisilicate to slightly lower its firing temperature whist still achieving the satin matt finish its prized for.
• Strange then that I add silicon carbide to create the surfaces that have become my 'trademark'. During the firing gases are produced at the top end of a stoneware firing and this is what creates glaze bubbles resulting in crater glazes.
• My colour palette is generally subdued...no brights for me. I use colouring oxides to achieve the mix of greens, russets, yellow ochre, greys and grey blues that suit my inspiration - weathered and worn; the silicon carbide also causes local reduction, which causes variegation of the colour and texture .  I've recently returned to loading some of the glazes with copper oxide which creates a black with overlays of copper green.
• I prepare large quantities of my powdered base glaze, then use it as and when I'm glazing a piece, adding colouring oxides and silicon carbide, to the smaller batch.
• I don't sieve my glazes after mixing with water - which I try to take from containers that collect rainwater.  This means there's an uneven mix and you can achieve wonderful random colouring and textural effects - or sometimes not!!
• First, I like to heat the bisque fired piece up to approx 70 degrees celsius In the kiln then take it out and glaze the interior.
• Generally,  I pour a dolomite glaze without the addition of silicon carbide into the vessel interior - I 'swill' it around then pour the remainder back into the glaze bucket.
• Next step is to pop it back into the kiln, which is still heated, to warm the exterior of the piece. 
• Out again, I place it on a whirler (metal and looks like a cake stand - but does as the name suggests!). I apply the 'silk' dolomite glaze to some sections then overlay the whole piece with the dolomite crater glaze. I use a bog standard household paint brush of varying widths to apply it -  I also practice some 'application in action' by spattering and flicking the glazes. Sometimes I'll sponge back some of the glaze to enhance the texture of the final piece.
• Then it's into the electric kiln for it's first glaze firing - 1200 degrees celsius...I programme the kiln to do this carefully, with gradual increases in how many degrees per minute the temperature rises - there are key critical stages where you can loose a piece if it's done too quickly.
• This 'glazing and firing' process is repeated again at least once - but sometimes three or four times to get the desired effect. It can be a bit of a gamble - one firing too much and....... it's those kiln gods again!