Chris Campbell Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 Last week was a very exciting one for East Coast Potters ... an earthquake and a hurricane! We hope you are all healthy and your homes undamaged this morning. Now it's Monday morning; time to have some fun with the Question of the Week. What stage of pottery making do you like best and Why? Wet? Leather hard? Greenware? Bisque? We want to hear from everyone since we all will have such a unique take on this question. Don't be shy. Share your positive, fun opinions. As always, when replying to the question be sure to hit the reply button below and outside of the message. If not, it quotes all the previous message making the post much longer and difficult to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pres Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 Last week was a very exciting one for East Coast Potters ... an earthquake and a hurricane! We hope you are all healthy and your homes undamaged this morning. Now it's Monday morning; time to have some fun with the Question of the Week. What stage of pottery making do you like best and Why? Wet? Leather hard? Greenware? Bisque? We want to hear from everyone since we all will have such a unique take on this question. Don't be shy. Share your positive, fun opinions. As always, when replying to the question be sure to hit the reply button below and outside of the message. If not, it quotes all the previous message making the post much longer and difficult to read. I really like/respond well to the throwing and construction stages of the pottery. Aesthetically I prefer the look of leatherhard clay to all others-something about the purity of form and texture without the embellishment of glaze surface and color. I guess I remain a kid with a puddle of mud making mud pies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula Patton Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 What stage of pottery making do you like best and Why? Wet? Leather hard? Greenware? Bisque? I like leather hard the best, I can still change or alter it or I can reclaim it if I don't like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfarera Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 What stage of pottery do you like best and why? Wet, leather hard, greenware, or bisque? Not to sound flippant, but the stage of pottery I like best so depends on the process I'm involved in at the time. Wet = doing some immediate altering or flopping it around to form a wrinkle or embellishment. Soft leather hard (or what perhaps Kristen Keiffer calls "suede hard") allows one to alter by darting and easing the piece back together with a new look & sprigging and slip-trailing with more attachment success. The true leather hard stage makes carving and piercing easier not to mention being to apply colored slips and underglazes w/o immediate collapse. Then there is greenware...allowing water-carving, applying Terra Sig, burnishing. Bisque? With bisque you get to do more decorating with such a variety of options that it's staggering to think of all that's availabe...and then just Fire Away...using another variety of firing techniques. I'm supposed to pick a favorite though. I agree with Paula Patton's statement of "I like leather hard the best, I can still change or alter it or I can reclaim it if I don't like it! " Thanks Paula. Gee. Just one little question really stirs up dormant gray matter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
made4mud Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 Last week was a very exciting one for East Coast Potters ... an earthquake and a hurricane! We hope you are all healthy and your homes undamaged this morning. Now it's Monday morning; time to have some fun with the Question of the Week. What stage of pottery making do you like best and Why? Wet? Leather hard? Greenware? Bisque? We want to hear from everyone since we all will have such a unique take on this question. Don't be shy. Share your positive, fun opinions. As always, when replying to the question be sure to hit the reply button below and outside of the message. If not, it quotes all the previous message making the post much longer and difficult to read. I prefer pottery at the leather hard stage - it can still be worked with - to a certain degree, and hasn't been fired to chalky feeling bisqueware Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
launam38 Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 leather-hard is my favorite stage. the piece is strong enough to handle yet young enough to distort, carve, stamp, etc. it still retains the rich color of the clay with which you started. i can transfer it from hand to hand, or to a surface, or even my lap, without fear of warping or marring. in other words, i am in control of the piece. it's not in control of me! i can cover a "multitude of sins" at this stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barhaas Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 What a great question! Leatherhard hands down. Medium leatherhard to be exact. Soft leatherhard is a good time to alter and perhaps attach small decorative things that won't destort the shape (unless you want to distort it). Hard leatherhard is a good time for detailed carvings. But medium leatherhard is when I like to trim, do larger carvings or faceting, attach handles, hold the piece and feel the cool smooth surface of the clay that looks so rich and natural--a look that I would love to emulate with the finished product. I think that this is why I like terra sigilatta so much. After firing, it still has a smooth sheen similar to medium leatherhard clay. But I still like medium leatherhard the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koko Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 Leather hard is my favorite. Because at this point I can think about decoration. I like to paint on my clay, not that I'm very good at it but I love color, very garden themed flowers, butterflys and such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuma Posted August 29, 2011 Report Share Posted August 29, 2011 The beginning, the middle and the end. But mostly the finishing marks on leather hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudder eartha Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 I do almost all of my claywork at the leather hard stage. I mainly hand build using slabs that are leather hard. Once the form is put together, if it seems a little too stiff to work on, I cover the entire piece in a damp tshirt, and then cover it in plastic. After a couple of hours it's good to go! For my work, my pieces look almost the same at the leather hard stage, as they do high fired, so this is why I like the leather hard stage the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucille Oka Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 I like all of the stages. Each stage has something special about it. But if I had to choose a favorite stage it would be...the greenware stage; it's like waiting for dessert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bev's pottery Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 i just love leatherhard. first, i love how it feels in my hands. second, i love to alter the clay after the forming stage and leatherhard is usually perfect for carving. something about the feel of leatherhard is a bit sensual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Idaho Potter Posted August 30, 2011 Report Share Posted August 30, 2011 Oh, dear. There's so much joy and occasional despair when working with clay. It depends on what I'm doing with the clay. If I'm working on a sculpture, I'm in a fever to get my idea translated into clay language, so wet is best. Same for throwing--I just like to play in the mud--it's still like magic when I finish throwing a form. Been doing it for years, but sometimes it still astounds me that my eyes and hands can still coordinate and produce something that was an idea in my mind. Leather hard (suede or hard) is sort of like the sign ("last chance to buy gas--next service 200 miles ahead") you see before entering desolation desert. If you need to make changes--this is the last call. If you aren't quite satisfied with the piece, the clock is ticking and your opportunities are numbered. Hurry up! Greenware--I love greenware. This is where underglaze and brushes come out and so does the painter in me. I much prefer to use underglaze on greenware because it readily accepts the colors and patterns I want to be seen on the finished work. Bisque. Not my favorite stage. If the underglaze needs some touch-up, I can do it here. Unless I have an awesome glaze that blows my socks off, I don't enjoy glazing. Perhaps it's because I haven't spent enough time working with glazes, but I like clear glaze over the underglazes, and the rest is a chore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlCravens Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 Wow, that's a lot of leather-hard responses... Maybe I'll have to pay more attention to that stage. For me, it's wet... I love to throw and love the feeling of forming wet clay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azjoe Posted August 31, 2011 Report Share Posted August 31, 2011 My favorite "stage" is when I'm working on a new idea/vision/inspiration... particularly when it's not straightforward how to construct/implement my vision. It's the period when I'm most creative... it's the time I give myself to play and have fun with clay, tools, techniques, and glazes, to experiment and refine/expand my capabilities. For me, it's the time when I feel I'm creating art... something unique. Even when the result is a failure, I'm inspired by what I've learned, and often with some aspect of what I've created. Honestly, it doesn't matter a whole lot whether the clay is still in the bag, leather-hard, or I'm loading the glazed piece into the kiln... it's all part of the experience and each "stage" offers a wealth of opportunity to try new things that I can't afford to do when I'm doing production work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannie Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 Last week was a very exciting one for East Coast Potters ... an earthquake and a hurricane! We hope you are all healthy and your homes undamaged this morning. Now it's Monday morning; time to have some fun with the Question of the Week. What stage of pottery making do you like best and Why? Wet? Leather hard? Greenware? Bisque? We want to hear from everyone since we all will have such a unique take on this question. Don't be shy. Share your positive, fun opinions. As always, when replying to the question be sure to hit the reply button below and outside of the message. If not, it quotes all the previous message making the post much longer and difficult to read. I prefer leatherhard. I like to be able to add sprigs and make carvings and if it's wet, I can't do that without messing up my piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pottery By Brigitta Posted September 2, 2011 Report Share Posted September 2, 2011 I do like the wet stage because sometimes I don't really know if I will be able to do what I have in mind and there are so many open possibilities and that is exciting. You can either just play around or you can be serious and even when you are seriously pursuing a definite idea, you quite often still end up with something quite different at the end. So, therefore it reminds me of the movie where a famous says the following line: "Life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you will get. Have a great Labor day week end! Brigitta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuraVida Posted September 4, 2011 Report Share Posted September 4, 2011 Hey everybody, It looks like leather hard seems to be a crowd favorite. I agree that it is a great stage because of all the possibilities of manipulation that it provides and I really love how sensual throwing wet clay is forming something from the earth with your hands is truly amazing. But I think my favorite stage at the moment is green ware because it means I will be firing soon. There are so many firing techniques I wish to explore and I am hypnotized by the glow of ware in a kiln. Also its nice to see the ware and how it changes after firing. Lets face it their all so much fun but I have to say green ware with wet coming in at close second. Great topic Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace Pottery Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 The easiest answer is: whatever stage I'm working at. Each stage offers so many possibilities, from forming and altering the wet clay to carving to glazing methods to uses for the finished piece. But if I had to choose I would say the wet stage. I find it very exciting to begin to form a piece from an idea and see where it takes you. And the wet mud just feels good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathi Posted September 7, 2011 Report Share Posted September 7, 2011 I love the wet clay. It's full of hope and possibility. Before the clay has become an ingredient or a medium, it's potential is unlimited. I get a thrill out of wedging the clay and preparing it to transform into something which doesn't yet exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturesclayart Posted September 11, 2011 Report Share Posted September 11, 2011 Last week was a very exciting one for East Coast Potters ... an earthquake and a hurricane! We hope you are all healthy and your homes undamaged this morning. Now it's Monday morning; time to have some fun with the Question of the Week. What stage of pottery making do you like best and Why? Wet? Leather hard? Greenware? Bisque? We want to hear from everyone since we all will have such a unique take on this question. Don't be shy. Share your positive, fun opinions. As always, when replying to the question be sure to hit the reply button below and outside of the message. If not, it quotes all the previous message making the post much longer and difficult to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naturesclayart Posted September 11, 2011 Report Share Posted September 11, 2011 I LOVE leather hard, but have a really hard time being patient enough to wait for it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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