I learned to work with clay in high school and didn't work in it, again, until 20 years later when I decided to take a clay class. The class was held at American River College in Sacramento, CA. It was a beginning class but it went through the basics of hand building, throwing on a wheel and even raku firing. Great class. I bought an old kiln and started working in clay.
This piece I created is an example of a simple mask. I used a form to sculpt the clay over and added my own design.
I believe the clay is Sandstone. I bisque fired it in my old kiln and then painted raku glazes on it. I then fired it in my kiln, again, and pulled it when it was red hot. I pulled it with fire long tongs.
The hot piece was carefully placed into a trash barrel with shredded paper. I let it burn for 30 minutes and then put it into water.
You can see the results.
I learned how to improve my throwing skills this last year at Alpha Ceramics. The instructor, David Bradley, is an excellent teacher.
I will post some of the completed pieces at a later date.
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