An exciting journey into the world of Clay… 3 days of Fun, Laughter, Excitement and Work !
The pure aesthetic quality and earthy feel of pottery and ceramics make it a fascinating subject.
Studio Verve recently organized a Workshop at the Artist Residency premises to promote this art form and enable those who have an interest to be able to learn. The workshop was conducted by Nehal Rachh: A ceramist par excellence. She has been to residencies in France and The U.k. Had various group exhibitions and solo shows and has been conducting workshops. She is from Baroda where she has her Studio.
The Participants enthusiasm was contagious. Fun, Laughter, Excitement and Work was how the day would pass. We saw everybody’s creative side emerge and we did have to drag everyone away from their working table for the lunch break. The work that was made during this period is a work in progress; the firing will take place once the works dry out.
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| Nehal Demonstrating techniques in Clay work |
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| Engrossed in work |
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| Kneading the clay |
The workshop was an introduction to the subject and dealt with the basics, everything from de-airing to shaping and hand building with coils and pinching techniques to using the potter’s wheel.
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| Nehal giving the Presentation |
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| Introduction to wheel work |
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| Posing with the pieces |
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| Participants & Nehal beaming after a day of hard work |
I have been extremely interested in pottery since the time i was a little girl. I would gape wide eyed at the potter as he magically conjured up various pots and vessels by just gliding his hands over the clay. The lump of clay would suddenly come alive and move and he would use a stick to spin his wheel and it would turn and turn and turn and make a creaking sound that was music to my ears. I would be ‘lost’ for hours and the village potter’s hut was my favorite hangout, my mother often had to send someone to drag me back home. All these years have passed but the fascination has never waned. I do manage now to work the wheel and throw a slightly wobbly bowl occasionally.
Clay items were first made nine thousand years ago and are usually all the artistic evidence left at the sites of ancient civilizations. All developed cultures made pots from clay. The word "ceramics" comes from the Greek keramikos meaning "pottery", or keramos meaning "potter's clay." Clay is most commonly used to make containers such as bowls, vases, pots, figurines, roof tiles & Bricks. as well as sculpture. Objects were made from the “earth” - raw clay found naturally in creek beds and wet areas. The first clay sculptures were dried / baked in the sun after being formed. Later, they were placed in the ashes of open hearths to harden, and finally kilns were used, similar to those used for pottery today. Once the piece is dry it is fired in a kiln where the process hardens it as it lets out more of the water content. Then the glaze is applied and the piece re-fired to create a finished smooth surface. It is one of the oldest human technologies and art-forms and remains a major industry today.
Pottery objects are used either purely for decoration, as art pieces or simply for functional purposes. The medium is flexible. Contemporary artists today use shape and colour as well as various methods of decoration by painting, carving and glazing to achieve desired results. There are many types of clay like Earthenware, Red earthenware or red clay, white and buff colored earthenware, stoneware and includes Bone china, porcelains.. the only limit is Imagination.
As compared to other mediums in sculpture, terracotta uses a far simpler process for creating the finished work with much lower material costs and is is far lighter and easy to transport.
We’ll follow this blog post with another once we have the completed pieces !!!
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Fantastic story:) Greetings
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