CLAY WORKS let your mind explore
The Next Level pg. 08
Including stories, projects and amazing pictures
Table Of Contents 03 . . . . Editor’s Note
Pg 3................. 04 . . . . Intro to Clay Pg 4................. 08 . . . . The Next Level 3................. 4................. 10 . . . . DIY: With Polymer Clay 5.................
14 . . . . Picassoz Lakeland Fl 16 . . . . Q & A Collab
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EDITOR’S NOTE Welcome to the world of clay. This is for all ages that enjoy’s the fasanation of clay and all the wonders it can create. Also for those who simply enjoy’s looking through art magazines and finds an interest in reading what its about. The intentions of this magazine is to entertain you and hopefully you will learn something new that you did not know before, SO try new things and just let your creative side EXPLODE!
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Intro To Clay By: Kiara Lopez
Clay - a stiff, sticky-grained earth, typically yellow, red, or bluish-gray in color and often forming an impermeable layer in the soil. It can be molded when wet, and is dried and baked to make bricks, pottery, and ceramics.
Clay’s Birth
If you did not know already, clay is born from nature. Clay is born from the ground, where you can find it in streams or rivers that once flowed. Minerals, plant life and animals are all the ingredients of soil. So overtime water pressure breaks up the remains of flora, fauna, and minerals, breaking them into fine particles. Larger particles are filtered out through rocks and sand, leaving silt to settle into beds of clay.
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Clay’sFamily There is a lot of different kind of clays out there but the most common three are earthenware, stoneware, and kaolin. Earthenware, or common clay, contains many minerals like rust, and in its raw state may contain some sand or small bits of rock. It’s a secondary clay that has been transported by moving water some distance, picking up minerals and other materials before settling in a river bed. It bakes in a temperature range
of 1700 to 2100’F. It is commonly used for making pots, roofing tiles, and other low-fire ware. Stoneware is a hard and durable clay that is fired to temperatures between 2100 to 2300’F. Kaolin is the purest clay, called primary clay because it is found very near its source. It’s a very high-fire clay, needing heat from 2335 to 2550’F.
Clay’s Process An artist can take their choice of clay and begin to make anything from bowls, jugs, vases to plates, boxes, sculptures etc. Mainly all pottery artist use something called the potter’s wheel. Invented around 5000 B.C. It allows the potter to throw a slab of clay while it spins around to an adjusted speed in favor of
the potter and from there, they start to form any shape or object they want. There’s different types of potter’s wheels. Some are powered by hands or feet, which spins in platter on which the clay sits. Others use treadles, like the foot pumps seen on old sewing machines. Many are just turned by electricity usually. Once the piece is created and has been formed and dried completely, it must be fired so it can be solid forever. If the piece doesn’t go through the firing process, it can easily turn back to mud once it comes in contact with water because it’s easy to destroy making it very fragile. It can take up to a week for a piece to get fired. The fire is kept burning 24 hours a day for server days until the clay has matured. Then the kiln (woodfired) is left to cool for several more days, which caution that if it’s opened too soon, the pots will crack and break. Because this is so labor intensive, potters who use
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these kilns often fire only once a year. They save up an entire year’s work, perhaps hundreds of pots, for one firing. Most wood-fired pottery doesn't have a glaze. As the fire gets hotter, drafts pull wood ash through the kiln where it’s added on the pots. The pots are so hot from the flames that the ash melts on the clay and creates its own glaze. The patters produced are unpredictable and always amazing to see the final results.
If you are interested in pottery and would like to dive into the world of clay art, there is so many sources around that can help you out. Including offered classes or sessions open to the public from art stores to art schools. A couple websites are listed for you to find out more information about clay and pottery:
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http://pottery.about.com/od/thepot tersspace/tp/starting.htm http://www.bigceramicstore.com
The Next Level
By: Kiara Lopez
WONDER WOMEN
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BY JASON FREENY
A unique custom toy sculptor has taken the use of clay to a whole ’nother level. Jason Freeny is a 46 year old artist that specializes in sculpture and design’s toys. Jason transforms inanimate characters, such as vinyl figures into revealing what their body parts would look like under the plastic. His love for toys and love for anatomy started this trend of toy skeletons. He uses clay and other materials to design the bones and creates everything by hand. Jason started using sculpey clay until he realized he wanted his piece to be more durable. He discovered a clay called an apoxie clay, a two part clay that you squish
together and have about an hour to 45 minutes to work with it before it sets. In an interview Jason explains his process in using the apoxie clay and his technique to work with it. “Details are much easier to put in after it starts getting harder, so I try to get the form down while it’s soft. And then sometimes I have to wait an hour until it gets just to the right hardness and then I can really start putting in the little fine details in it. But it takes 7 hours to 24 hours to really harden.” Jason is very passionate about his work, he really likes to look in the inside of things and believe that toys
are not only toys on the outside but are toys in the inside as well. He wants to work on his own characters and include depth in his toys and keep the anatomy element to his own characters. Find more of Jason’s work at his website, http://www.moistproduction.com/
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D I Y: With Polymer Clay D.I.Y: How to make a sleeping rainbow dragon out of polymer clay. Polymer clay is a type of hardenable modeling clay. It comes in variety of colors. With instructions to bake once the piece is finish. Here are steps in how you can make your own dragon. All you need is polymer clay in rainbow colors and then follow the steps.
By: Kiara Lopez
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icassoz
By: Kiara Lopez
Picassoz is a party entertainment venue in Lakeland Fl. It’s a casual, do-it-yourself art studio featuring pottery painting, mosaics, fused glass jewelry, clay and host parties, special occasions, family night, field trips and more. Opened on October 24th 2002, it’s a fun place to be hand’s on and creative. Make sure to visit their website to get
their event schedule. There’s always something to do, so check out www.picassoz. com for the latest insights. When you first walk into Picassoz, you will expect to see a room full of fragile pieces that will enchant you into painting them. From bowls, jars, plates and piggy banks to figu-
rine characters and large vases. Picassoz has something for everyone and anyone for all ages to do. You walk in and pick the piece you desire, each of them are priced in the bottom. Prices can range from $10 and up depending on how large it is. The next step is to pick all the colors of paint you want. Once your all set up, it’s time to start painting. Once everything is complete, you turn it in so it can be glazed and fired. It usually takes up to 2 weeks before your piece is ready for pick up. There is no studio charge and the amount you pay is the cost of your chosen piece. It’s a great deal and worth the time! If your ever in the lakeland area, make sure
you stop by Picassoz and paint your master piece!
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Q & A: With By: Kiara Lopez
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Interview with Kimberly Smith at Brooke’s Pottery, located in Lakeland Fl.
What is Brooke’s Pottery all about?
Mostly american made 97% ceramics, locally owned
What is your position at Brooke’s Pottery? • Sales
What do you enjoy most about your job? • Meeting people, working with people, helping them to find what they want to
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buy.
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What do you know about clay and do you have any experience
• No experience, we just sell it. We don’t make it .But a type of firing collection we have is called raku- it’s a twice fire for pottery.
Brooke’s Pottery 5
Roughy how many art pieces do you have in the store? • We represent over 500 artist. From clay to paper, and also a line of greeting cards.
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Which is your favorite ceramic piece in the store? • The artist is fun and I own one of his pieces .
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What are some of the most popular pieces?
• Berry bowls , and mugs.
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