Working with clay, as is the case with most media, has its own terminology. You can hand build or throw clay. Within hand building, you can use coil or slab construction. Throwing is done on a potter’s wheel. Typically, the wheel is used to shape round ceramic ware such as spheres, disks, cylinders, cones and tubes. We threw clay to make bowls, mugs, vases, and similar forms during a recent week-long class called Round and Round We Throw at the John C Campbell Folk School.
Every reference I’ve checked starts by emphasizing the importance of wedging the clay. We did the same in our class and spent Sunday evening learning to wedge clay. Wedging is the process of removing air bubbles and ensuring the clay forms a homogeneous mass. There are different wedging techniques but we used the one commonly called “ram’s head” which entails using our hands to knead the clay into a shape resembling a bull’s nose or ram’s head before patting it into a ball.
On Monday morning, instructors, Steve Fielding and Mike Lalonde, started with an information-packed demonstration. We learned about the potter’s wheel‒to set the direction and control the speed. We learned the importance of body position and posture at the wheel. Here’s a photo of my working station.
We learned about bats, which are the removable platforms on top of the wheel head, and other pieces of equipment.
We learned about applying water to lubricate the clay without getting it too wet. Then we watched the essential steps to center, open and pull the clay. This is Steve demonstrating how to center.
After centering, he demonstrates how to open.
After opening, he demonstrates how to pull. “Center, Open, Pull” quickly became our mantra.
We learned about checking the thickness, compressing the rim, shaping, and various other steps. Here Steve refines the shape of his piece.
We learned about trimming the bottom edge and the importance of a “BOLD undercut” (an instruction delivered with such force that none of us will ever forget it!).
Then it was our turn to give it a try. And try and try and try. Vince Pitelka puts it this way in his book Clay A Studio Handbook: “When learning to throw, always sit down at the wheel with at least a dozen balls of clay. You must abandon the preciousness of the individual piece. Starting with only a few balls of clay encourages an unconscious determination to make every piece a success and thus an unproductive tendency to overwork the clay. Keep working on a piece if things are going well, but the instant it starts to go bad, scrap it and start another. You will accelerate the learning curve and accomplish far more.” I wish I’d realized this from the get-go. Abandoning the preciousness of each piece is not something that comes naturally to me! But I did become very familiar with the Scrap Clay bucket where we abandoned our precious pieces.
The instructors told us about the importance of a slow and steady touch‒to always apply and release pressure on the clay slowly. But experience was the best teacher on this point. Clay is very responsive which means you have total control over how the clay is shaped but it also means one, small misplaced movement can quickly ruin the piece. Developing the right touch can only be accomplished through a great deal of practice.
Before the end of the first day, we had thrown our first successful pieces and placed them outside to dry. Here’s one of my first bowls.
Some of the students were more experienced as evidenced by the beauty of their first pieces.
Throughout the week, we witnessed the process to center, open and pull multiple times. We learned about drying and firing clay. We learned the steps to complete at each stage from wet, leather-hard, bone-dry to bisque. We started with bowls and then progressed to cylinders and mugs. We had fun experimenting with glazes trying different colors and combinations.
My favorite piece turned out to be a spoon rest. I wanted to try a motif design and got the idea to carve my own stamp from basswood. After a little trial and error, I got the stamp to the right depth and was able to get a clean impression.
To be on the safe side, I made 3 of these spoon rests. One cracked during firing but 2 were successful. Here’s how my favorite new spoon rest looks in my kitchen.
I love this spoon rest! I love that it’s functional and serves a purpose in my daily life. But most of all, I love that it is a combination of two new skills I learned at the Folk School‒woodcarving and clay throwing. It is one of a kind and truly unique to me.
More Info
The American Ceramic Society hosts the CeramicArtsNetwork which is an online community serving active potters and ceramic artists worldwide, as well as those who are interested in finding out more about this craft. I learned about Vince Pitelka’s book Clay A Studio Handbook on this website.
Check out my previous post, called Event Expands Pottery Proficiency, which I wrote after visiting the Perspectives Georgia Pottery Invitational held in Watkinsville, Georgia in the fall of 2018.
I participated in the Work Study Program at the John C Campbell Folk School. You can learn more about the program in my post First Impressions as a Work Study Student. Or check out the following posts to learn about the Folk School experience.
. Weave a Market Basket
. Artistic Details Around Campus
. Carving in Brasstown
. Getting Started with Woodcarving
. Work Study Program FAQ
. From Sheep to Shawl
. Flat-Plane Carving with Harley.
You can learn more on the John C Campbell Folk School website, their Facebook page or Instagram account. Information about the Work Study program is found here.
Today’s Takeaways
1. Consider learning the terminology of a medium that interests you.
2. Nothing beats hands on experience to deepen your appreciation of an art or craft.
3. Explore the possibilities of combining media into a single piece.
After carving the simple carrot form, we drilled a small hole at the top of the carrot with a hand drill. Here’s my carrot (bottom left) about to be drilled.
The class progressed from carrots to fish. Harley uses a fish figure to introduce the topic of wood grain and how to adjust your cutting technique according to the direction of the grain. He uses a simple phrase “Always ski downhill” as a reminder to push the knife in the same direction as the wood grain. Here is a finished fish, often referred to as the “go by”, in front of my fish carving blank.
Harley brought a variety of figures and carving blanks to give the students lots of options.
The tomte, a figure inspired by the work of painter/illustrator Jenny Nyström (1854-1946) creator of the Swedish image of the Jultomte, is one of Harley’s favorites.
Harley emphasized the importance of a sharp knife and demonstrated knife sharpening techniques. Here he is using a series of credit card-sized Dia-sharp sharpeners from DMT (Diamond Machine Technology).
I decided to tackle a horse figure next. Here’s the go by with my carving blank.
This horse figure lends itself to the flat-plane style. I was pleased with my progress.
Then for my biggest carving challenge to date, I decided to take on a figure of a man designed to hold a sign. This is the go by model carved by Harley.
Here’s my carving blank with the first section carved out around his left shoe.
I worked on this figure for several days with lots of assistance from Harley and Frank. In the below photo, I’m about to tackle the face. One lesson I learned is the importance of marking your cuts. A pencil is indeed a critical tool for woodcarving.
Although I decided to leave my figure natural, we learned how to paint and finish our pieces. Harley thins water-based acrylics to paint his carvings.
Then he finishes them with a matte finish wax such as Watco Satin Wax.
I chose the sign holder figure because it’s functional. But as I looked for the perfect spot to place it in my home, I realized it’s so much more than just a sign holder-it’s a delightful reminder of the joy of creating and wonderful days spent carving with Harley, Frank and my new carving friends.
We capped off the week with a visit to Martha’s sheep farm. There we saw two different herds of sheep, the Corriedales and Romneys; and the Shetland sheep. Seeing the sheep “up close and personal” definitely brought the information to life.
We washed the fleece and hung it to dry overnight.
The next day, we skirted the fleece meaning we removed all the nasty bits and vegetable contamination. Then it was time to start discussing natural dyeing… one of my favorite subjects! First we mordanted the wool with alum and cream of tartar to ensure the dyes would fix in the wool.
We started experimenting with various dyestuffs. We filled separate dye pots with marigolds, onion skins and cochineal. Then we doubled our options by adding iron or overdyeing. We were pleasantly surprised every time wool was pulled out of a dye pot. The below dye is cochineal‒a natural red dye prepared from the dried bodies of the cochineal insect.
We also made a “rainbow pot” by layering the various dyestuffs, cheesecloth, and wool. Here’s how that wool turned out. Isn’t it pretty?
As our dyed wool dried, we shifted back to preparing the wool. We learned to card wool, first with hand carders then with a drum carder.
As you might expect, the drum carder was much faster and easier.
We did a bit of combing. But the bulk of our time was spent learning to spin. Here’s the spinning wheel I attempted to use.
I should add the rest of the class did catch on and lots of beautiful yarn was spun. Here’s the class display for the Student Exhibit at the end of the week.
I learned a variety of new skills and have a new appreciation for the journey wool makes from sheep to shawl. Special thanks to Martha Owen and my fellow students for a great week!
Q7. Do classes have to be at a specific time?
Here’s my in-progress strap in the Inkle Weaving class.
Here is a young Shetland sheep on Martha Owen’s farm tour which was part of the Sheep to Shawl Spinning and Dyeing class.
Q11. Do you have your own room?
Q12. What is the work?
Our team also had an unusual assignment to clean out the Big Barn beside the Blacksmith Studio. We had to remove and dispose of the debris that had been collected over the years.
Q13. Is the work difficult?
We use basswood because it is soft, has a fine grain and is easy to carve. The wood is light colored with a creamy tint. Richard uses a band saw to cut the basswood shapes.
Because he’s been doing this a long time, Richard has some short cuts to make this process as efficient as possible. For instance, he typically uses extra thick wood for the first cuts and then “slices off” several figures with the table saw. Pictured below is a roughed out shape (on the left) which will be sliced into 3 small frogs (on the right).
Next a coping saw can be used to trim off sections of the wood. In the photo below, the roughed out frog on the left is the result of band and table saw cuts while the roughed out frog on the right has also been trimmed with the coping saw. This is the shape the woodcarvers will start carving.
Richard helps us get started by sketching out our cuts and carvings with a pencil. According to a Brief Introduction to Woodcarving by the Charlotte Woodcarvers (see More Info below): “A Sharp Pencil Is An Essential and Indispensable Woodcarving Tool! Before you start to carve, mark center line(s) on the wood. … Using a center line as a reference you can divide halves into quarters, quarters into eighths, etc. Pencil lines will serve as an aid in orienting or laying out the pattern for the carving and will help maintain symmetry. Also mark the outline of the design on the wood to show where you want to make stop-cuts, remove excess wood, or indicate intricate details that you want to carve. Pencil marks are temporary; knife cuts are permanent! You can make and erase pencil marks until you have laid out the figure or design you desire before making any permanent cuts.” The roughed out frog, in the below photo, has the initial sketched lines.
Use the carving knife to slowly remove the unwanted wood. There are many techniques but beginners usually start with a simple straight push cut. This is where the magic happens as a (hopefully) recognizable shape emerges from the wood. It’s also the most challenging part. Richard advises us to look to real life for guidance. If you’re carving a cat, for instance, watch a cat, study its shape, and notice how it moves. Photographs or design sketches are also helpful to guide the carving. Richard intuitively knows how much to carve and where but someone like me might find a photo like this helpful.
I’m currently working on my second woodcarving. You can see where I’ve started shaping the bird’s head. I just take it slow, being careful to work with the grain and remove small sections at a time.
Carving is done from rough to fine; finishing with the details such as eyes, faces, feathers, etc. These details, especially the faces, are often the most difficult to get right. Carving styles vary. Brasstown Carvers’ carvings are typically either rustic where the tool marks remain visible or sanded with a shiny smooth finish. Here’s Richard’s finished frog in a little shadow box setting I made for it.
I love the way woodcarvings look in shadow box settings. The setting showcases the carving and gives it presence. I can envision it in a small frame hanging on the wall. You may have noticed I used a similar technique with the Brasstown Carvers’ pieces in my last post. Here’s a pair of owls from Sue McClure.
Richard hasn’t quite finished this adorable little rabbit …
…but it looks right at home in this garden scene.
I’ll wrap up with a shout out to Richard Carter. Many thanks for your help with this post, Richard! I know your woodcarving fans (and there are many of us) appreciate your kind and gentle guidance.