Marek & Pauline Drzazga-Donaldson on tue 25 sep 07
Dear Lili,
seen the drawing in Leach's book, never done it myself, but not only is =
it viable, but it should be easier and quicker with larger amounts than =
by hand.
However I disagree with you when you state that : -
" I agree that freshly
pugged clay needs no wedging--I never wedge mine that is for sure."
sorry mate, when you use clay for hand making, a properly hand prepared =
(kneaded and wedged) clay cannot be beaten for responsiveness by a =
tightly machined and memory knocked to kingdom come and back again piece =
of puged clay.
Rant over, and thankfully I do feel that each to their own is the right =
way - just had to respond with a knee jerk reaction.
Happy Potting from Marek
Hand made Architectural Ceramics from No9 Studio UK www.no9uk.com
Fully Residential Pottery Courses and more at Mole Cottage =
www.moleys.com
"Tips and Time Travel from a Vernacular Potter" reviews on =
www.keramix.com
an irreverent point of view after 35 years in the game Marek =
Drzazga-Donaldson =20
Assemble a dragon finial at www.dragonfinials.co.uk
Free Works and Mole Cottage DVD's and Video content on all the sites
Drzazga Video Promotions at www.drzazga.co.uk Submit address for DVD
Lee Love on tue 25 sep 07
On 9/25/07, Marek & Pauline Drzazga-Donaldson wrote:
> Dear Lili,
> seen the drawing in Leach's book, never done it myself, but not only is it viable,
>but it should be easier and quicker with larger amounts than by hand.
I was probably one of the last apprentices at my teacher's
workshop to do foot wedging. They got a giagantic mixing pugmill
right after I left.
We used it for the first mixing of reclaim and also to
wedge specialty clays like shigaraki and red neriage. It is rough
wedging, before hand wedging.
To mix new clay, you wet mix all the materalerals and then
pile them near the foot wedging area. If you don't have a cement
floor, lay plastic or tarp down. One person treads on the clay in a
spiral while another lays down clay to be tread upon, a little of the
different materials each time. In the workshops, as the pile got
higher, we would hold onto the the horizontal lengths of bamboo over
head that served as ware racks.
It was as or more aerobic than a stair master. If done in
the summer, a lot of sweat got mixed into the clay, because we were
soaked and just dripping sweat from the workout. The young guys
would usually had pity on a 50 year old appentice, and let me be the
feeder rather than the treader. Folks usually take turns treading, so
one person could rest doing the feeding while the other one worked his
legs.
--
Lee in Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
"Making pots should not be a struggle.
It should be like walking down a hill
in a gentle breeze." --Shoji Hamada
http://mashikopots.blogspot.com/
"For a democracy of excellence, the goal is not to reduce things to a
common denominator but to raise things to a shared worth."
--Paolo Soleri
Marek & Pauline Drzazga-Donaldson on tue 25 sep 07
Dear Lili,
could not have put it better, we all work differently. Have you heard of =
hand batting? This is for hand kneading and wedging very small pieces of =
clay - I usually do this when I have demonstrated throwi ng a piece and =
having cut it in half to demonstrate the wall thickness etc. , I then =
take the freshly thrown piece and hand batt to return the clay into a =
usable liump of well prepared clay. So small dogs can be pummelled at =
will.
Keep the faith and Happyu Potting=20
Marek
Hand made Architectural Ceramics from No9 Studio UK www.no9uk.com
Fully Residential Pottery Courses and more at Mole Cottage =
www.moleys.com
"Tips and Time Travel from a Vernacular Potter" reviews on =
www.keramix.com
an irreverent point of view after 35 years in the game Marek =
Drzazga-Donaldson =20
Assemble a dragon finial at www.dragonfinials.co.uk
Free Works and Mole Cottage DVD's and Video content on all the sites
Drzazga Video Promotions at www.drzazga.co.uk Submit address for DVD
Pat's Pottery on wed 26 sep 07
I put my dry clay scraps in a large bag, plop the bag in enough water to =
cover overnight, hang up to drain for a few days, and then drop and =
stand on the bag over and over. I still need to wedge, but this is =
easier on my arthritis then starting from scratch:>)
Pat
PS. I have started, not wedging the clay straight from the "store =
bought" bag, and it seems to be working out.
************************************
Pat Parker's Stoneware Pottery
Unique hand made gifts
Web Site: http://www.stonewarepottery.net/
Email address: Pat@stonewarepottery.net
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