Ancient Clay – Fire-Safe Alternate Workshop Without Bonfiring

Ancient Clay without Bonfiring – Five or Six-Day Workshop
(Click HERE for a PDF of the Background, Description, and Schedule)

Background
In considering the course of history leading up to the modern age, we often assume that “progress” means a move from un-civilized to civilized, from primitive to sophisticated, from manual to automated, from low-tech to high-tech, from hand-made to machine-made. As a result, 20th and 21st century artists often seek “modern” technology and aesthetic, turning their backs on the remarkable ceramic work of the past. Until quite recently, ancient and tribal ceramic traditions other than Greek black-figure and red-figure wares were generally seen as primitive craft oddities, too-often dismissed from the study of ceramics.  But along with the technological leaps of the digital age, we see an impersonalization of craft and a certain loss of individual identity that has inspired a renewed appreciation of our aesthetic and technical roots in ancient and tribal art.  Any cursory examination will reveal that these traditions are “primitive” only in the tools and firing processes, while the craftsmanship, narrative content, and design aesthetic are highly sophisticated.

Workshop Description
This workshop gives beginning and experienced clay-workers the opportunity to investigate the techniques and aesthetics of ancient and tribal ceramics. We will focus on simple, timeless vessel construction using pinch and coil methods, exploring the broad diversity of handbuilt form and the range of decorative effects possible without the use of glazes. Slide shows will explore high points in the history of ancient and tribal clay.

We will coat our forms with a refined red clay slip known as terra sigillata, and hand-rub the surface to a high luster.  I’ve been offering this workshop for thirty years, and it has generally culminated in a blackware bonfiring.  Traditional tribal pottery has always been fired in open bonfires, but in much of North America, especially though the dry season, such open fires are not permitted.  In this version of Ancient Clay, we will fire the work to cone-018 in an electric kiln, producing results similar to those achieved in a bonfiring that is allowed to burn out, preserving the natural fired colors of the clay and slips.  For those interested in blackware effects, this workshop can be extended one day in order to do an aluminum-foil sagger-firing in an electric kiln.

A major appeal of tribal ceramics is the lack of modern technology. With our fascination for the latest tools and equipment of our trade, this feature is difficult for many contemporary studio artists to accept. Once experienced, however, a tribal approach to ceramics is tremendously liberating, perhaps most of all for contemporary “high-tech” ceramic artists.

Below are samples of coil-built blackware vessels I have made as demos during my Ancient Clay workshops. Click on thumbnails to see a larger image.  Once you’ve enlarged the image, scrolling works best with the left and right arrow buttons on your keyboard, or by tapping the right or left edge of the enlarged image on a touchscreen.

Schedule for Five-Day (with Optional Sixth Day) Ancient Clay Workshop Without Bonfiring
Please note that this schedule must remain flexible, since every workshop group is different.

  • First Day Morning – Introductions, discussion/demo of coil-construction, use of pukis. Work on coil forms. Slide discussion on ancient and tribal clay.
  • First Day Afternoon – Demo of pinch construction and slumped-slab masks. Continue slide discussion on ancient and tribal clay. Work on pinch/coil forms and masks.
  • Second Day Morning – discussion/demo of whistles and rattles, damp clay decoration. Work on pinch/coil forms and masks. Continuation of slide discussion on ancient and tribal clay.
  • Second Day Afternoon – Finish coil forms and masks. Work on pinch forms and whistles. Load coil forms and masks in kiln to dry overnight.
  • Third Day Morning – Finish any remaining coil forms and masks and quick-dry in kilns. Slide discussion on figurines and amulets. Work on pinch forms, whistles, figurines, and amulets.
  • Third Day Afternoon – Sanding demo. Sand all coil forms and masks. Finish pinch forms, whistles, figurines, and amulets.
  • Third Day Afternoon or Evening – (or whenever we decide to do it) Public slide show on Vince’s work.
  • Fourth Day Morning – Discussion/demo of terra sigillata, polishing, burnishing, sgraffito, black- on-black. Work on sanding, terra sigillata, polishing, decorating.
  • Fourth Day Afternoon – Complete all polishing/decorating, load electric firings.
  • Fifth Day Morning – Unload the electric kilns as soon as they are cool enough.  Discuss outcomes.  Pack up work for transport.

Optional One-Day Extension of Workshop to do Blackware Sagger-Firing

  • Fifth Day Afternoon – Pack wares and sawdust in tin-foil saggers and load in electric kiln.  Fire kiln to 1200 degrees and hold for two hours.
  • Sixth Day Morning – Unload sagger-firing, open aluminum-foil saggers, wipe soot and ashes off wares using soft cloths.

Information for Hosting Venue
(Click HERE for a PDF of Information for Hosting Venue)

Of all the workshops I teach, this is my favorite.  It represents the formative level of ceramic technology, and it is very satisfying every time.  At UMass-Amherst in the late 80s I noticed that art history survey textbooks pay little or no attention to the ceramics of ancient and tribal cultures other than the red and black figure vases of ancient Greece.  I designed this workshop in response, and initially called it “Primitive Ceramics.”  I quickly realized that “primitive” is entirely inappropriate in reference to this type of work.  The circumstances and firing methods may be primitive, but the craftsmanship and aesthetic is often as sophisticated as any art/craft of the modern world.

Without a bonfiring, this workshop requires far less preparation on the part of the hosting venue.  Even without the bonfiring, I can promise a rich experience and well-satisfied participants.  To speak plainly, people who take this workshop are often amazed by what they are able to create.  I taught Ancient Clay every summer for nine years at Michael McDowell’s farm and studio in northwest Washington State, and had quite a few people come back and take it repeatedly.

Materials Provided by Host

  • Buff claybody containing fine grog.  Have on hand 50# per participant and 150# for instructor, plus some extra.
  • One gallon white vinegar.
  • Two gallons of joining slurry made in advance from the claybody. Cut 15# of clay into thin slices and dry completely. Break up the bone-dry clay into smaller pieces (not crushed) and immerse in water with several inches of water covering the clay and let sit overnight.  The clay will slake down to slurry by itself.  Next day, drain off all excess water, mix with drill impeller mixer or hand blender until completely smooth with no lumps, add 1/2 cup of vinegar, add water carefully, mixing frequently, until slurry will not pour if you tilt the bucket, but will if you shake it.
  • Four standard propane cylinders for a hand-held torch.  I will bring several torches.
  • If we will be extending the workshop one day to do the blackware sagger-firing, have a large roll of wide, heavy-duty aluminum foil and a trash bag of sawdust.

Facilities and Equipment Provided by Host

  • Digital projector and appropriately dark room with screen or white wall.
  • Large sturdy work tables for handbuilding and decorating. Heavy plywood-covered tables are best, but sturdy 3×6′ folding tables will work, with no more than four participants per 4×8′ table and two per folding table.
  • A 24″ stool for the instructor to use.
  • Make a supply of pukis – enough to have one for each participant to use, one for the instructor, and some extras.  Puki is a Southwest Native American term for a small reusable bisque-fired form for supporting the lower portion of round-bottom coil vessels until they are stiff enough to support themselves. Pukis are just heavy-duty bisque-fired bowl-forms with a wide foot and a constant curve like a portion of a sphere on the inside from rim to rim.  For our purpose, we should have a variety of sizes of pukis with the radius of the inside curvature of different pukis varying from 3″ to 5″.  If that seems confusing, take a compass and some cardboard or posterboard, draw circles 6″, 8″, and 10″ in diameter, and cut them out.  Make some pukis to approximately match the curvature of each cardboard disk (adjusting the total for the expected number of participants). Bisque-fire the pukis in a standard lowfire bisque. Do not fire them above lowfire bisque temperatures.
  • Electric kilns for drying wares and for low (cone-018) firing (and 018 cones if not a programmable kiln).

Supplies for Participants to Bring
(Click HERE for a PDF of Supply List for Participants)

  • Standard clay-working tools – the packaged Kemper tool kit contains a wood rib, stainless-steel scraper-rib, wood knife, needle tool, cutoff wire, small sponge, and trimming tools.
  • Kemper S-10 serrated stainless steel rib.
  • Kemper RB-4 wood rib – no substitutes!
  • Metal fork.
  • One package of 100-grit or 120-grit (fine-grit) mesh-type drywall sandpaper.
  • Soft-bristled brush at least 1″ wide for applying terra sigillata – the East-Asian hakeme brushes are best.
  • Several soft rags (tee-shirt material is great).
  • Several plastic grocery bags for polishing.
  • Stanley Surform Shaver (small curved blade) and Surform Pocket Plane (5″ flat blade).  Get both!  They are available from home improvement center or Amazon.
  • X-Acto knife with pencil-thick handle and 1″ tapered blade.  The very best ones have the adjustment handle at the opposite end from the blade.
  • Spray bottle for vinegar water.
  • Small snap-lid container for slurry.
  • Apron (optional).
  • If you are driving, bring a good-size snap-lid plastic storage box approximately 12x20x12″ deep to use as personal damp-box.  Bring your supplies in a separate box or a second plastic storage box.
  • Bring a few additional modest-size cardboard boxes and a supply of newspaper or other packing materials to pack up your fired wares.  The terra sigillata finishes are fragile, so bring enough materials to carefully pack up your wares.

If you have any questions or are interested in hosting one of my workshops, please email me.