front cover: Top: Kathleen Standen,

Haze II, 2011. Porcelain clay body,

organic additions, body stains and
First published in Great Britain in 2013 by
oxides, glaze, 40 x 22 cm (15¾ x 8¾
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
in). Photo: Roland Paschhoff. Bottom,
50 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3DP left: Fred Gatley, Erosion, 2009. Pinch-
www.bloomsbury.com formed and polished bone china
bowl, with inclusions of iron oxide,
ISBN 978-1-4081-5394-9 fired to 1220°C (2228°F), diameter: 4
cm (1½ in.), with slabbed base, white
Published simultaneously in the US by St Thomas clay with additions of river
The American Ceramic Society silts, sand and brick grogs, 1020°C
600 N. Cleveland Ave., Suite 210 (1868°F) sawdust-fired, 6 x 15 cm (2½
Westerville, Ohio, 43082, USA
x 6 in). Silver feet attached. Photo: by
http://ceramicartsdaily.org
the artist. Bottom, centre: Dominique
ISBN: 978-1-57498-333-3 Bivar Segurado, Calcium Bowl, 2004.
Porcelain clay, press-moulded and
Copyright © Kathleen Standen 2013 hand-cut, unglazed, fired to 1240°C
(2264°F). Photo: Dougal Waters.
CIP Catalogue records for this book are available from the British Bottom, right: Kathleen Standen,
Library and the US Library of Congress. Green Rock Pool (detail), 2009.
Porcelain clay body, organic additions,
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced body stains and oxides, glaze. Photo:
in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic or mechanical,
Roland Paschhoff.
including photocopying, recording, taping or information storage
back cover: Jim Turner, Black and White
and retrieval systems – without the prior permission in writing of
the publishers. Bottles, 2009. Thrown and extruded
altered forms, fibre slip on top of
Kathleen Standen has asserted her right under the Copyright, Design glaze with fibre, once-fired to 1300°C
and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. (2372°F), height: 65 and 55 cm (25½
and 21¾ in). Photo: Roland Paschhoff.
Typeset in 10 on 13pt Rotis Semi Sans frontispiece: Kathleen Standen,
Book design by Susan McIntyre Landmarks II, 2009. Porcelain clay
Cover design by Sutchinda Thompson body, organic additions, oxides, 26 x
Edited by Kate Sherington
15 cm (10¼ x 6 in).
Photo: Roland Paschhoff.
Printed and bound in China.
right: Kathleen Standen, White Rock

This book is produced using paper that is made from wood grown Pools, 2009. Porcelain clay body,
in managed, sustainable forests. It is natural, renewable and organic additions, body stains and
recyclable. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the oxides, glaze, 10 x 11 cm (4 x 4¼ in).
environmental regulations of the country of origin. Photo: Roland Paschhoff.
Contents

Acknowledgements    7

Introduction................................................................................................................. 9

1 Clays..................................................................................................................... 13

2 Hard materials................................................................................................... 25

3 Combustible materials ....................................................................................45

4 Impressions, imprints and dipping .............................................................. 65

5 Fibres .................................................................................................................. 75

6 Metal.................................................................................................................... 95

7 Colour.................................................................................................................111

Glossary    123

Suppliers    124

Bibliography    126

Index    127
 1
Clays

One of the first decisions that a ceramicist will make concerns choice of clay. Most
artists find something to suit them from commercial clays sold in bulk by pottery
suppliers. But there are alternatives and this chapter introduces artists who want
something different that is not just ‘off the shelf’. Examples of artists who work
in this way include Fiona Byrne-Sutton, who digs her own clay; David Binns, who
collects granular materials from around the world to add to clay; and myself, Kathleen
Standen, making clay from scratch using dry, raw materials.

Digging up your clay

Fiona Byrne-Sutton makes large press-moulded vessels, which explore the heritage
of Central Scotland. She travels from her Glasgow studio to Clackmannanshire in the
Forth River Valley area, where farmer Ian MacFarlane digs up orange firing clay for
Fiona, on his own land.

Preparation
Byrne-Sutton does not process this clay in terms of ‘washing’ and ‘sieving’, and only
removes large pebbles to prevent her pots ‘blowing’ in the kiln. There are risks in
this, but she welcomes blisters appearing in the clay due to bits of coal or silica. The

left:Kathleen Standen,
Horizon with vessel, 2011.
Photographed in the
scenic village of Glandore,
West Cork, Ireland,
coloured porcelain clay
fired to 1220°C (2228°F),
18 x 34 cm (7 x 13½ in).
Photo: by the artist.

right: Ian MacFarlane digging

up clay at Gartenkeir
Farm, Coalshaughton,
Clackmannanshire, Scotland.
Photo: Fiona Byrne-Sutton.

13
Additions to clay bodies

Unfired Clackmannanshire clay, straight from the ground, is Black Scarva Earthstone, vermiculite on left, perlite on right.
marbled grey and brown with iron ochre. Photo: Helen Gilmour. Photo: Helen Gilmour.

boulders or fragments of clay are pressed into the surface of her large vessels, just as
they have been dug up, to the extent that you can see the line of the shovel and the
naturally occurring strata of secondary iron ochre and white clay.
Byrne-Sutton describes her Clackmannanshire vessels as ‘rural pots embedded with
ferns, Scots pine, boulders of clay from a farm; an embedded biodiversity echoing a
local human population with strong communal links.'
The Clyde River area near Glasgow is another of her favoured locations for collecting
clay samples and this strath clay is a deeper red than Clackmannanshire clay, due to a
higher percentage of iron oxide. Her Glasgow vessels are 'urban, painted with topsoil
slip. They are pressed with "weeds" that have arrived on the wind, growing out of
roadside crevices, opportunist, seeking out their chances like migrant city residents.’
All these elements represent the personality of the material and the place.

Process
Byrne-Sutton’s forms start off in a plaster mould lined with Scarva black Earthstone
clay. Sometimes she presses vermiculite into the clay before filling the mould,
which helps the thick walls dry evenly and reduces the overall weight, an important
consideration in large forms. She advises that care be taken with vermiculite, as it can
cause the clay to blister. It should be pressed, rather than wedged, into the clay.
Vermiculite in the black Scarva gives a warm, toasty speckle to the ceramic body,
which Byrne-Sutton says makes the black clay ‘sing’. She then partially paints the
interior of the form with white slip, before pressing in lumps of found clay. This allows
the orange tones of the dug clay to stand out from the black base. Seasonal plants are
pressed in and painted over with Clackmannanshire slip, dug from the ground. The slip
will fire white or different shades of orange depending on which clay strata it was dug
from. White slip is sometimes mixed with found clay to give a greater range of colour
tones. Red iron oxide, manganese dioxide and copper wire all give different blacks

14
 Clays

above left: Fiona Byrne-Sutton

building up the wall of the
vessel: Pressing and not wedging
vermiculite into the clay body
avoids creating air pockets, helps
the thick walls dry evenly and
makes the bowl lighter after
firing. Photo: Helen Gilmour.

above right: Surface decoration:

boulders of marbled
Clackmannanshire clay are
inserted into black-firing
Earthstone. The grey clay fires
white while the iron ochre in
the clay body reverts to red iron
oxide when fired; the boulders
show the sedimentation patterns
of the clay in the ground.
Vermiculite is rolled into the
surface and the golden speckle
makes the black clay come to
life. Unlike perlite, it doesn’t
disappear during firing. Photo:
Richard Campbell.

right: Surface decoration:

seasonal plants are pressed
in and painted over with
Clackmannanshire slip. The slip
will fire white, or different shades
of orange, depending on the clay
strata from which it has been
dug. Photo: Helen Gilmour.

15
 above: Fiona Byrne-Sutton, Clackmannanshire Roadside,
2011. Black Earthstone, press-moulded, with vermiculite,
Clackmannanshire clay slips from the ground, red iron
oxide painted on Earthstone, copper wire, manganese and
copper dioxide mixed to give gold, shoe polish, beeswax.
Once-fired to 1160°C (2120°F), 19 x 53 cm (7½ x 21 in).
Photo: Michael Wolchover.

left: Top tile is Earthstone and vermiculite, showing brown

husks of vermiculite remaining; bottom tile is Earthstone and
perlite, of which only pock marks or small cavities remain.
Both tiles were fired by Fiona Byrne-Sutton to 1180°C (2156°F).
Photo: Fiona Byrne-Sutton.

16
Fiona Byrne-Sutton, when painted and fired onto black Earthstone, building up a painterly surface. She
Rhapsody in Orange and
works intuitively and very quickly at this stage to create pattern, colour and texture.
Black Clackmannanshire,
2010. Press-moulded black A long soak partway through firing, before taking the temperature up high to
Earthstone clay, vermiculite, 1160°C (2120°F), helps to set the colour in this once-fired work.
Clackmannanshire
boulders and slip from
the ground, red iron oxide
painted on Earthstone, Collecting china clay and plants
copper wire. Once-fired
to 1160°C (2120°F), 19 The most southern region of the UK is where most businesses involved in the extraction
x 53 cm (7½ x 21 in). and processing of high-quality china clay for the ceramics industry are based. It is also
Photo: Michael Wolchover. the home of Jenny Beavan, a ceramicist who has spent more than a decade making
work here, and who has important links to this area. The industries have undergone
much change in recent decades, including decommissioning, and in 2001 Imerys
Minerals granted Beavan permission to study all aspects of their work at the Fal Valley
China Clay Pits in Cornwall.
She has observed the important role of water in all stages of the extraction and
processing of china clay and kept a diary of her observations. Her frequent visits to
the pits were also recorded using photography, drawing and words, and this was the
genesis for a new body of work.
When I first saw Jenny Beavan’s ceramics, the words ‘frozen movement’ came to
mind. And that was before I had read the titles: Beach Erosion, Oscillation, Upsurge
and Energised Water.
What interests Beavan is movement in relation to natural change, such as decay,

17
Additions to clay bodies

disintegration, relocation and reformation, and in particular the role water plays in
this action. She has collected materials from the pits, both combustible and non-
combustible, which become part of the fabric of her unusual compositions. The series
of four photographs below shows stages in the making of Beach Erosion. Beavan has
arranged curved slabs of clay into a walled mould and then poured and placed a range
of additions including molochite, sand, plants and china clay slip.
She continues to visit china clay pits in Cornwall and to create work that reflects
her observations. Her ceramic works are held in public and private collections in the
UK and abroad.

Adding molochite to the clay in the mould. Adding sands. Adding plants.

Adding china clay slip over the top of the slabs and additions. Jenny Beavan, Upsurge (detail), 2001. China clay matrix
with processed china clay, glazes and glass, 1260°C
(2300°F), 55 x 55 cm (21½ x 21½ in). Photos: by the artist.

18
 Clays

Jenny Beavan, Beach Erosion,

2011. Porcelain with china
clay, combustible material,
beach sands and pebbles,
glazes and glass, fired to
1260°C (2300°F), 40 x 40 cm
(15¾ x 15¾ in). Photo: by the
artist.

Collecting granular material

A brief introduction to the ceramicist David Binns is relevant here because, despite not
digging up his clay, he does collect granular material from particular locations, which
bestow each of his works with a specific sense of place.
His research and testing of found materials has yielded interesting results, with
grey granite from the mountains of North Wales, beach shingle from the east coast of
England, and pink granite gathered during a visit to Tasmania. He always travels with
collecting bags, looking for the opportunity to gather interesting granular material.
Binns, however, tells a cautionary tale concerning the addition of found materials in
ceramic work. In his enthusiasm to develop new surfaces, he collected and mixed beach
shingle into porcelain clay, having picked out obvious pieces of seaweed and shell, and
created a boat form. This was promptly exhibited, but fortunately failed to sell. Within
a few weeks, the form had disintegrated. Binns concluded that the shingle must have
included fragments of calcium-bearing rock, such as limestone. The stones had calcined
and then slowly absorbed atmospheric moisture, creating a monumental case of lime
spit. As a result Binns advises washing and pre-firing all found material. Any calcium

19
Additions to clay bodies

above left: Examples of

made, found and industrial
aggregates, added in
varying amounts to clay
bodies. Clockwise from
top left: copper-stained
porcelain (5%), granular flint,
recycled bottle glass, fused
zircon, beach shingle, dense,
fused mullite.

above right:
Test samples of
porcelain and terracotta,
with additions of found and
made aggregate materials
in varying percentages.

left:David Binns, Two

Piece Standing Form, 2008.
Porcelain with copper and
terracotta aggregates,
copper-stained porcelain
material will turn to soluble quick lime, leaving the remainder stable and inert. with molochite aggregate,
The Thames and Deptford Creek in London is where artist Fred Gatley collects mud, fired 1160–1220°C
pebbles and other hard debris, as well as organic material, for his work. The creek also (2120–2228°F), ground and
polished, 42 x 53 x 24 cm
provides much of the inspiration for his sculptural work, which explores the vessel
(16½ x 21 x 9½ in).
arranged on a base. Photos: by the artist.
Chapter 2 will look at both Binns’ and Gatley’s work in more detail (pp. 28–31 and
32–5, respectively).

20
 Clays

Making your own clay

An alternative to using commercial clay or blends is to make your own clay from
scratch, using the dry, raw minerals. I measure and mix the dry ingredients, add them
to water, sieve this mixture and finally spread it out to firm up on plaster slabs.
Why do I go to all this trouble to make a clay body? The answer lies partly in where
I live and work, as well as my background. My studio is in a coastal village in south-
west Ireland and this place has a strong influence on my ceramic work. My work has a
painterly quality, exploring the colours and textures of the location, influenced in part
by my father, an artist who captured his impressions of the world using oils on canvas.
The extra work of making my own clay allows me to add accurate amounts of colour
(oxides and body stains) to the body, and to choose grog and other additions to mix
Various grog materials in at any stage of the making process. This flexibility allows me to capture the spirit of
collected from the Thames my home.
at low tide. As these I make my clay in quantities ranging from 1 to 50 kg (2¼ to 110¼ lbs) depending
are found materials, the on the project I am working on, but the process is the same each time. I always work
artist has identified them
in a well-ventilated area and wear a face mask. If adding colour, I protect my hands
as closely as possible.
Photo: Fred Gatley.
with vinyl gloves.

Brick Mixed China Dark Multi Stock

Red Stock Staffordshire Blue Yellow Stock

21
Additions to clay bodies

Recipe for porcelain clay

Provided by the technician at The City Lit Institute, Holborn, London

China clay 21
Flint 23
Potash Feldspar 18
Black ball clay 18
Silica sand 10
Molochite 10
(Fine, medium or coarse)

If I want to make 10 kg (22 lbs), for example, then each item should be multiplied by
100. I always write down the exact measurements, as I need to weigh in batches of
500g (1 lb), and tick off as I go along. It is very easy to lose track.

Preparing clay with additions of cotton linter and perlite

I always wear a mask and gloves and work in a well-ventilated area.

right:
Measure out the dry materials and the water into two
separate buckets.

below left:
Mix the dry materials together, then add them in
scoops to the water. Allow each scoop to dissolve before
adding the next. (This is a similar process to making plaster.)

below right: Leave the wet mixture for about 20 minutes and
then sieve through a 60-mesh sieve. Stir in any remaining dry
materials that you did not want to sieve, such as molochite
and silica. If this is the end of your process, the completed clay
can be spread out on plaster to firm up, then wedged and
stored, wrapped in plastic, for up to a week before using. If
you wish to add fibres and perlite, the process continues on
the opposite page. Photos: Kathleen Standen.

22
 Clays

right:Soak strips of cotton linter in water and then break up

into a mushy mixture.

below left:
Squeeze out as much water as possible from the
cotton linter.

below right:
Add the cotton linter to the wet clay and blend
with an electric mixer, to give an even, smooth mixture. You
have now mixed up your own paperclay.

bottom left: Add the measured perlite to the paperclay.

bottom right: Spread out onto plaster to firm up a little and

then put into a labelled bucket until ready to use.
Photos: Kathleen Standen.

23