Personal Research Project. "Jo Connell"

 During the final semester we were given a personal research project based on the work and methods used by a ceramicist that we admired, I chose Jo Connell who uses coloured clay in her art. She wrote "Ceramic Surfaces" and "Colouring Clay".  She is also a lecturer at West Dean in England. 

This is the recommended process that she uses in her work:





Colouring the Clay

1.
Always weigh out the clay base and the colouring agent dry for accuracy, and use a dust mask. 0.5/12% stain or oxide. (Note: use the same clay body for each batch of coloured clay to keep as much control of shrinkage and grogging throughout the finished pieces to prevent cracks and splits.)

2

Only add the hot water once the clay and colour has been mixed thoroughly. (Hot water helps to blend the chemicals with the clay). Then sieve using an 80 mesh screen. It should be like thick cream when properly mixed.

Drying out the Coloured Clay.

3

 

Turn out the clay onto a plaster batt to allow the excess moisture to soak away. It should peel away from the batt in one piece when it is ready to knead.

4

   If there is no batt available, folded cloth on a towel can be used, but this will need watching as the clay might get too dry to use.

  5

Once the coloured clay has been kneaded and is ready to use, it must be stored in airtight containers.

There are various methods of using the coloured clay and joining it.

 Layering The Coloured Clay:

1

Begin by cutting pieces of clay of roughly the same size ready to roll them out, (Note, because you are using different coloured clay, it is important not to create too much waste, so cut only slightly more than you think you will use).

2

Roll out the next coloured layer of clay and lay it cautiously onto the first layer ensuring that there are no air bubbles between them. Then push or use a roller to bind them together. (Note, as you are building a sandwich of equally sized slabs, making a template to cut around also cuts down on waste.)

3

Continue to build up layers until the stack is aproximatly the right height for your work. Remember here though that the more that is trimmed away, the more waste is created and although this can be darkened to be used again, you might end up with a lot of black clay if you are not careful.

 4

Once trimmed, the layering can be clearly seen. Layering can also be done here by cutting the stack in half, thirds etc. and laying this atop one another.

5

Using the technique shown above I cut slices off the stack and placed them in a mold using slip to join them together. As the piece dried it lost the sharpness of the colour. This doesn't return until after the clear glaze firing. 

 The Jo Connell Method.

1

Using various coloured clays, make coils of various thicknesses but remember to try to have them of the same length. These are then put together to make a large sausage shape. I used slip to keep them together but it isn't vital as long as the clay is soft enough to bind together.

2
This large sausage can then be twisted together, so mix the coloured clays together. Loose twists give thicker bands of colour and tighter twists give thinner.

3
This can more clearly be seen once the sausage has been rolled flat. (Note: when working with cloured clay it is very easy to contaminate the various layers with other colours, and whilst this might be intentional, using a clean cloth on both the top and bottom of the sheet is vital to stop this contamination from happening. Also never use your roller directly on the coloured clay. It's the best way of ruining the piece and you won't see it until the final glaze firing.

4

Having scared the bejesus out of you with the last bit, it is time for some more fear.
Once you are satisfied with the colour mix of the clay, roll out a backing piece of a contrasting coloured clay and carefully, (air bubbles) lay one onto the other. again I used slip and used a pin to burst any air bubbles that I saw. Then roll them together to join the layers properly.

5
Finally, once the front (coloured clay) layer and the back (solid coloured clay) layers are ready, they can be placed into a slump press mold and left to dry to the leather hard state, then trimmed back.

Clay Canes(Millefiori)

The final process I want to show is the use of clay canes. Though traditionally associated with Glass making, this technique works well with clay.

1

Roll  coils of coloured clay, then join them in a pattern like a stick of rock and roll this together to tighten and join the coils together.

2

Trim this down to level the colour then make disks of the coil. Place these into the mold and carefully pour slip into the mold. Once set, this gives a bowl. Canes can also be used for buttons.

Other methods I used for the personal project were random use of the off cuts to construct a bowl in a mold.

I also tried throwing coloured clays but this wasn't very successful as the colours either ran into each other or made the clay warp as the consistancy of the thrown bowl was incompatable with the coloured clay I was using.

These are the finished pieces that I made for the project, as can be seen, it is only after the clear glaze firing that the beauty of the coloured clay can be appreciated.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this learning experience.

I will finish with some examples of Jo Connells work.