Discovery of Natural Clay:

Found in many locations around the world, clay is a natural resource that potters and small workshops diligently seek. Some artists prefer to mine their own clay and this coincides with the process of extracting the clay from the ground. This ‘raw clay’ is recognised for its local potential and authenticity.

Clay extraction on an industrial scale is carried out by large-scale mines and processing plants. Large excavators or powerful water jets are used to extract the clay from underground.

Processing of Natural Clay:

On arrival at rhe processing plant, raw clay may contain moist lumps, stones, organic matter and other contaminants. At this stage, the clay samples are chemically analysed for mineral content. This analysis helps to categorise the clay into categories suitable for specific uses. For example, some types of clay are suitable for creating excellent dinnerware, while others may be specially reserved for use in glazes.

The clay is processed by a machine that breaks the clay into small pieces from large lumps. A kiln is then used to heat dry the clay. After drying, the clay can be pulverised in a mill.
The powdered clay can be freed from contaminants such as sand, resulting in a pure powdered clay. This powdered clay can be packaged and sold in dry form, or it can be made into liquid or workable soft clay by adding water and other chemicals.

This first stage in the production of pottery allows us to imagine the skilful manipulation of this marvellous material offered to us by nature and how it is transformed into masterpieces in the hands of artists. Natural clay is the cornerstone of pottery art and each piece tells a story of this unique material.

If the clay is left in the open air, your waste can turn into solid pieces of clay. Likewise, if you leave a piece of pottery in the open air after completing it, it will turn into a solid form, which we call bone dry clay. We will take a closer look at this later.

 Powdered Dried Clay

The previously mentioned processed clay powder. This clay powder, which can be purchased in bags from a pottery supplier, can be used in different ways:

1) Preparing Your Own Clay
Some ceramic artists prefer to create their own ceramic clay by mixing clay powder with water. This option can be more cost-effective for artists who produce a large number of artefacts.

2) Creating Your Own Clay Recipes
If you want your pottery clay to have certain properties, you can mix different types of clay according to a specific clay recipe. This allows you to create clay tiles with different properties, for example, increasing the plasticity of the clay by adding ball clay.

3) Recycling Your Clay
Artists often collect clay and clay liquid waste in a bucket while working. This wet clay can be recycled and reused. However, it may be necessary to add clay powder to this clay to make it workable.

4) Colouring Processes

Another advantage of using powdered clay is that it can be easily mixed with colouring agents. Dyeing powder is used to colour clay and lacquer. These dyes are often called Mason Dyes.

5) Use of Powder Clay in Glaze

Different types of clay powders, such as ball clay, can be used in ceramic glazes. Glaze is a glass-like layer covering the ceramic surface. Different clay powders can be used to modify the properties of the Glaze or add specific properties.

clay is sometimes transported in liquid form from the clay processing plant. Large container lorries are used to transport the liquid to factories that turn it into products such as sinks, tiles and toilets!

clay liquid can be used for many things. However, it is used by potters in three important ways. Let's take a look at them.

1- Coalescing Clay

Clay can be used as a kind of adhesive that glues pieces of clay together. For example, when you add a handle to a cup, the clay helps the two clay surfaces to cling together and stick firmly.

Joining clay pieces together is often referred to as ‘Clay and line’. The most effective way to join two clay surfaces is to scratch the clay at the points where they will join. This means scratching the clay and creating a rough texture.

The clay liquid is then applied to the scratch area. When the two pieces of clay are pressed together, the clay and scratched areas mix well and form a strong bond.

2- Decorating Clay

Clay is one of the most versatile mediums you can use to decorate your artefact.

You can change its colour by adding dyes into the clay.

Or you can try the clay tracing technique. clay tracking is the loading of clay into a small rubber tube or a bottle that can be easily held in your hand.

There is a nozzle attached to the end of the tube. When you squeeze the tube, a trail of clay comes out of the end of the nozzle. This technique can be used to create beautiful textures and colourful designs on the surface of your artwork.

Alternatively, the clay can be applied and moved on the clay surface while the clay is still liquid. There are many different ways in which clay can be used in decorations on clay.

3- Clay Pouring

Clay pouring is a specific way of producing pottery. This involves pouring ‘pouring clay’ into plaster moulds to create clay forms in the shape of the mould.

This technique is a good option if you want to produce a matching set of the same items. For example, if you want to produce a set of matching cups, clay pouring is a good option.

With clay pouring, clay is poured into a mould. The plaster mould draws some water from the clay and forms a clay surface on the inner surface of the mould.

After the clay has been in the mould for some time, the mould is turned upside down and the excess clay is allowed to drain out of the mould.

When the clay in the mould is sufficiently dry, the clay is removed from the mould and the piece is arranged and completed. For this technique, clay is one of the most important phases of moulding.

4- Making Mud Liquid

Perhaps the easiest way to make clay liquid is to add water to clay that is already quite wet. But the fastest way to do this is to add water to dry clay.

If you add water to dry clay , the clay absorbs the water very quickly and turns into fine particles suspended in the water. This is called ‘dissolving’.

In contrast, when clay aggregates have a higher water content, the clay particles stick together quite tightly. This makes it difficult to dissolve the clay in water. If you add water to wet clay, you will usually get a lumpy clay soup.

In fact, the term plasticity in clay is a property that some types of clay possess. A clay body is called plastic if it can be shaped and retain its clay form, i.e. the clay does not sag or return to its original form. Plasticity also applies to clay that can be bent and shaped without cracking. Not all types of clay are so plastic; some cellars crack and crumble when bent.

Ways of Using Workable Clay

There are two main ways of shaping the clay at this stage: bench throwing and hand shaping.

Loom throwing means making pottery on a loom. Hand shaping, on the other hand, is the process of forming pottery by hand without a bench.

Producers usually make pottery using machines such as clay presses. This type of machine is called a ‘ram press’. This machine compresses the clay into the desired form and the compressed clay is then removed from the machine and finished by hand.

What Makes Clay Soft and Workable?

Perhaps this magical workable property of clay makes you curious. Because usually if you take clay and try to do something with it, it just crumbles or breaks. So what is the difference with clay?

The difference lies in the clay particles themselves. As I said, clay is extracted from the soil in its raw form. In fact, the clay extracted from the ground is the ground form of granite, also known as stone.

However, the clay processing plant does not grind the stone. Instead, it is formed when this stone is deposited in the soil as a result of millions of years of weathering and weathering. As granite is eroded, the minerals in the rock break down to form clay particles.

Two reasons why clay is workable

When clay contains water, the water is located between the clay particles. The water lubricates the particles, allowing the clay to slide over each other as it is shaped.

Furthermore, the water forms a film on the particles; this film has an adhesive property and causes the particles to stick slightly to each other. The second reason why wet clay is malleable is related to the shape of the particles themselves.

Clay particles are flat and hexagonal (hexagonal) in shape. But they also have a lath-shaped, i.e. elongated form. That is, under a microscope, clay particles appear flat, elongated and hexagonal (hexagonal). 

The particle shape allows them to form a matrix in the clay, which holds the clay together. Also when the clay is shaped, the clay particles can begin to align with each other in the same direction. This allows the clay to gain additional strength and holding power.

What happens when the clay starts to dry?

From a practical point of view, the particles cease to slide on each other when the clay starts to dry out. This is one of the reasons why the clay becomes increasingly dry and difficult to work with.

The good news, however, is that you can always add water again if your clay starts to dry out. Clay to which water has been added again becomes workable again.

Also, as long as you keep your clay moist, you can work on it for as long as you want.

Leather hard clay is a stage that has lost the elasticity of the plastic stage, but still contains some moisture. This stage is a key point at which the clay gains a certain strength and can retain its shape.

1. Early Stage - Soft Skin Hardness Clay

The first stage is often referred to as ‘soft skin hardening’. Because the clay still contains moisture, it can be bent without cracking. This is particularly useful for making slab pottery. Soft leather-hard clay can support its own weight while retaining its shape, allowing the pieces to be successfully joined together.

2. Medium Stage - Hard Skin Hardness Clay

With the hardening of the clay, the ‘hard skin hardness’ stage is reached. At this stage the clay can stretch slightly, but has a largely fixed form. It is important to remember that clay has a memory, so mouldings made here tend to return to their original form in later stages.

3. Final Stage - Hardened Skin Hardness Clay

When we reach the final stage, the colour of the clay begins to change and the surface has a slightly dusty appearance. The clay can no longer be bent and the joining process becomes difficult. However, you can still make some interesting applications at this stage.

Clay artists create various artefacts using hardened leather-hard clay. Especially detailed embroidery, carving and similar techniques are preferred at this stage.

Dry clay is noticeably paler and harder than its workable state, but it is also fragile and extremely delicate. Particularly delicate areas, such as handles or fine decorative details, can easily break and snap off in the dry clay stage.

Although it may seem stronger in this phase than when the clay contains moisture, it is important to remember that dry clay is extremely fragile. Therefore, this is a time when you have the chance to make final adjustments to your artefacts before putting them in the kiln.

One of the important steps you can take before putting your clay in the kiln is to gently sand its surface. However, it is important to observe certain precautions when carrying out this process:

In this important phase of clay art, we recommend that you take advantage of this last chance offered by dry clay to perfect your works. The right touches at this stage can make your works unique.

The clay has been shaped but has not yet been placed in the kiln. At this stage, the clay can dissolve and disappear when it comes into contact with water. This creates a problem if your artefacts need to contain liquid. This is where bisque firing comes into play.

bisque firing is a process that takes place in kilns. These kilns are high temperature kilns specially designed for firing clay. The most common ovens today are electric ovens, which can operate with gas, wood or electricity.

Clay is baked at temperatures of (999-1060°C) during the bisque baking process. These temperatures allow the clay to physically and chemically transform into bisque material. 

When the bisque is baked, the clay is no longer soluble in water. This means that the clay is permanently transformed into a hard material. The bisque has a matt surface and has a slightly rough texture, giving it an almost dry and slightly ‘toothed’ feel.

This stage is one of the cornerstones of pottery art and changes the nature of the clay, giving it a durable form. For art enthusiasts, getting one step closer to the fascinating details of this process offers a deep understanding of the essence of art. bisque is the key to becoming a work of art that retains its form and does not dissolve when interacting with water.

Therefore, if you fill a vase with water, the water will seep out through the pot wall and make the pot damp.

Glazing of pottery is usually one of the final stages of clay. The glaze is a glassy coating that coats the pots and this process makes the pots waterproof and gives them a decorative appearance.

For the glazing process, the pots are fired a second time. Glaze exists in liquid form and can be applied to bisque pots by dipping, pouring, painting or spraying.

The liquid glaze dries quickly on the bisque to form a powder layer. The pottery is then fired a second time. During this ‘glaze firing’ the glaze melts on the surface of the pottery, and when the kiln cools down it solidifies again to form a glassy coating.

Because of the melting of the liquid glaze, it is important that the bottom of the pot is unglazed; otherwise the pot may stick to the kiln shelf during firing. For this reason, the bottoms of mugs, plates and bowls are usually unglazed.

Different types of clay are fired at different temperatures for glazing. Earthenware pots are usually fired at the same or slightly lower temperature as bisque firing, while other types of clay, such as stoneware or porcelain, are fired at higher temperatures. You can find out the firing temperature of the glaze from the company of the product you buy.