How to make ceramics at home
I never thought I could make ceramics out of my bedroom. Just after we’d moved into our first share house, Eppie ended up bringing home some clay from her first year of art school. She dropped the heavy bag on the dining table and we got to work, dirtying kitchen tools and crafting tiny forms, with virtually no knowledge of ceramics. This year, we were able to create over 40 pieces for our exhibition from the comfort of our own home, the context of which had a significant impact on our work.
We don’t have enough money to buy a pottery wheel or studio space, and we still don’t know how to program a kiln. Ceramics is often upheld as some unattainable medium that is only accessible through expensive classes or high school visual arts electives. Whilst it isn’t the most straightforward process of making art, I believe it to be one of the most rewarding. I find unmatched excitement from being able to shape something from clay, paint it how I choose, and then for it to become a solid, sturdy, object that is just as robust as the cups and plates I can buy from a shop.
Ceramics has been traditionally undervalued, in large part due to misogyny. Historically, craft practices like embroidery and ceramics have been regarded as hobbies for women as opposed to ‘real art’. Thus, ceramics has been female dominated for a long time; women explored the artistic disciplines that men ignored, and consequently the men in charge of defining ‘fine art’ ignored the disciplines that were female dominated.
A few people at our workshops have asked us how they can make clay out of their homes like we do. We truly believe that ceramics should be more accessible, especially to young people and those who can’t afford to take classes. We’ve found it difficult to break into traditional craft circles in Canberra, so we want to share what we’ve learnt so far. Over the past two years of making clay, I feel like we finally have collected enough knowledge about how to get started; even more specifically what tools you can find around your house, and what you can buy locally in Canberra. Clay shouldn’t have to be a major commitment where you shell out thousands of dollars - if you want to hand-build some mugs for you and your friends or practice some sculpting just for fun, it is entirely feasible.
Thus, I introduce the comprehensive VULGAR guide to clay in Canberra. Feel free to send us a message if you have further questions or think any info needs an update.
Materials
Firstly, Eppie and I don’t have a pottery wheel, so we can’t recreate perfectly smooth shapes thrown on the wheel. We use the technique of handbuilding, which involves joining clay coils or slabs, smoothing them, and leaving them to dry. For our practice, the most important tool is just our hands.
The only shop in Canberra dedicated primarily to ceramics is called Walker Ceramics in Fyshwick. Pretty much everything we have bought for clay has been from there. You can order all of this stuff online instead, but we’ve found it very valuable going to the store in person as we can see sample tiles and ask questions.
Basic Tool Kit
Walker Ceramics sells a good 8-piece all purpose tool kit with all the most commonly used tools. This includes a needle tool, a wooden modelling tool, two ribbon tools, a sponge, a rib, a palette and a cutting wire. This one costs $16.50, and there are a plethora of similar and probably slightly cheaper versions of the same kit online. If you’re reluctant to buy the kit, my most valued tools are probably a wooden modelling tool for joining clay (especially necessary if you have long fingernails like me), and a sponge for smoothing.
Which Clay To Buy?
We’ve found choosing our type of clay to be a very personal preference that only comes from testing different types. At Walker Ceramics, look for midfire clays that describe themselves as suitable for handbuilding. This means they will be firmer and not collapse as easily as a softer clay as you build your piece.
My favourite clay at the moment is called Feeney's Fine Blend, which fires off-white with some black and grey speckles ($25.30 for a 12.5kg bag). Eppie gravitates towards a clay called White Handbuilding E/W S/W which fires a lighter white and is also perfect for handbuilding ($15.40 for a 10kg bag). We’ve also had great success handbuilding with terra cotta clays like the Feeney's Terra Cotta Midfire which fires anywhere from orange to a deep brown depending on glaze and firing temperatures ($20.90 for a 12.5kg bag). We’ve also used a lot of White Pottery clay recently and for workshops because it’s nice and plastic but also much smoother than the few mentioned above. The White Pottery is around $17 for a 10kg bag and is a perfect first choice as it is easy to work with and ideal for all techniques. A 10kg bag of clay is enough to make something like 20 mugs. It will keep for a long time as long as the bag is kept fully sealed so it doesn’t dry out. Don’t be alarmed if the clay looks darker than expected before you fire it - check out the sample tiles at the store for a better representation of colour.
Other Useful Tools
If you find yourself with the means or desire to buy more tools apart from the basics these are what we’ve found most crucial.
Walker Ceramics sells soft and flexible rubber palettes that are like the kidney in the basic tool kit and work wonders for smoothing clay. Ours is called the Palette Flexible Rubber Kidney Med 108mm and costs $3.63. They also have a double ended tool called a Cleanup Tool K23 160mm which has a rounded knife on one end and then a small blade on the other ($4.46). This one is great for cutting out shapes and slabs we also use an exacto knife or a sharp kitchen knife which work great too.
If you’re looking to make vases or taller forms then finding some kind of wooden paddle is very handy for softly hitting the clay back into shape. We use the back of a small wooden board my Dad made for rolling gnocchi, but they sell various sizes of paddles at Walker Ceramics (ranging $9 to $12). The back of a flat wooden spoon also works well for this.
Large paint brushes are also useful for smoothing clay with water or obviously for applying underglaze and glazes. We seem to have paintbrushes strewn throughout our entire house and thus haven’t bought any recently but Bunnings and Eckersley’s have every shape, size and price range, as do online stores. Other useful tools we’ve found are pretty much anything for sculpting or cake decorating. We have a rolling pin that we use to roll our slabs, and we got a $20 rotating cake decorating stand at ALDI which is a great surface to work on as a substitute for a banding wheel.
Our banding wheels are the most useful and expensive equipment we own. They are solid cast iron turntables that we hand build our pieces on top of. The height of ours brings the pieces closer to eye level making them easier to work on, and it means we can spin them around without having to pick up and move unstable clay pieces. Eppie has a 250mm Shimpo High Banding Wheel, and I have a medium sized Laguna NL277 Banding Wheel. Both are great. Banding wheels come in a huge range of sizes and prices, but generally we think the sturdier the better.
Home Setup
Clay sticks to pretty much every surface, so it is best to have some kind of barrier between the clay and the table, especially when rolling out flat slabs. If you don’t have a banding wheel, it is helpful to build your piece on something non-stick or movable so your finished piece isn’t stuck to the table until it dries. I used to use small sheets of baking paper under my pieces, but this becomes temperamental as the baking paper often slowly gets wet and turns to pulp. Recently I’ve been cutting squares out of the plastic reusable Woolworths bags which have worked well, but if you can source some old sheets these are the best option. Squares of cotton or fabric can be used to roll out slabs and coils.
Be mindful that breathing in a lot of dried clay dust is harmful as some of the materials in the clay can damage your lungs. It is important to wipe down surfaces with a wet cloth as to prevent inhaling the dust.
Underglaze
After your pieces are suitably dry, you can use underglaze to decorate them before they are bisque fired. Underglazes are made from clay, water and colourful pigments, and come in an infinite number of colours. They can often be mixed with one another depending on their brand (to be safe just enquire where you purchase them).
We have trialled and tested a lot of colours from Walker Ceramics, with some being more successful than others. Small pots can cost from around $12 to $30 depending on the colour. They also sell some 20ml variety sample packs (approx. $25) which are great for testing colours. It is important to look at the post-firing colour samples at the store as often the underglaze colours don’t look the same after firing and clear glazing. It is also important to use the recommended number of coats (usually 2-3) to be sure to achieve an opaque finish. Lots of our first pieces came out of their final firing looking a lot patchier and different from what we expected after adding a clear glaze on top- trial and error is really the only way to become acquainted with underglaze.
Glazing and Firing your work
Ceramics generally need to be fired twice, once before glazing and once after. You can buy powdered or pre-mixed glazes from Walker Ceramics (clear gloss is around $16 for 1kg) and glaze your pieces at home. If you’re interested in talking a kiln course you can learn to fire kilns yourself- such as those at Strathnairn Arts. We have also found kilns to use through facebook groups for kiln-sharing and by asking around!
If you become a member of the Canberra Potters Society in Watson ($70/year or $55/year for students) you are able to access the member workshop space, the glaze shed and are firing service. To book a session in the members workshop/glaze shed costs $10 which allows you to use the Potters Society’s pre-mixed glazes. A double firing at Canberra Potters Society costs members approx $10 per/kg (there are size and weight limits on firing).
