artsednet@lists.getty.edu writes:
> (The coils seemed
>pretty much stuck to the bowl, so I think they were drying
>away from each other rather than as a unit?)...
I tried this technique with a class last spring- everything went fine with my
sample, but the kids got cracks. I think the problem was partly that they
didn't really blend the coils on the inside- they kind of smoothed them until
they looked blended on the surface. That meant there was really only a thin
and pretty wet layer of clay that was actually joined. It shrank a lot more
and faster than the coils. I should have demonstrated really "smooging" them
together. Also, the kids worked a lot slower that I did and worked the clay
more, so their coils were starting to dry ( and were inconsistently wet/dry) so
would not easily join without the scoring and slip. The third problem was
rapid drying-- the kiln was on in the room, so it was hotter when theirs were
drying, and as you suggest, that doesn't let the piece dry as a unit.
I don't think you need plastic wrap or slip. You just need the clay to be
uniformly wet, to really blend the coils, and to let it dry slowly. Next time
I demo this project, I'm going to do it in a clear glass bowl so the kids get
the idea that they can blend hard on the inside without making the outside
coils disappear and I am going to cut the sample with a wire tool to show them
how deep the inside is blended so they understand they have to do more than
make it "look" smooth and blended on the surface.
