my introduction to clay preparation

Many persons, upon introduction to pottery, will use clay which is already prepared for their use. The prepared clay normally comes in plastic bags and weighs about twenty-five (25) pounds. The clay may be red, white, black or yellow. (Now you know how we come to have different complexions, remember The Creator created us from clay) My introduction into pottery began some sixteen years ago. I attended a pottery workshop which was held here in St. Kitts, at the Venezuelan Institute for Culture and Cooperation. The Sculptor/potter was Venezuelan and he was used to finding and and preparing clay for his use. So, this was how I started. I remember us going on a hike down to the South Eastern peninsula of St. Kitts. A narrow strip of land about six miles long, which boasts some of the best beaches on the island. The Government of the day, had recently built a highway which started at the third round-about at Frigate Bay and ended at Majors Bay. The highway started with a steep climb up a hill which had once been part of a mountain. The exposed sides of the road showed that there was a strip of red clay which could be easily accessed by anyone walking up the hill. I knew the hill well, since I had spent many afternoons huffing and puffing my way up the hill as my preferred form of exercise. So Senor Aguinzones brought us to this spot on the hill. With shovels,pickaxes and our buckets we filled up on this dark red substance. After leaving the peninsula we went to Conaree, a small hillside village just north-east of Basseterre. Someone had mentioned that there was clay there too. We found a pit with some grayish very stony looking substance. He confirmed that this too, was clay. At the end of the morning he gave us instructions as to what we should bring to class the next day. We needed to bring with us a sheet of canvas fabric and a sifter or strainer with a fine mesh. When we arrived back at the Institiute where the workshop was being conducted, he instructed us to cover our clay with water and begin stirring it, until the mixture came to a very creamy consistency. We left class that day feeling very tired and our clothers were extremely dirty.

The next day, the Senor instructed us to sift our clay from one bucket into another. What a chore. There was quite alot of sharp stones and particles between the clay. It wasnt an easy exercise. I developed a rhythm. I would dip a small container in the mixture of water and clay and pour it into the sifter, then I'd run my finger through it until all the clay had passed through the sift leaving only the stone particles behind, which was then tossed aside. By the end of that day's class I had sifted a huge bucket of clay. The consistency was a thick, almost ice-cream like consistency. The canvas fabric lined the inside of the container we had sifted the clay into. By the next day, we returned to see that the clay had settled and the water was all around the canvas fabric The fabric ws tired like a bag at the top so all that was needed was to pick up the bag of clay out of the water. It would be another two days before the clay was fit for use, using this age-old method of clay production. When the clay was ready, we realised that it was now a thick, heavy mass of a substance. Finally, ready-to-work clay! We were now ready for the next step in clay preparation.

As I look back over the past sixteen years, I realise that these early lessons in clay preparation greatly assisted. The clay which we used was unsuccessful. It did not survive the journey which would result in the piece becoming a ceramic product. That is to say, the pieces did not survive the firing. I would continue making pottery using clay from Nevis. I made many trips by boat, across the waters to Nevis, the sister-island of St. Kitts. There are women on Nevis who have been working in this ancient craft all their lives. The methods they used was handed down from mother to daughter over the centuries. These are same methods used in parts of Africa and other places around the world. The art of using local clay to make beautiful hand-built pottery is as old as civilised man. The clay on Nevis is very resilient. On my first trip there, I found an old, partially crippled, very wonderful lady, named Veronica. I spent a day with her. She not only showed me some of her techniques, but she also had her grandson take me to a place where I could dig for clay. I returned by boat, to St. Kitts and my home, with a few bags of clay. Over the next few days, I would follow, step by step the method of preparing clay. I would use this many times over the next two years, until I discovered another clay, one which was prepared for me. But, a potter must always know how to prepare clay, since pottery is a very humbling artform, the need to recycle clay would be of utmost importance to profitable production.