AA Clay is Louisville’s original open-studio for ceramic artists. We proudly present seven of our member artists in an exhibition and sale that is open to the public. Closing Reception: Join us Saturday, May 19, 6 – 8 pm. Celebrate the work of our artists. Refreshments will be served. The following pieces are available for … Continue reading “AA Clay Studio and Gallery: Members’ Show”
AA Clay is Louisville’s original open-studio for ceramic artists. We proudly present seven of our member artists in an exhibition and sale that is open to the public.
Closing Reception: Join us Saturday, May 19, 6 – 8 pm. Celebrate the work of our artists. Refreshments will be served. The following pieces are available for purchase during the Members’ Show:
Work of studio member Sara Keiper
Work of studio member Lynn Duke
Work of studio member Peri Crush
Work of studio member Beth Bradley
Work of studio member Sharon Ramick
Work of studio Director Alex Adams
Work of studio member Caitlin McGlade
Members’ Show postcard announcement.
AA Clay Studio and Gallery is a community of artists from Louisville and southern Indiana. We support each other through networking, advising, and encouraging.
Clay blankets our earth’s surface with tiny particles of weathered granite.
Wet clay is strong and malleable. Dry clay holds its shape and can be hardened through heating to extreme temperatures.
“If one takes any finely grained non-clay mineral and mixes it with water, a crumbly mass will be produced with almost zero formability. If the same is done with clay, however, there is produced a mass that is readily formed into any desired shape and, most interesting of all, it will retain that shape under the force of gravity. In other words, the clay mass has three unique properties; first, it may be deformed without cracking; second, when the deforming force ceases, the shape will remain fixed; and further, when the clay mass is dried, it has considerable strength.”
— Studio Potter, Volume 4, Number 2 (Winter 1975/76)
Clay has strength because many extremely fine particles can be tightly packed in a clay body.
It’s plastic because its molecules are shaped like dinner plates, with an average diameter of one micron (one millionth of a meter). When wet, the ‘plates’ slide against each other due to thin sheets of water between them. The presence of water allows clay particles to move against each other and change the clay form without breaking.
Pull, pinch, slice, carve, stick, roll, press, twist, and squash!
We can form almost anything out of clay.
A clay object can be hardened through firing at high temperatures, such as 2400 degrees Fahrenheit. It can be coated with specific clays (glazes) and fired again to make an object that is impervious to water.
Once high-fired, a clay object can never disintegrate into its original molecular structure. This is when we call it ceramic.
As early as 24000 BCE people were making figurines for ceremonial purposes. Functional pottery flourished when agriculture became prevalent around 10,000 BCE.
Venus of Dolni Vestonice Ancient Mesopotamia pottery
(26,000 – 24,000 BCE)
AA Clay offers a two-day raku workshop three or four times a year. This workshop firing fell on the weekend of Thunder over Louisville. Take a look at the raku firing process. Check aaclay.com for upcoming workshops.
