Properties of Clay

After working with my clay for a bit, there are some observations that I have made.

– You can’t rush the drying process (with a hair dryer for example) without causing cracks, and you cant repair those cracks easily

– Having a foot on a piece seems to take away the ‘stress’ on it, preventing cracking during drying

– You cant really ‘cut’ clay with a knife without causing some stress on the piece which may cause cracks. You can if the knife is wet, but its a risk.

– Causing stress tears in the clay should be avoided

– If there are big stress tears during the early stages of drying you might as well crumple the piece up and start again

– You can really see/feel the quality of the clay as you knead it, if tears form then you should refine the clay a bit more, its disheartening to make something nice if its destined to fail