That is a wonderful bit of information and now I know what to do with the
roll of tarpaper that I had left from the roofing job

"Bob Masta" wrote in message
...
On 26 Jun 2004 05:20:24 -0700, (Caroline)
wrote:

Hi there
I have just accepted the post of pottery tutor at an adult education
centre. I have been a proffessional potter for 20 years and have
taught a number of people throwing one to one in my workshop. Does
anyone have any hints or suggestions of books or websites that can
help me to learn how to teach adults handbuilding techniques, or have
suggestions for projects? Any advice, and I mean any, would be more
than welcome
Caroline

One hand-building trick that I like allows absolute beginners
to have decent success: tarpaper (roofing felt). First make
a template of normal paper and tape to figure out how things
will go together. I prefer heavy gridded paper (1/10 to the inch)
so you can get consistent dimensions without actually measuring.

Then trace the paper templates onto roofing felt (15 pound weight is
good, about $15 for a huge roll at Home Depot, etc) and cut them out.
Roll out the clay about 1/4 inch thick, moisten the tarpaper, and
press (or roll) onto the clay. Trace around it with a smooth edge
like a butter knife and peel up the pieces, with the tarpaper intact.
The tarpaper acts like a stiffener to hold the structure up while
you join the edges as in normal slab building. (Designs should
have the tarpaper on the outside.) After the piece sets up a
bit, you can peel off the tarpaper for the rest of the drying.

This method removes a lot of the "skill" aspect to the initial
design stage, so the clay stage goes more smoothly. You
might want to have a few pre-made templates to use as
examples, and also to allow the less spatially-oriented
students to start right out with the clay. The templates
can be re-used many times

Hope this helps!


Bob Masta
dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom

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