I have a project in mind and want to know if its feasable to use a coil method but to weave it like a basket. I have over a bushell of pecans this year and thought they would make nice gifts. I wanted to make small baskets aproximately the diameter of a soup bowl but twice as high. My concern is when it shrinks will it crack? Has anybody used a weaving method with clay? Time really is an issue for me and I'd hate to spend the time making them to have them fail. I'll have more time after Christmas but for some reason, most folks want their Christmas gifts on the holiday... people can be so picky.
You have left it a bit late!! but yes I have woven clay coils, a lot of patience and time is needed. The best way I have found to do something quick was to get a cane shape woven thing you like and put cling wrap or a thin plastic over the object and press onto the clay. I hope this will help you.
I have a basket I have woven from extruded clay. It went much better than I expected, but it is really fiddly when the clay is still soft enough to weave. Then you have to be really careful not to make any marks in the coils. You can also do this with flat, rounded-edged pieces, to get a more closed basket.
To make an impression of weaving, you can do as Elaine suggests, or you can also just score the piece alternating horizontal and vertical scores. It isn't the same, but seeing your time-frame (it has to dry, be fired, glazed and glaze-fired before the 25th!), I think I would go for this instead of weaving a "real" basket.
The idea of making an impression does seem the fastest way to go, thanks for that. This first attempt is for family and I'm only going to make a few. As time is a factor, I'll go the easy way but I like a challenge. My concern with doing a weave is that the clay has memory (I've been paying attention here) and that it would be running through itself in different directions. I was going to roll the clay into slabs and use a pasta machine to crank it out into strips. I never make pasta with it and when I was about to toss it out, a bell went off in my head, which can be real annoying at times and I just hope nobody else heard it. Inspiration can come from the strangest of places, in this case, my head. So I figured if I make the frame, onto which I'll do the weave, leather hard, and use a softer pliable clay for the actual weave, the assembly shouldn't be too difficult. I have a drying room which will speed up that process and these are going to be painted, not glazed, so one firing should do it. Time to make the coffee! I love it, thanks!
I've seen quite a few "woven" pots and it is absolutely possible, I have not done it myself though. I am pretty sure that you would have to slow the drying process right down though, so that you do not get cracking breaking problems and I think perhaps you have run out of time for that for Christmas. I would go with the impression idea instead if I were you. I thought I was last minute when I took a Christmas present out of the kiln on tuesday :o)
Every time I visit here I learn something new. Such as the mitred corners for making boxes, brilliant, a bit on the tough side but smart just the same. I'm by no means an expert of any kind and thoroughly love learning new things. I have lots of patience, the curiosity of a 5 year old, and tons of guts to try anything. I also have the advantage of having plenty of tools at my disposal, that gives me a bit more freedom to improvise. Unlike wood, when it comes to clay, you're limitted by what the clay will and won't allow you to do. I'm still learning to find those limitations and to stay within that guideline, such as proper drying so as to avoid cracking. I'm also creative and so I think this project calls for a little intellectual creativity, a gift within a gift. I'll build the baskets and enclose a card with an invitation for the recipient to come to my shop in a few weeks to fire 'em up in the kiln. This will buy me some time. Makes a special gift seem even more special. People love to come to the shop to play with the grown up toys and is always a great reason for a get-together. Thanks for the wonderful input. Once last note, I don't know how ya'll do that where you copy posts and shrink the text in your replies. I'm not on a computor and have to write all the codes to do tricks like that and although I can cut, copy and paste, shrinking text is a whole other ball game. So please forgive me for not being able to do that... yet.
i've tried this, weaving works best with really wet clay.
an alternate way would be to get some cheap baskets from thrift stores, and press clay inside the basket. make a bowl in the basket. fire the whole works & let the cheap baskets burn away.
One thing I forgot to mention is the ends of your weave. I have a project in one of my books that involves weave, and she finished it off with two wide bands on each side of the ends, and then a couple of handles also stuck in the middle of the bands. Made a much nicer finish than my single band on my woven "basket".
There was an article on making woven clay baskets in the May/June 2003 issue of Pottery Making Illustrated. The problem is that you need the uprights to be fairly strong to allow for all the mechanical loads of the weaving, so you obviously can't use soft clay there. In fact, even if you wanted to make the uprights first and let them stiffen a bit (while laying horizontally) before weaving, there would still be the issue of holding them upright while you weave.
The solution in the article was to make a clay base and insert plastic drinking straws in place of the uprights, then start weaving around the straws with your soft clay. At some point, slip was dripped into each straw and thin extrusions were inserted. I think there was a trade-off as to how much weaving you could load on to the straws, even after filling with clay, so this might have required multiple extensions. The straws burned out in bisque. The author said that the structure was fairly fragile even after bisque, evidently until glaze "glued" all the loose weaves to the uprights. Sounds like a project that would require a LOT of fiddling!
Best regards.
Bob Masta dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom D A Q A R T A Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis
I don't understand why you have to have uprights at all. You have "downrights", since you weave the basket upside-down - over some kind of bowl or box covered in newspaper.
Because of the technique, it is better to weave something square, as something round will easily get gaps in the vertical stripes as it gets wider. So, at least for the first try, I would go for weaving over a box of some kind.
For a nice finish, make two wide strips and lay them on either side of the weave (one inside, one outside) and join them at the top.
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