Finding Your Rhythm: What the Six Phases of Clay Can Teach Us
Things come to us when we need them.
It's funny, I was driving home and a lightbulb went off. I suddenly recalled Andy J. Pizza (of the Creative Peptalk Podcast) talking about creativity and timing. It was the sign I needed, sparking ideas left and right.
I had just left the community ceramics studio, where I had been talking to two clay friends about trying different ceramic techniques to find the ones that fit you. Not just as an artist, but as a whole person.
How they work with your lifestyle, personality, and artistic voice.
For example, if you love the look of intricate carving, but prefer to work in quick, intuitive movements, you'll just be fighting an uphill battle trying to perfect that skill. Instead maybe you could ditch carving altogether and go for wild glaze combinations that
make you happy.
It got me thinking about finding your rhythm as a human, living and attempting to thrive here on Planet Earth. The science behind the phases of clay can help us understand our natural rhythm—not just with ceramics, but with life. When we find this rhythm, we make work that suits us, which is often what people gravitate toward. Because it has something unique to our individual makeup, something only we can share.
The phases of clay have everything to do with timing and moisture levels. To simplify, let's think about the amount of clay and water in each phase, and how these relate to the balance of structure (clay) and flexibility (water) in our lives.
The Six Phases of Clay (And Life Lessons From Each Phase)
1. Slip
Slip is a little bit of clay and a lot of water. It's basically liquid clay. You can't build anything with it—it has too much flexibility and nothing to stand on by itself. But we need it as it's useful in other parts of the building process.
Life Parallel: Imagine a phase of your life with too much margin, too much flexibility, not enough structure. Can't really build anything of substance that way; it feels too scattered. We need structure! But when we've been pushing, filling our days with too much structure, a little margin worked into the edges is just what we need as the glue to bring everything together.
2. Plastic
Plastic clay is what you think of when you think of clay. It's how it comes out of the bag when you buy it—a balanced amount of moisture, soft enough to work and shape into a new form.
Life Parallel: At this phase, in clay and in life, there is enough flexibility to make changes, and enough structure to hold the shape of what we've just done. We are still malleable and in process. This is not a finished product—it's full of possibilities. It is okay to change direction, to be inspired, to ask for help.
At the plastic phase, what's most called for is an idea on the direction you'd like to go, then the resources and skills to make it a smoother, easier process.
3. Leather Hard
At this point, you have made something—let's say a mug. It looks like a mug. The handle has been attached. There is now mostly clay and a little bit of water, allowing it to hold its shape even when you pick it up. You can still slightly adjust the shape, carve in a design if you want. You can even throw it in a bucket of water, rehydrate the whole thing and start over.
Life Parallel: I think of this as a career change, or big life event, where you had a whole shape to your life, but you are now changing direction. Tossing it in the bin and rehydrating takes courage, effort, and time. But it can be done, and you're finding a way that is more in line with who you are today. All of the materials are still there, and can be repurposed in an exciting new way.
4. Bone Dry
At the bone dry stage, there is almost no moisture. At this stage, you can do some tiny fine-tuning with a little water added back, but use caution: the clay is fragile. Too much pressure or even a bump can cause a crack or break. You’ve created something new, but it hasn’t been tested yet.
(Even if it breaks at this stage, it can STILL be rehydrated to start over—although it's much more difficult and requires more time and care.)
Life Parallel: This sounds like the times in our lives when there is just too much going on; those phases when you're burned out at work, something comes up at home, a family member needs you, you are stretched too thin—overwhelmed—then someone "knocks over your mug" and it breaks apart. You didn't do anything wrong; it's just the nature of things when they're at this fragile state, with very little margin or tolerance.
5. Bisqueware
This is the phase after firing in the kiln (around 1800-2000 degrees). Bisqueware is solid, hard, chemically changed by heat. It is now sturdy and secure in shape. There's no amount of pushing or carving to be done anymore, though you can still sand rough edges with the right tools and precautions.
Life Parallel: Here we shift from the "margin" metaphor to thinking about how heat changes clay. Going through the immense stress of the hot kiln can burst your mug if it wasn't made well (too thick or with air bubbles). But if it is crafted with the right principles and techniques, the bonds strengthen in the kiln fire. Like in life, when we are tested with a solid foundation, we emerge from challenges as stronger people, with integrity and values that can't be shaken.
6. Vitrification (Glazed)
The icing on the cake! When we add glaze to bisqueware and fire again, we get a beautiful surface with colors, textures, and designs personal to us. Now our mug won't absorb water; the glassy components create a non-porous surface for drinking coffee!
Glazing involves experimentation and learning. Even with a specific effect in mind, we don't know exactly how it will turn out because chemistry happens in the kiln. The resulting piece often comes out differently than expected, but the surprises can be lovely.
Life Parallel: After going through life's challenges, we emerge not just stronger but with unique beauty and character. Our experiences give us a distinctive "glaze" that reflects who we've become. And just like with clay, the outcome might surprise us—often more beautiful than we imagined.
My Clay Take Aways for Finding Your Rhythm
It's helpful not to get too attached to a specific piece or form, or to an exact life goal or outcome. There is so much that can happen along the way, even when you're doing everything "right." Learn to appreciate the process, welcome the curves in the road, and stay in the moment.
Keep tabs on your environment - it affects the clay significantly. Is it humid, dry? Do you have too much margin in your life, or not enough? Do you need a day to wander, think, write?
Do you need extra plastic to wrap your clay, so it dries more slowly, and is less prone to cracks? In the metaphor, maybe this extra protection is a friend, a therapist, or just giving yourself grace during a fragile time.
Check moisture levels frequently, so your work doesn't dry out while you're busy. Check in with yourself often!
In pottery, as in life—put the finished product to use! Have a dinner party using your new mugs, or share them with a friend! Don't just store them on a shelf. And in life, put yourself out there in ways that allow you to grow, but do so with the you that exists today, not waiting for a perfect end result.
Thanks for reading this one! Writing it was actually super meta—I used this very concept of finding my rhythm in my blog writing this week. I didn't have time to sit down and type for hours so I dictated it while running! The thoughts were flowing, and the last words were right at the 3-mile mark! Wild.
Life gives you what you need when you need it, especially when you're paying attention. For me, I pay the best attention when I keep that just-right margin in my life, like getting outside to run in the park, even when I have other Stuff to do.
Stay well, my friends! Keep me posted as to how you are finding your own rhythms, in clay and in life!
With Enthusiasm for Life & Art,