Polka Dot Clay Studio: Why I Hate Grog

Near my studio, the neighbors are painting their garage a lovely blue...

I began today with good intentions. I was going to make some wall pieces, using some of the recycled, balled-up clay from a recent student project. Everything started fairly well, I had a plan to make some pieces that looked like heart shaped candy boxes. They would be embellished with flowers and leaves, and a lot of floral texture. Then, everything went haywire. The clay had so much grog in it, that it resisted being smoothed. So, any fine detail work looked chunky and sandy. I finished one heart, but then couldn't make the details to cover the exterior. The flowers looked ridiculously sloppy and gritty. The extruded clay for the border looked horrible. And, the more I tried to clean it up, the worse it appeared. So, I balled everything up, except for one of the hearts, which I threw into the melting clay pile in my yard. Listening to it smack, as it hit the pile, was very satisfying. I headed off for an appointment to meet a friend, and to make an art trade.

Grog is for large scale sculpture. And, why I thought that I could make anything with detail using this particular clay is beyond me. Sometimes I think that I know a bit. I am supremely overconfident. It's usually right about then, that some major humbling happens.