Liz Denys

I found inspiration for this pitcher's glaze design in the night sky.

Whenever I feel lost, I know I can always look up and be under the same night sky, no matter where I am. Whenever I feel alone, I know I can always look up and feel connected to humanity, everyone else looking up at the same sky. Whenever I feel all is lost, the vast darkness in the night sky reminds me there are so many possibilities out there that I haven't even thought of yet.

My studio practice is on a partial pause for an unknown amount of time right now; every piece I make is stuck in the greenware stage as I continue to save up to buy kilns and build out the glaze and kiln area. In some moments, this pause feels like a rare opportunity to take time to make more experimental and labor intensive pieces, but in other moments, I am overwhelmed by the feeling that pieces without a completion timeline on the horizon are just not worth doing.

It's easy to bask in fleeting bursts of inspiration; it's harder to push through the periods where nothing feels worth doing. It's especially when the waves of anxiety about the unknown future of my studio practice and the waves of anxiety about the direction of the US government and the future of my country come at me at the same time.

I try to ground myself, to keep myself from spiraling. I name things I can see, smell, hear.

At night, I look to the dark sky. When I can, I reread Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark:

Hope locates itself in the premises that we don't know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act. When you recognize uncertainty, you recognize that you may be able to influence the outcomes–you alone or you in concert with a few dozen or several million others. Hope is an embrace of the unknown and the unknowable, an alternative to the certainty of both optimists and pessimists. Optimists think it will all be fine without our involvement; pessimists take the opposite position; both excuse themselves from acting. It's the belief that what we do matters even though how and when it may matter, who and what it may impact, are not things we can know beforehand. We may not, in fact, know them afterward either, but they matter all the same, and history is full of people whose influence was most powerful after they were gone.

May we all find hope in the dark and choose to act.

When I was glazing this v60-style cone, I was thinking of rising sea levels, eroding beaches, and melting ice caps.

Trying to tackle large challenges like climate change is overwhelming in the best of times, and these are not the best of times. There are many things we can personally do to reduce our carbon footprints and fight climate change, but If we want to have any chance to succeed, we need to join together and organize. If you're new to organizing, connect with local groups already doing the work you're interested in, and don't forget to look for groups pushing for change outside of just the national stage.

Creating more dense walkable, transit-oriented communities is one of our strongest tools for a sustainable, climate friendly future. Generally, the bulk this work in the US happens at the state and local levels. In addition to the climate benefits, it's essential work to keep communities together and fight displacement.

I personally spend a lot of my spare time organizing locally around this issue to help ensure NYC and New York State stay places everyone can thrive. I focus especially on pro-housing policies and improving transportation options and reliability so climate-friendly, less car-dependent lifestyles - and New York's relative safety - can be for everyone.

Clay shrinks as it dries and even more as it's fired, so it's useful to have a way to estimate the final size of in-progress work - especially if you're making multiples or trying to fit pieces together. One way to do this is with shrinkage rulers. I figured I'd design my own shrinkage rulers and provide a way for folks to make them themselves since ceramic tool costs can add up.

To make your shrinkage rulers:

1. Download the shrinkage ruler set you need:
   • colorful set for letter size paper
   • black and white set for letter size paper
   • colorful set for A4 size paper
   • black and white set for A4 size paper
2. Print at 100% size. (These files are all 400 dpi.)
3. Verify that the 0% shrinkage standard ruler at the top matches the size of an existing regular ruler you have. This quick calibration step will make sure nothing got out of scale during printing!
4. Cut out your rulers.
5. Optionally, laminate or cover in packing tape to help them last longer.

To use your shrinkage rulers:

1. If you're using commercial clay, look up how much your clay is estimated to shrink. If you're using a blend of clays or custom clays, you'll have to calculate how much your clay shrinks. An easy way to do this is measure the length of a wet piece right after you form them and again after it's been through its glaze firing. You can then calculate the estimated shrinkage rate:
   
2. Pick the shrinkage ruler that corresponds to your clay's shrinkage rate. If you're between shrinkage rates, you can estimate with a nearby size. Remember that shrinkage rates are estimates, and a piece's actual shrinkage depends on many variables, including how wet your clay is and how close it is to it's original composition (this can change with repeated recycling).
3. Measure your wet piece with the shrinkage ruler! The length shown is the expected length your piece's dimension will be when fired.

The fine print:

1. Reminder that shrinkage rulers only give estimated lengths!
2. You're welcome to print these shrinkage rulers for yourself or your business. You may use the printed shrinkage rulers privately, even in commercial applications (I hope they help your ceramic art and business!), provided you do not redistribute or resell the shrinkage rulers themselves in any form, digital or physical.

I'm continuing my clay body reviews series with two very heavily grogged "sculpture" clays I've used.

Note that I currently practice in a community studio that glaze fires to cone 6 in oxidation, so my observations reflect that.

Standard 420 Sculpture:

• Cone 6: average shrinkage 8.0%, absorption 1.5%
• Light straw when fired to cone 6: more yellow/beige than most white stonewares so the color is something to consider in your final vision (or engobe in something else)
• So much grog that it's best described as working with wet sand, non-derogatory
• I've made complicated open coil-based structures with this clay that have been formed across many studio sessions over a couple days, and they've survived without cracking! Wet clay attaches readily to leather hard and even slightly dry clay. Wrapping my works in dry cleaning bags until done and dry before bisque was enough - I was worried I'd have to make a damp box, but not with this clay!
• The grog is white and grey, and it comes in a variety of sizes, including some that is visually rather large. The grog really shows if you sand to smooth the surface. I typically dislike how this looks - the result ends up looking more like concrete than clay.
• If you use this for functional ware or anything you move around a lot, you'll certainly want to sand the bottom since the groggy surface is extra rough to protect tables and counters. Burnishing alone doesn't usually make this clay smooth.
• Can be thrown when very soft, but your hands will feel scratched if you're not used to it!
• Angled slab joins join readily, and support coils press in quickly and easily.
• Some members of my studio prefer to make plates with this clay because the high level of grog significantly reduces warping. I personally prefer to make plates with clays with far less grog that I dry very slowly. High palpable grog content means a weaker object, and I prefer more strength in objects that are handled frequently.
• Can be marbled with 798, but needs to dry slowly.

Standard 798 Black Sculpture:

• Cone 6: average shrinkage 10%, absorption 1.0%
• Dark brown when wet, fires to a gorgeous black at cone 6 when unglazed.
• Clear glazes will make this clay look brown, so you need to use a black like Coyote Black or Amaco Obsidian to preserve the black color if you want to glaze it.
• So much grog that it's best described as working with wet sand, non-derogatory.
• The grog is white, and provides a lovely contrast when on the surface or sanded to be revealed.
• Like 420, you'll probably want to sand the bottom of anything you'll pick up and put down more than once.
• Very similar working qualities to 420 - a true joy for handbuilding!
• Can be marbled with 420, but needs to dry slowly.

Starlit sky on a clear night / the milky way / eternity / clarity / raindrops sticking to window glass
Black stoneware clay with fine white grog, slab-built, denim satin glaze