a week of clay play

By the end of the week, I will have done something with clay on 4 different days.  That's a lot of clay play!  I really love messing around with clay, but this week is a bit over the top.  It's because I am doing a 'make up' session Friday morning for students in the class that I teach.  Way back in July, we missed a pottery class because the stupid thing was scheduled for Monday, July 5, which is a holiday.  The rec center where I teach was closed.  Wouldn't you think someone would have noticed that and changed the class dates?  I never managed to get the make up session scheduled all summer, but we are finally doing it this Friday.  I don't do a whole lot of teaching in that class.  Just now, the folks in it all have lots of experience with clay, so I'm mostly there as a reference person.  I also recycle used clay - a very messy chore.  When clay gets to hard to use, we break it up and put it into buckets, add water and let it steep and soften for weeks.  Then I drain off the excess water and let it sit until it's dry enough to be wedged (but not too dry) and put into balls for re-use.  Believe me, wedging soft clay is messy.  My hands quickly become coated with clay.  If you haven't guessed already, you now know that I loved mudpies when I was a child!  LOL   In a few weeks, I will have some photos of recently made ceramic pieces.  I don't take photos until they are finished and from start to finish is often a month or so.