For the artists listed, look in the text, look at videos shown in class or on reserve, look at web pages that show their work.

Questions to Study.
As you read the text, see if you can find answers for these questions. Take notes in class for items you can't find in the book. Ask questions in class. E-mail the instructor with your questions. Answers to e-mail questions are sent to the whole class, but are not identified as the one asking. E-mail and these web pages extend our classroom and give you 24 hour access to information you can't find in the book.

1. Chemically, what elements form the clay molecule (find the formula, look it up in Appendix 3C & 3 D)?
2. What health hazards may result from careless working with clay? Watch for this mark in the text. It marks safety concerns. Read this web page related to ceramic material safety (if this link does not work, be sure to contact the instructor, so you can be given an alternative source for this information. This is a page written by the instructor listing most the common problems potters or ceramics students might encounter.  If you also work with other art materials, you should check those hazards by logging on the our Art Department Safety Page and follow the links to the material you work with.

(Check the web site under Studio Safety on the GC Art Department Home page)
3. What are the two major types of clay with respect to where and how they are deposited in the earth?
4. What are physical working properties of clay?
5. How does clay respond to manipulation differently than other materials do?
6. What are the major kinds of commercially available clay and what does each type of clay contribute to a potter's working clay body?
7. What are the unique features (properties or characteristics) of each kind or type of clay?
8. How can clay bodies be tested for the above properties?
9. Be familiar with the qualities of plasticity and particle size and how these are related to each other.
10. Be familiar with the qualities of shrinkage and particle size and how these are related to each other.
11. Be familiar with the maximum firing temperatures of various type of clay.
12. Be familiar with the effects of impurities in various types of clay. How does each impurity change the look and feel of the clay, how it fires, and the product that can be made from it?

The following are a few samples of the type of questions that could be asked from the Learning to Throw program .
13. What is the problem caused by air pockets in clay for throwing?
14. Where does the right hand make contact with the clay when raising?
15. Where is the left elbow when centering?
16. How is the needle angled to the clay when trimming a cylinder top?
17. How does a finger of the left hand assist when trimming a cylinder top?
18. Why is it recommended to trim and remove all water and slip near the bottom outside the piece prior to lifting it off.